7-Day and Counting Fun Streak - What I Learned from Lisa Gardner

I don't remember making the decision, but somewhere along the way I accidentally retired from fun.

I stopped leaving my house. Not because I couldn't, but because staying home became easier. The dogs didn't need to be managed. Pants became optional. Hairbrushes became theoretical.

Then one day I had a thought I couldn't shake. If I keep choosing the couch because it's easier, what will my life look like five years from now? That's not the story I want to tell.

This year has been my experiment in joy. Instead of waiting to feel like going out, I've been choosing it. If something sounds fun, I put it on the calendar before I have time to talk myself out of it.

And because of that, I am now on a 7-day fun streak and counting, with plans on the calendar for this week.

Seven straight days. Seven days of saying yes. Seven days of leaving the house. Seven days of collecting memories instead of excuses.

So there's going to be a series of these blog stories, sharing the fun I've been having (though if you follow me on Facebook, you've already gotten a glimpse).

It all started a week ago with a Lisa Gardner book signing event in Intervale, NH. Lisa Gardner, who writes thrillers, is my favorite author. I have met her twice before. Back in 2011, Lisa Gardner taught a workshop for New Hampshire Romance Writers. I picked up one of her books beforehand so I'd be familiar with her writing.

That was a terrible decision for my sleep schedule.

I devoured the FBI Profiler series, then jumped straight into D.D. Warren. Seven books later, I realized I'd created a new problem. Every night my subconscious decided I was starring in one of her novels.

Now I'm a shark, circling, waiting ever so patiently for each new release so I can devour it without mercy or apology.

NHRWA Workshop 2011

Meeting her at the workshop in 2011 was amazing. She was kind, generous, sweet, friendly, funny, and a little twisted. She was gracious enough to take a picture with me. I was gracious enough not to stalk her even though she lives only an hour away.

RWA Conference, Atlanta 2013

Then I met her again in Atlanta at the 2013 Romance Writer's of American conference book signing. Again, sweet, gracious, funny. We took another picture together.

In preparation for the Intervale event, I had those two pictures printed on a single page and took it with me with the goal of having her sign it. Figuring she was signing books with a pen, I also brought a Sharpie, because I pen was not going to work on photos.

My daughter went with me. We got lattes for the drive, went into North Conway for dinner, stopped at Zeb's and the Penguin Gallery, looking for a plastic dashboard Jesus (it's a Bon Jovi thing). When we arrived at Ledge Brewing in Intervale, Lisa was just starting her talk about how she crafted this book and I hung on to every word. Then she took questions. I was the first to raise my hand (of course I was).

I asked if she was a sit in the chair for eight hours a day to research and write like it's a regular job or if she's more fly by the seat of her pants. Her answer was that she doesn't plot at all, it takes her a year to write a book, she writes as it comes to her, linearly, and then spends a lot of time editing and revising, editing and revising, again, lather, rinse, repeat. She admitted she has no idea how the story is going to end when she starts writing. She has an idea, and she starts from page one and builds it from there.

This was a light bulb turning on, should have had a V-8 kind of moment for me. It catapulted me into a time turning tornado until I was the pre-divorce, prolific writer who wrote by the seat of her pants and let the story drive the words rather than an outline drive the story. That is how I was able to write more than 50,000 words in 19 days, then 12 days, then 26 days in consecutive Novembers for National Novel Writing Month. It was how I was able to publish 8 books in a year, and 20 books over the course of 8 years.

I went to this book signing as a fan girl, and portrayed that role perfectly. I was first in line for the signing, and Lisa did sign my picture. We had a good laugh together, which was captured by someone on her team and put into a video of the event. I took a selfie of us, and she even signed, "So good to see you again" inside the book I purchased at the event.

And while I left with a fan-girl permagrin and a week later and am still reeling from the experience, the big takeaway for me was that I need to embrace that "pantser" style of writing again (write by the seat of my pants) and not worry so much about word counts or plot or continuity or anything else in the first draft. That is what editing and revision are for. I need to get back to the method that worked best for me - writing a crap ton of dialogue in the first draft, then coming back to it in the second draft and filling in all the setting, emotion, reflection, and so on that makes a story so compelling and complete.

This adventure, however, was much more than a lesson in getting back to my roots as a writer. It was also about choosing joy. I chose not to succumb to the enticements of the couch, but instead to stick to my plans.