ASPIRING WRITERS NEEDED FOR UPCOMING WORKSHOP

Writers interested in writing a novel or finishing the manuscript they have started can participate in a fiction-writing intensive workshop sponsored by the Heartland Writers Guild.

University of California-Berkeley writing instructor and author James N. Frey will conduct five days of structured writing instruction and critique.

The Frey Fiction Intensive will be held at Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville, Mo., June 8 to 13. Enrollment is limited to 20 writers who will be chosen by Frey based on manuscript samples. Deadline for submitting an application and 30 pages of a manuscript-in-progress is March 31.

The working retreat includes writing tutelage during morning sessions, writing assignments in the afternoons and critiques in the evenings.

The $500 cost of the workshop includes lodging and meals.

Frey's "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" and its sequel, "How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques" are often used as guides for aspiring authors. Frey was honored as Teacher of the Year in 1994 for his novel writing classes. His students have published novels in virtually every genre. He also serves on the staff of the Squaw Valley Writers' Conference.

He was a featured speaker at a one-day workshop for the Heartland Writers in 1997.

"I was so impressed by this workshop that I flew to the West Coast to attend the Oregon Writers Colony Frey Intensive Retreat that summer," said Trudy Coleman, Heartland Writers Guild member. "I can't wait until Jim returns to the Midwest to see if I've properly applied all the skills I learned two years ago and to show him how much my writing has improved thanks to his instruction."

The Fiction Intensive workshops at Berkeley and at the Oregon Writers Colony draw writers from all over the country and have become so popular they have been expanded to include "re-Frey'd" sessions for people who have previously attended workshops and "deep-Frey'd" sessions for those who have attended four or more of the five-day workshops.

For registration information, visit the Heartland Writers Guild Web site at www.heartlandwriters.org or write Frey Fiction Intensive, Heartland Writers Guild, P.O. Box 652, Kennett, Mo., 63857, or e-mail HWG@heartlandwriters.org.