Dr. Shaun Duke, Professional Nerd

Editor. Writer. Professor. Host.

What Are Editors Good For?

I’ll tell you. Editors are gatekeepers. The whole purpose of an editor in the publishing business is to weed out the bad and leave only the good. This is especially true in magazine publishing (online or in print). If you think that every story written is good, then you are sadly mistaken. Just because you […]

Ten Things No Writer Should Ever Do

There are a lot of things writers shouldn’t do, but there are some things that a writer really shouldn’t do. Here is a list of ten things no writer should ever do: Send a long-winded biography not limited to your writing career.Not only do we (editors) not give a crap, but your query letter or […]

Curse Them All: Should You Use Them?

I have been reading an action-packed, violent book called Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic recently and the author’s style has brought me to this post. Those who are familiar with Remic are probably used to his unflinching desire to inject curse words liberally into his prose; they are also probably used to his rather detailed […]

Reader Question: Should Writers Have English Degrees?

(For some reason I did not write down the name of the person who asked this question, nor did I write down where it came from. So, if you asked this, please leave me a comment here letting me know so I can give you credit!) I think at one point people thought that they […]

Inspiration Station: 5 Places to Get Inspiration For Your Writing

Inspiration can be difficult to find at times. We get bogged own in our daily lives or succumb to the myth of writer’s block. But these five places might help you open up and get writing again (or expand your creative juices if they’re already flowing): FriendsWho better to get ideas from than your friends? […]

Top Five Tools For Writers (in today’s writing environment)

Every writer has tools. Back in the old days they had a dictionary and/or a thesaurus—typewriters too, of course. When computers came around, it changed things, making it easier for folks to type up manuscripts and print them. Now that we’re easily over two decades past the invention of the personal computer (and I’m guessing […]