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By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine

In our world today our latest headlines on the news comes from the internet. This is quite different from 30 or 40 years ago. Use to, the first thing people did upon awaking is to open their front door, go outside and pick up their paper thrown earlier by the paper boy. Even though the paper was still thrown on the lawn 20 years ago, the first thing people did upon awakening in the morning to get the news was turn on the TV.

Now, the paper is still thrown but the first thing we grab is our computer, the latest headlines sit on our home page. The world’s news at a glance.

As writers, you and I know ideas for stories are everywhere. You just have to look. Today we don’t even have to go further than our computers to find them. With technology, we can even do our research online.

I can’t help but wonder what will it be like in 20 years. Like with most things in life, our forward movement is the other side of a double-edged sword.  While it is great to have at our fingertips the world, so to speak, we’ve lost the adventure and excitement of experiencing-digging for nuggets.

Somehow, we need to find a balance between the ‘what was’ and the ‘what is’ in all stages. Writers seem to be able to do this. They are able to draw from both worlds…all worlds…the then, the now and the future and sometimes they combine all three. Writing creates stories from all times.