From the Editor

No matter what type of writing you do, the common denominator is that you have to know how to communicate information to others. This may sound easy enough, but only those who have actually tried it know that this road is filled with landmines.

Many factors have an impact on the strength of your writing. The single most significant factor—and the one most easily overlooked—is the brain that produces the writing. No matter how comfortable your chair, no matter how powerful your computer and text processing software, all writing (at least for the foreseeable future) originates in the old-fashioned way, from your brain.

This issue's feature article focusses on a subject that is rife with controversy. That subject is brain research and the related issue of whether genetics or the environment determines our strengths and weaknesses. Clearly, science still has a long way to go toward fully understanding the human brain. Despite the controversy that often surrounds brain research, there can be little doubt that such research is valuable; for the more we know about the brain, the more we can learn about what it means to be human. On a more practical level, brain research can also provide us with the tools to use our brains most effectively, resulting in increased productivity, greater creativity, and ultimately, increased enjoyment of life.

We hope you enjoy our spring issue. Take the time to read the accompanying Editorial Calendar (no longer available), which describes the themes proposed for the remaining issues of Writer's Block for 1996. If any of these themes creates a spark in your brain, and you're interested in sharing it with other Writer's Block readers, we will be happy to hear from you.