Bill Conrad's Blog - Posts Tagged "letters"
I Used to Write Many Letters
In 2016, I began my writing adventure. Until that time, I had written a few short stories, some jokes, four miserable patents, and many technical documents. I didn’t consider writing to be a core skill. At best, I considered it to be a tool to help me communicate to known audiences.
Three weeks ago, I cleaned a fireproof case in order to make room for a backup hard drive. Since our house robbery, I’ve become slightly paranoid about backups. Side story into my paranoia. I have: a dual drive that I update every other week (I place it in our “house safe,”) an unreliable backup drive (in another safe,) a “naked” drive in the fireproof case (that I do not intend to update often,) a backup drive at my parent’s house in their safe (that I back up every three years) and an archive folder on my computer “D drive” (that I never remember I have.) Well, at least I’m not burying backup drives in the middle of nowhere… Hmm, that gives me an idea.
My fireproof case contained around 500 pages of hand-written letters from the age of 15-20. I wrote the bulk of these to my girlfriend and kept photocopies of the originals. Why did I keep all these letters and make photocopies? Hmm. Now, this paranoia of multiple hard drives makes a little more sense.
My motivation for shredding the letters came out of the fear of dying. I didn’t want my family to read my personal thoughts from that young age. Why? I have moved on to better challenges. In typical Bill logic, I found all the pages to be in great shape, well organized and stapled together.
As I shredded, I read several pages, and the content shocked me. They contained deep well communicated feelings. I took a deep dive into ideas about life, inventions, the future, friends, events of the day and my passions. I had no idea that I used to write with so much intensity.
I compared these “raw” letters to my present writing, and they looked remarkably similar. I had a knack for freely expressing, opinions and my passions. My style of conveying thoughts followed the same patterns, I used the same verbs and the same overall sentence structure. Yet, I uncovered many differences. Young Bill could not spell to save his life, had no grammar ability, created sentences to nowhere, and he wrote with a limited (repetitive) vocabulary. This is to be expected from a young writer. Side note. My handwriting has degraded.
Writer Bill existed back then. He had passion, drive, and a positive future attitude. He wanted to make a big impression on the world and felt his mind contained all the tools to do so. These vivid descriptions impressed me with their bold attitudes.
I didn’t expect these pages to have any substance and I now understand the source of my writing passion. I began as a good writer. I suppose I knew this fact and didn’t accept my ability for an unknown reason. Side note. When I told my mother that I wanted to write a book, she said, “You were always a great writer.”
Writers require core talent to write anything of substance. They also require passion or at least a healthy respect for the topic. I wrongly assumed that my passion is a recent occurrence.
Three weeks ago, I cleaned a fireproof case in order to make room for a backup hard drive. Since our house robbery, I’ve become slightly paranoid about backups. Side story into my paranoia. I have: a dual drive that I update every other week (I place it in our “house safe,”) an unreliable backup drive (in another safe,) a “naked” drive in the fireproof case (that I do not intend to update often,) a backup drive at my parent’s house in their safe (that I back up every three years) and an archive folder on my computer “D drive” (that I never remember I have.) Well, at least I’m not burying backup drives in the middle of nowhere… Hmm, that gives me an idea.
My fireproof case contained around 500 pages of hand-written letters from the age of 15-20. I wrote the bulk of these to my girlfriend and kept photocopies of the originals. Why did I keep all these letters and make photocopies? Hmm. Now, this paranoia of multiple hard drives makes a little more sense.
My motivation for shredding the letters came out of the fear of dying. I didn’t want my family to read my personal thoughts from that young age. Why? I have moved on to better challenges. In typical Bill logic, I found all the pages to be in great shape, well organized and stapled together.
As I shredded, I read several pages, and the content shocked me. They contained deep well communicated feelings. I took a deep dive into ideas about life, inventions, the future, friends, events of the day and my passions. I had no idea that I used to write with so much intensity.
I compared these “raw” letters to my present writing, and they looked remarkably similar. I had a knack for freely expressing, opinions and my passions. My style of conveying thoughts followed the same patterns, I used the same verbs and the same overall sentence structure. Yet, I uncovered many differences. Young Bill could not spell to save his life, had no grammar ability, created sentences to nowhere, and he wrote with a limited (repetitive) vocabulary. This is to be expected from a young writer. Side note. My handwriting has degraded.
Writer Bill existed back then. He had passion, drive, and a positive future attitude. He wanted to make a big impression on the world and felt his mind contained all the tools to do so. These vivid descriptions impressed me with their bold attitudes.
I didn’t expect these pages to have any substance and I now understand the source of my writing passion. I began as a good writer. I suppose I knew this fact and didn’t accept my ability for an unknown reason. Side note. When I told my mother that I wanted to write a book, she said, “You were always a great writer.”
Writers require core talent to write anything of substance. They also require passion or at least a healthy respect for the topic. I wrongly assumed that my passion is a recent occurrence.
Dictated But Not Read
Nearly every business executive used to have an administrative assistant, and one job is taking notes or recording a verbalized document. Today, computers have become more affordable, which limits this practice, but a few executives still ask their administrative assistants to create documents verbally.
At some point, it became popular to show off the privilege of having an administrative assistant by sending a memo or letter with the phrase “dictated but not read” or the abbreviation “DBNR.” Executives included it to warn readers that they had not reviewed the final document.
Readers were supposed to be impressed with the tremendous power of an executive with an administrative assistant, but the phrase inspired an unintended result. People (probably beginning in the 1960s) without an administrative assistant began including the phrase to impress their readers.
Readers caught onto this deception and treated the phrase like a power play. “If you did not bother to review this document, I should not be bothered to read it.” “You tried to impress me but failed.” “How arrogant.” It is like ending a letter with a mousetrap that snaps at the reader’s fingers.
Most business executives use computers to create their documents, yet this phrase is still in use. A week ago, I received an insurance company junk mail that had this phrase. It made me wonder, “What the heck were you thinking?” Recruiters and human resource managers have told me they always get resume cover letters with this phrase. A former coworker used this phrase in his email signature as a joke. It nearly got him fired when he sent a status update to a vice president. One of my friends was trying to get a grant and included this phrase. He had little success. I wonder why?
What is going on in those people’s minds? “Hey, look at me!” “I want to be important.” “Please fear me.” “You must be prepared for my immense power.” “I need confidence.” “This sounds cool, and I don’t know any better.” “I read this once, and it impressed the heck out of me.”
Taking a deeper dive into writer’s minds, I think some genuinely do not know how offensive they are acting, even with so much evidence. They might lack empathy or awareness. Perhaps they do not understand consequences or good taste.
I suppose including “dictated but not read” initially impressed a few readers, or perhaps it had a legitimate purpose. Now, it is a relic of the past. I should end this article with a power play to impress you, but it would be cliché to use DBNR. I know. Hey Seri. “Yes, Bill.” Please end this article. “I have brought the article to an end.”
You’re the best -Bill
February 7, 2024
At some point, it became popular to show off the privilege of having an administrative assistant by sending a memo or letter with the phrase “dictated but not read” or the abbreviation “DBNR.” Executives included it to warn readers that they had not reviewed the final document.
Readers were supposed to be impressed with the tremendous power of an executive with an administrative assistant, but the phrase inspired an unintended result. People (probably beginning in the 1960s) without an administrative assistant began including the phrase to impress their readers.
Readers caught onto this deception and treated the phrase like a power play. “If you did not bother to review this document, I should not be bothered to read it.” “You tried to impress me but failed.” “How arrogant.” It is like ending a letter with a mousetrap that snaps at the reader’s fingers.
Most business executives use computers to create their documents, yet this phrase is still in use. A week ago, I received an insurance company junk mail that had this phrase. It made me wonder, “What the heck were you thinking?” Recruiters and human resource managers have told me they always get resume cover letters with this phrase. A former coworker used this phrase in his email signature as a joke. It nearly got him fired when he sent a status update to a vice president. One of my friends was trying to get a grant and included this phrase. He had little success. I wonder why?
What is going on in those people’s minds? “Hey, look at me!” “I want to be important.” “Please fear me.” “You must be prepared for my immense power.” “I need confidence.” “This sounds cool, and I don’t know any better.” “I read this once, and it impressed the heck out of me.”
Taking a deeper dive into writer’s minds, I think some genuinely do not know how offensive they are acting, even with so much evidence. They might lack empathy or awareness. Perhaps they do not understand consequences or good taste.
I suppose including “dictated but not read” initially impressed a few readers, or perhaps it had a legitimate purpose. Now, it is a relic of the past. I should end this article with a power play to impress you, but it would be cliché to use DBNR. I know. Hey Seri. “Yes, Bill.” Please end this article. “I have brought the article to an end.”
You’re the best -Bill
February 7, 2024
