My first writing experience

I'm at the OWFI Storyweavers conference in Oklahoma City this weekend learning to be better at what I love to do:  Writing.

Aren't you glad I returned to
writing instead of honing in on
my softball skills??

I've been writing since I was in the second grade - SECOND GRADE.  I was very much into Encyclopedia Brown and his mysteries, so I decided that I would write my own mystery. 


Right before bed (or possibly after I had been told to get into bed, who knows?), I sat down with a pencil and a paper and I wrote my table of contents.  My book would have 12 chapters because that's all the space I had numbers for.  I remember putting my pencil up to my mouth after each chapter and nodding my head like all good writers do.  Finally (much after bedtime) I finished my table on contents.

Gawd! It was GOOD! I was proud of myself.

I turned off the light and got into bed and thought about the cool book I was writing.  Then I thought more about the actual story.  I thought about the ghosts that would appear in the attic in chapter 3.  And then I thought about the skeleton in the graveyard in chapter 4, and the headless horseman on the bridge in chapter 5.

After much thought, I freaked out.  I jumped right out of bed and turned on the lights (because monsters don't come into light) and crumbled up my table of contents.  

It took me a year before I attempted a book again.  And I sure as heck do not write scary mysteries!