Category: Writing

I’m a Word Nerd!

Carl Setzer4 Comments
person holding white ceramci be happy painted mug

Good ol’ Grammarly! I don’t generally pay attention to these updates, but this one struck me.

As I value my writing skills, this made me happy. I’m lapping the competition? Cool!

I’m more productive than average and have higher mastery, too.

And I’m more creative, or at least have a broader vocabulary, than most:

I find this satisfying as I deeply value my communication skills, especially my writing. The hard work I’ve done over the years has benefitted me. Which I find wonderful.

A Blog, A Reflection, And A Recommendation

Carl Setzer6 Comments

My friend Bill posted this earlier today: “Where everyone would love to drown“. Seeing the headline in my inbox, and knowing Bill, my brain connected it to the Stevie Nicks song “Sara”. Google, and its scion YouTube, assisted me as I wanted to listen as I read. Here’s what I played:

Hints of youth, of those people who’ve impacted us greatly, but who fade to myth over the decades. That’s what came to mind for me.

In response, a haiku awakened. True to form, I guess. 

Summers of my youth
Tastes of freedom and heartache
Crowds passing me by

I highly recommend you head over to Bill’s blog, the Pink Lightsaber. He’s a talented writer well worth the gift of attention.

Some thoughts on Bios

Carl Setzer

I was doing some research recently into the all important bio, that “about me” section of every website. I realize that there are some key things in every bio, and then some crucial differentiating elements.

Key things everyone should have in a bio:

  1. Who you are? You know, your name
  2. Company/Brand
  3. What do you do? Current function or role
  4. Values
  5. Your experience
  6. Some accomplishments
  7. A catch phrase is always great

Differentiating Features:

  • Should you write in the first or third person: this depends on your personal brand. Are you a huggy/feely type of person? I recommend a first person bio. One that provides human warmth and connection (using “I” and “me”). Now, if you’re highly professional, very analytical, very interested in keeping that professional boundary, then I recommend a third-person bio (ie: “Carl Setzer is…”, “he believes…”, that sort of thing).

So, like this one, many websites are written about you, so a bio might seem redundant. However, it’s not. It’s a quick overview and a great introduction. Also, a well done bio can be used on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

I recommend you actually start your website efforts with your bio creation. It opens up so very much.

What have I left out? Let me know in the comments. 

Transitions and Next Steps 

Carl Setzer1 Comment

Currently, I’m on a six-week plan to change roles. Permitting and feasibility process (what I’ve done for the past 2.5 years) is not what I want for the rest of my life. And it’s time to do what I love. Mike, the owner of Eagle Country and I worked out the 6 week plan, giving the company time for a transition and me a window to shift. I find this a glorious win-win and am deeply grateful.

​I’m working on transitioning from construction to, ideally, communications. Writing is my first love, and I’ve appreciated every opportunity to do so. I’m also love photography and video. And connecting people delights me.

I define “communications” as this overarching concept encompassing everything from marketing to PR to public affairs to internal comms. I love writing everything from newsletters to creating flyers to PowerPoint presentations.

I have a plan in place. This week I’ll  get my resume out in front of key people, update LinkedIn, my website, Indeed and any other useful websites. And I completed most of all that yesterday. So I’m feeling pretty awesome right now. I need to research what other websites to utilize, if any. Also, I need to work on expanding my list of focus companies.

Boeing is first. As a boy, I fell in love with “space” and aircraft. Growing up in Navy based family gave me visibility to all kinds of aircraft. And at one point I could name off all the different military and civilian aircraft: A6, Tomcat, 707, 747….and on and on. I still get excited watching spacecraft footage.

As a professional, the scale of Boeing and their unique challenges fascinate me. As a truly global company I expect the myriad languages, cultures and time zones to make for interesting and fun challenges. That’s true with both internal and external communication. And I see many opportunities within the current OR challenges the company faces. Challenge presented opportunity.

Other local companies intrigue me, too. Whether Premera here in South Snohomish county, to places I’ve worked before (Microsoft, Starbucks). My goal now is to find work I love. And I’m in my way.

Any advice? Especially web tools and such would be great. Please leave a comment and let me know. Cheers! 

We Quibble And Quarrel, Ignoring The Fire Around Us

Carl Setzer

I’m surrounded by dissention, anger and invective. It makes me want to scream. 

There are so many critical discussions, history making decisions that we need to make as a society and as a species. 

Why do we seek out, aggressively, so many petty things with which to bicker and squabble over? I watch, time and time again, people waste monumental energy over the minor and leave the critical ignored. 

Perhaps it’s easier, and less frightening, to engage with the petty than with the important. It’s also useless. 

“…my mother died. I was with her. She is with me”

Carl Setzer

My mother died when I was 15. The impact lingers to this day.

So this piece by Masaru Goto struck me deeply:

“…my mother died. I was with her. She is with me”

I love the intersection of poetry and photography. I want to explore that myself.

A powerfully moving project.

 

The Need To Write

Carl Setzer
Writing

Part of my brain is itching to write. Usually, there’s something to be said, though. “Oh, I need to blog about this…” coming flowing into my head.

Today, though, there’s just a need to write, to type. Oddly, I’ve spent all day in front of a keyboard, so why spending more time in front of one is compelling escapes me.

One thing I know I need to do to improve my writing: read. I don’t read plain ol’ books much anymore. And I need to fix that.

Sure, writing more is certainly important. But, well, pouring books into my brain is critical, too.

With that, I tried setting an alarm reminding me to turn off all electronics. And that’s just gone off. So, I’m going to wrap this up.

Time to grab a book, made of paper, and turn off this frantic world for awhile.