Author MJ Pullen, the Distracted Writer

Posts Categorized: The Distracted Writer

Follow M.J. Pullen’s blog posts about writing and publishing. Geared toward beginning writers, pre-published authors. seasoned veterans, and authors attempting to navigate platform development on social media.

Relevant to self-publishing, traditional publishing, indie authors and hybrid authors.

posted on
Featured image for The Plot-Character-Emotion Cycle - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/THE-PLOT-CHARACTER-CYCLE-300x251.png
When you’re writing a story, which comes first: the plot or the characters? This is a classic chicken-and-egg conundrum many new writers (and veterans) face as they’re crafting a story. Should the character’s personality, background and decision-making drive the plot? Or does the action of the story make the character who she is? The short  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for But You Wrote It… - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Manda-Brain-Map-300x300.jpg
…How can you not remember? Here’s a thing that happens to me: Last week I was talking to a book club (Hi, ladies! I love the fuzzy socks – thanks again!) and someone asked me how I pronounce the name “Carras” from Sugar Street. In my imagination it’s pronounced like “Care-Ehss” which I’ve seen spelled  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Two New Workshops Added for Atlanta-Area Writers - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/PathstoPublication-300x169.jpg
YOU ASKED, I’M DELIVERING… Two of My Most Popular Workshops in Q1! I’ve taken a couple of years off from teaching publishing workshops for writers — not because I don’t love it, I do — I’ve just been busy with lots of other priorities (some of which obviously include my own writing). As I’m in  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Sprints: My New Obsession with an Old Writing Habit - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Depositphotos_WomanTyping-300x201.jpg
Have you tried word sprints (or writing sprints)? For those unfamiliar, this is the practice of sitting down for a short, specific period of time to focus only on your writing and try to achieve a certain word count or other goal. I’ve done writing sprints for years, off and on. My “Draft Queen” partner  […]
view comments2 Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Exclusive: A Murdered Darling from SUGAR STREET - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Kill-your-darlings-300x300.png
You’ve probably heard the expression, “kill your darlings,” that common writer’s advice derived from the original “murder your darlings” in a 1913 writer’s guide by Arthur Quiller-Couch.* I recently re-read Stephen King’s On Writing, in which he referred to the concept this way: “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Dead Word Compost - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Compost-Pixabay-300x225.jpg
In a conversation over in the Draft House Writer’s Studio this week, one of our members mentioned that she has a filing cabinet full of discarded attempts at fiction. She said this with a sense of discouragement I think is common among early-career writers. We think: I tried. I failed. This is hard. I may never be good  […]
view comments4 Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for What We Repeatedly Do – Making Plans for 2018 - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017Collage-300x300.jpg
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. – Will Durant I have mixed feelings about New Year’s resolutions. On the one hand, I’m the kind of girl who needs all the structure she can get. For those of us with disorganized brains, goals that are tied to  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Distracted Writer: 6 Ways to Conquer a Holiday Break - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/HolidayInterruptions-300x300.jpg
I’m writing this on a chilly Georgia morning, the Monday before Thanksgiving, with my peppermint mocha coffee in hand. Like many of my American counterparts, my kids are off school this week and we are gearing up for family and turkey and major indigestion. I have a deadline next week, which is why my kids are enjoying  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Distracted Writer Video: Why Do NaNoWriMo? - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Photo-on-11-1-17-at-8.57-PM-300x300.jpg
Hi, writing friends — If you’re busy starting on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this week, close this browser and go get to work! You can watch this in December! If you’re not currently doing NaNoWriMo, have you considered it? Maybe heard the fuss and wondered whether it would really help you with your writing? Check out  […]
view comments1 Read the rest »

posted on
Featured image for Good Morning, Sunshine: Distracted Writer Habit #1 - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/DW-Habits-1-300x157.jpg
Any other early risers out there? Can I get a shout out? (Or maybe a whisper so we don’t wake everyone else)? Last year, when I had a full-time day job, I got up every morning around 4:30 a.m. to start my writing day (okay, sometimes it was more like 4:38 after the snooze button).  […]
Leave a comment Read the rest »
Older posts
Newer posts