Who On Earth is Shawn?
Lifelong Passion for Writing
I started writing as a newspaper journalist while in university, then began writing website content for universities in the mid-1990s when the Internet was new and fresh. From there I ended up writing other kinds of content over the years: 6 mass market books, 12 corporate training books, press releases, educational policies and handbooks, numerous research-based guides, curricula, resumes, and cover letters.
In the midst of this, I have managed a small business, taught English to Italian air force pilots, and traveled throughout Asia and Europe.
My journey has taken me to work in Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Central Asia. In Taiwan I created training courses for a division of the World Trade Center, writing my own materials for them. My office was in the building shown by the arrow in the image.
In Saudi Arabia I helped set up the preparatory program for their first co-educational undergraduate university. I authored all of the Social Services policies and 80% of the original Academic policies.
Currently, I focus my writing efforts on content for websites and social media. I love studying a variety of topics, and distiling the information into easy-to-understand, insightful articles.
My life mission is to help people recognize their talents, and encourage them to succeed. Helping business websites attract more readers is satisfying. Helping professional social media users gain a following or attract more clients is a pleasure. When businesses and individuals shine outwardly, I shine inwardly. (Does that make sense?)
In addition to my writing, also serve as an Assistant Professor of English Philology at an international university. Since I am not conducting academic research at work any more, I have a handful of office hours each week, usually, to write articles. I also use a couple hours each evening, and a few on Saturdays. Writing is my passion, even since childhood, so I’d rather be researching and writing than doing other things.
After a short time, I will be leaving university work and devoting my full-time efforts to writing — and probably to training other freelancers and businesspeople.
P.S. My university degrees are in Political Science, Counseling Administration, and Curriculum & Instruction. I also have graduate coursework in International Relations. In addition to formal academic study, I have dove into a variety of topics for a few decades. In the last decade, I added cryptocurrency as a study topic; and more recently have been studying how businesspeople use AI for research, writing, and data display.