Last week we got to hear from a professional editor, and I hope everyone learned something from that interview, but all of us aspiring writers have to do some editing on our own, too. So, how do you do it? Where do you start? Hardcopy or soft? Come and join us while we discuss that very topic.

Welcome, everyone! Today we bring you a very special episode of the Dead Robots’ Society. In this episode we were fortunate enough to have the chance to interview Nathan Hemmelgarn, a professional editor, to see what life is like on the other side of the red pen of doom. He had plenty of insight to offer, as well as helpful pieces of advice. Come and join us as we pelt Nathan with question after question, testing his ability to stand against fiery oratory assault. It’s exciting and fun!

We at the Dead Robots’ Society are excited to let everyone know that we are hosting a short story contest. If you are interested in joining the fun, here are the rules:

1. The story can be no longer than 5,000 words.

2. The story must involve a robot, though how that occurs is entirely up to you, so be creative! A fantasy story, even a horror story, can involve a robot, so don’t think we’re wanting sci-fi writers only to become involved in this. The robot can be dead, alive, central to the plot, or just one of the many characters you have in your story. We leave its involvement entirely up to you.

3. The story must be submitted by December 31st.

And that’s it! The winner of the contest will win a Dead Robots’ Society t-shirt autographed by the hosts of the show, and of course – if the winning writer permits it – we will display the story on our main site as well as in the forums so that everyone can read it. I hope we get plenty of submissions, and I hope everyone has as much fun with this as we’re planning on having

In this week’s episode we discuss the topic of how writing evolves over time, be it in the outlining phase, in the actual writing phase, or even when it just comes to the ideas. Writing, like all art, is a living thing, and as with all living things, it changes over the course of its life. How hard that process is, or if it’s even allowed to happen at all, is in this show. So, come and listen!