Shorthand pad in hand with the stubby little pencil, running from one headline story to the next; the picture of a journalist. That is how I always viewed them anyway, how things have changed through the times of internet, computers and word processing programs. Technology is brilliant, time saving and the question always comes up; what did we do without it? We somehow managed to cope.

Things have changed with the ability of electronic submission. Nowadays we write the article, paste it into an email and off it goes within a few seconds the editor has the mail in front of them and they almost ready to print it.

Electronic submission of your article or articles is not only a time saving concept, but consider all the trees you are saving without using all that paper for your notes, draft, second draft and final submission.

One has to take into the account that processes like electronic submission have contributed to our way of life in these current times. Has it contributed on a positive basis or has it just increased the pace at which we are expected to submit articles or complete our work. I believe it has had more of a complementary role than anything else, it has freed up so much more time and less effort is required for the electronic submission of completed work than a physical written article.

I say this because how many times have you sat down and started writing an article and thrown the pad down because it just does not make sense. So you restart on the next page, maybe after taking a walk around the office or house to get the creative juices flowing again. You start your article again and you are stumped; I know this happens because it has happened to me on numerous occasions.

Even after you have completed your draft and then finally got the finished product ready for submission, you would then have had to pop it into an envelope and drive off to the post office or whichever you use for your mail distribution and send it off manually. This is where the tricky part can also come in, what happens if the article or the submission goes missing in the mail process; this has also happened before. With electronic submission it is almost impossible to lose something in the mail.

With electronic submission, as well as the use of the technology we have at our disposal. We merely type up the article in a word processing software package, check for errors relating to spelling and grammar, double check that it reads well and conveys the thoughts and messages we are intending to convey, and then send it.

Electronic submission can be via email, file transfers over instant messaging programs or via the user interface of your selected article directory. By embracing the positive aspects that technology has to offer, like electronic submission of your work, will increase your productivity whilst reducing potential problems.

Electronic submission of your articles, works in your favor, whilst utilizing the technology to your benefit and saving you time, money and frustration.