🦋 💜 🌿

How are you doing?

Man, I love fall. It is amazing how the shift to September brings a certain smell and feeling in the air. It screams fall to me and I love it.

Even though I am in Wisconsin, a state where winters can be very intense, and this shift means winter is coming,

I still love fall so much.

The other big news in my life is that my baby has been standing and scooting along our furniture. And standing in the crib when he should be sleeping, Oy. Don’t get me started.

I have been getting out of the house more, taking him on lots of little adventures to take his mind off the latest tooth coming in, and he sure does love talking to strangers.

And, lately, I have been feeling the bug to email you about something very important.

Let’s talk about typos.

TYPOS ARE NOT A BIG DEAL FOLKS,

AND ACTUALLY THEY ARE KINDOF AWESOME.

Why? Let’s get into it.

As a writing coach, I’ve held the hand of many people who wanted to write.

There is usually something in the way, mentally, emotionally, or even physically.

Being afraid that your writing isn’t that good, or not good enough, or will be criticized is one of the most common fears.

I’ve seen the way that fear can cripple people from even starting to write.

AND, I’ve seen the inner demons come out when a typo is discovered in their already published writing.

I’ll be completely honest with you—I make errors.

I have found typos in my published blog online.

So have other people. I survived.

I once had a client freak out about finding a typo on my blog. It was a free Tarot reading, which is something I did for fun and as a free service to my community.

The meaning of these readings is something deep that many people have complimented me on,

but they only saw the typo and asked me to refund their money because they didn’t want to work with me anymore.

To me, this was a good thing to see this person walk away.

The thing is that I have written so frequently, over 20 plus years, that I understand typos will happen.

I am not Steven King and I don’t have the means or the time to obsess about every single thing I write, or have a second or third editor check it out. It would be easy for me to never publish anything out of fear of having typos.

But I am not that afraid of it because I just accept it will happen. I do my best but it happens.

Beyond that, if anyone is PAYING me, though, then I am a lot more careful. There are several other layers of proofreading to catch and delete any typos.

But still, you can’t control everything.

One time I proofread some writing for a client 3-4 times, got someone else to proofread it as well, and then when I sent it to the client,

they introduced their own errors into it and blamed me.

Apparently when you copy and paste text, typos can just appear out of thin air!!

How crazy is that?

Even though they could never find the typo in my original document, whatever typos they found in their own copy that they made was still my fault somehow….

ANYWAY.

The point is that typos happen.

And you can’t really control that.

So Accept It.

Freaking out about typos and making it mean that someone (you) is a bad writer, is just not true.

It’s called

BEING A HUMAN BEING IN AN IMPERFECT UNIVERSE,

OKAY??

And these days, having a typo or two is a badge of honor.

Typos are awesome.

It means you actually wrote something yourself, and you didn’t use a robot to write everything.

A lot of people are using chat gpt and AI to write. The internet is quickly being taken over by drivel that any computer can create.

The original texts are dwindling. The typos are going away but at what cost?!

The internet is so boring now and you can’t trust anything it says.

I searched what to do about a tiny hair falling in my son’s eye and the AI response on google told me to use tweezers to get it out. HELLO, that is a terrible idea!!! Never do that!

[Sidenote: I wrote a whole post about my thoughts on AI and how you can use it to some degree to create awesome writing. I explain how right here. In contrast, in this email, I’m talking about the worst kind of Ai writing, which is becoming very common.]

But this takeover from the AI overlords and their terrible writing has a bright side:

It means that you and your original voice have never been

more valuable,

more unique, or

more special.

Your typos show your humanity.

So wear your typos like a badge of pride.

They declare to the world:

I AM A HUMAN BEING.

Unfortunately, there is a hitch.

You will also have to accept that some people will judge you for having a typo.

Oh, well.

The sooner you let go of trying to control the way that other people see you and stop trying to get them to perceive you as perfect, the better.

Trying to control that is a losing battle. I would know because I fought that battle for a loooooong time. It’s pretty exhausting and unrewarding.

And eventually, I learned that life can be pretty good without being perfect.

What is better than being perfect?

Being free.

Being yourself.

Being allowed to express yourself and your humanity.

Being allowed to exist here as you are.

This is how I live and it’s not so bad. And it’s a lot more practical.

I was never perfect before but I sure do not have the time to be perfect anymore.

I’m a mom now.

If you see a typo in my writing, just imagine my kid started crying or needed me.

That’s probably why I didn’t give it that one extra millionth pass to check for typos.

(I am sure I did check once or twice but things get missed, it happens.)

Remember that if people judge you,

you probably don’t want that sort of perfectionist energy in your life anyway.

At least I don’t.

It doesn’t feel good to be the focus of that. So let it slid away and accept the domino effect of that. You do your best, stuff happens, but at the end of the day you can only control so much and then you just have to move on.

As an Editor

A lot of people think editor = proofreader, but that isn’t true.

There are many kinds of editors.

I am a developmental editor, not a proofreader.

Proofreaders are the final line of defense against typos.

I’m going to be honest with you that I miss a few typos here and there sometimes, but my real strength is helping people to improve their writing on the deepest level.

DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING

My Approach

• I make your message clear — I help readers understand the points you make in your writing.
  
• I bring forward the best of what you have written so readers can see the beauty in your unique writing style and personality.
  
• I take drafts my clients have written and make them better, especially spiritual nonfiction, memoir, self-help, or content a business is using for marketing.

What I Don’t Do

• Basic proofreading or copyediting (different than copywriting).
  
• Simple Stuff: I want to do more than basic corrections of spelling and grammar with an eye for what is textbook right. I will correct these things, though, if I am working through a chapter, sentence by sentence, in depth. But my focus is going deeper.
  
• Proofreading: I recommend my developmental editing clients find an additional set of eyes to proofread the work after I am done.
  
• Picky stuff: It’s possible I may miss minor items, like commas or small typos, because I’m working to change your writing on a deeper level into the best work possible
  
• Fiction: I have edited fiction, but editing fiction is not currently my focus.

Here are some of the books I’ve edited:

Follow the Clues: Living Your Life as a Grand Experiment with Curiosity, Courage, and Creativity by Andrea Hylen

“Thank you, Sofia Wren, for reading my words, polishing them, and offering ideas that inspired each round of developing this book. Your encouragement and wisdom helped me keep writing and reminded me that there were people who might benefit from the way I see the world. This book is complete because of your safe, loving, and enthusiastic support. Big hugs!”

-Andrea Hylen

Where Rainbows Bloom: A Memoir of Art and Survival.

Also a new book by Kim Lavinder will be coming out soon:

“I highly recommend Sofia for any deep editing needs you may have for your nonfiction writing. I had spent two years working on editing my own memoir, the whole time wondering if my story was too boring, revealed too much, etc. to be shared with the public, and whether or not it was written in a way that would allow readers to understand the messages I was hoping to convey. I reached out to Sofia and am so glad I did!

My story includes things from my past that I’m not proud of, but that helped shape me into the person I am today. I felt safe working with her as she is not a judgmental person. She absolutely helped refine, clarify, and strengthen my story via her exceptional insight and deep editing skills. I have complete confidence now putting my book out there, thanks to Sofia!”

~ Kim Lavinder, Artist, Bluewavecottage.com

​A Radical Approach to the Akashic Records: Master Your Life and Raise Your Vibration by Melissa Feick. This is an international best seller for several years.

​Quantum Akashic Records Manifesting: Unlocking the Spiritual Keys to Wealth, Success, and Limitless Growth, by Melissa Feick.

“I highly recommend this talented woman. This is a quote I texted Sofia the other day “Your work is amazing. I love what you ve done for me and the book!”

-Melissa Feick, Spiritual Teacher & International Bestseller

How I work with my editing clients

People fall into two buckets:

A. People who are totally done their drafts.

If you are done your draft and ready for an editor to take a look, go to my contact page and fill out the form, and I can start editing your work this month!

B. People who are still working on their writing.

I also offer coaching to help you finish your writing, talk about your ideas along the way, and so much more.

If you’d like some gentle developmental editing along the way, a few pages here and there, then take a look at my deep coaching program, below!

I currently have an opening for a deep coaching client!

1. Who is deep coaching for?​
   
   ​Deep coaching is for people with these sorts of writing goals:
   
   
   
   I. Personal Track:
   
   You want your writing to feel more fun and authentic, because it feels good, whether you aim to share it with others or not.
   
   You want to get into a flow, write, leave your hangups behind, and feel more genius.
   
   You want to feel more best friend vibes: from others and, yes, from yourself. When writing and always!
   
   
   
   
   ​II. Business & Professional Track:
   
   You want more fans, friends, or followers– The kind that GET you.
   
   You understand that making powerful connections with more people can assist you in your career as a writer or business owner.
   
   You want to develop and hone your writing so you can connect with more readers in a positive way via your website, content, emails, salespages, books, etc.
   
   
   
   
   
2. What is included?
   
   —6 months with 3 Private Check-ins per month​
   
   You can talk to me weekly about your writing goals, progress, or general feelings and thoughts. I’m here to support, suggest ideas and answer your questions. This is over text and audio notes 🙂
   
   
   
   —Submit up to 6 pages of writing for (optional) weekly feedback, or 3 pages if you want line-by-line edits.
   
   $1500 value​
   
   
   —6 Months access to Sofia’s Vault
   
   I will recommend specific resources from my vault of past classes and programs that will help you with your personal writing, business, or life goals.
   
   $333 value

“Working with Sofia has been an absolute game-changer for my process as a writer. I began working with Sofia as a personal writing coach with the goal of breaking through creative blocks and further defining the scope of my work and my writing style.

Through weekly Voxer exchanges, Sofia was able to compassionately witness and reflect back some of the themes in my thought process and help me better hone in on my “why” as a writer — and as a person.

Her style of relating is personable and reflective and, each week, she provided excellent tips, resources, and wisdom that helped me dive deeper into my own process of self-discovery and emergence.

Sofia is also a wonderful editor, who is highly experienced in critiquing a variety of text types and I benefited from her developmental editing throughout the process of undergoing coaching with her.

Overall, my experience of coaching with Sofia has helped me become more authentic, strategic, and soul-led in my life as a creator and writer, and I would highly recommend her as a writing and personal development coach for anyone looking to deepen, expand, or sharpen their practice as a writer/creator.”

~ Heidi Joy, writer and content creator

Interested?

Visit my contact page and fill out the form to let me know you are interested in deep coaching or editing and we can talk more about it.

Or read more / see my portfolio here.

Have a good weekend!

🦋 💜 🌿

How are you doing?

I feel a deep urge to share a story with you.

There’s one revelation that not only changed the course of my career as an entrepreneur and writer, but has also changed my life.

When I started my business, I began working 50 hours a week and did everything I could think of to be successful. After a year of this, I still wasn’t making much money so I knew I needed to do something different.

One day I started writing letters to the soul of my business.

I was inspired by Hiro Boga who teaches that everything in the universe, including businesses, has a spirit that you can communicate with. I began my letter by asking, “What can I do to make my business profitable while doing meaningful work? How can I use my business to fulfill my life purpose and serve others?”

After pouring out my questions and anxieties, I imagined what my business would say in response. To my surprise the answer was to take walks. I was skeptical at first. How could taking walks possibly help? That didn’t feel like real work.

But I still decided to give it a shot. I imagined my business having like an authoritative voice like a real boss and I just did what it told me to do.

I started taking my walks, and gradually, I found more clarity. I began to breathe slower and quiet my racing thoughts during these breaks outside. I realized how frantic I had become: chasing every strategy to grow my business, working myself to the bone without enough rest and spending hours marketing myself on social media.

None of those things were the answer, otherwise they would have worked by that point. It only led me to feeling more stressed and more anxious to do more. I was caught in a cycle, where I wasn’t advancing my career, my business or my writing. I had to let that go.

Instead, I realized something that went against all my patterns:

what I really needed was to slow down.

To do that I needed to get present. That is how I would have my most genius ideas, by connecting to my intuition and the voice of what I was working on, my writing and my business. I had to turn down the noise of the do-do-do impulse I habitually get into. This wasn’t an easy shift, and I frequently resisted it. I pingponged back and forth from my old ways into new ones over and over again. Maybe it is my deepest life lesson.

But eventually, I learned how to listen to myself better. I embraced more empty space in my schedule. And from that space of quiet listening, I started to trust that my career had a path it wanted to take me on.

My business and my writing had a direction for me to take as a human being, too.

In other words–the universe had a plan for me and I needed to surrender rather than try to force and control it all. I learned to follow the heartbeat of my path with curiosity and openness.

I found new self compassion as a way to address uncomfortable feelings rather than suppressing them with social media scrolling or constantly being in motion, doing doing doing.

My life is different now in so many ways.

I’ve had my business over 10 years. I’m a mom now.

And professionally, I’m a writing coach, editor, and marketing consultant for entrepreneurs and writers.

I have a lot of successful clients that have enjoyed my ways of helping them write for their book or business. They often find it makes them a better human, too.

If you’d like to get help with your writing, in a way that supports your personal evolution, contact me. We can find out what your book or business is saying to you…

Lesson is: Whatever that little voice is telling you to do, do it.

I currently have an opening for a deep coaching client!

1. Who is deep coaching for?
   
   Deep coaching is for people with these sorts of writing goals:
   
   I. Personal Track:
   
   You want your writing to feel more fun and authentic, because it feels good, whether you aim to share it with others or not.
   
   You want to get into a flow, write, leave your hangups behind, and feel more genius.
   
   You want to feel more best friend vibes: from others and, yes, from yourself. When writing and always!
   
   
   ​II. Business & Professional Track:
   
   You want more fans, friends, or followers– The kind that GET you.
   
   You understand that making powerful connections with more people can assist you in your career as a writer or business owner.
   
   You understand that making powerful connections with more people can assist you in your career as a writer or business owner.
   
   
   
2. What is included?
   
   —6 months with 3 Private Check-ins per month
   
   You can talk to me weekly about your writing goals, progress, or general feelings and thoughts. I’m here to support, suggest ideas and answer your questions. This is over text and audio notes 🙂
   
   —Submit up to 6 pages of writing for (optional) weekly feedback, or 3 pages if you want line-by-line edits.
   
   $1500 value​
   
   —6 Months access to Sofia’s Vault
   
   I will recommend specific resources from my vault of past classes and programs that will help you with your personal writing, business, or life goals.
   
   $333 value

---

Testimonials

“Thank you, Sofia Wren, for reading my words, polishing them, and offering ideas that inspired each round of developing this book. Your encouragement and wisdom helped me keep writing and reminded me that there were people who might benefit from the way I see the world. This book is complete because of your safe, loving, and enthusiastic support. Big hugs!”

~ Andrea Hylen, author of Follow the Clues
​

“I highly recommend Sofia for any deep editing needs you may have for your nonfiction writing. I had spent two years working on editing my own memoir, the whole time wondering if my story was too boring, revealed too much, etc. to be shared with the public, and whether or not it was written in a way that would allow readers to understand the messages I was hoping to convey. I reached out to Sofia and am so glad I did! My story includes things from my past that I’m not proud of, but that helped shape me into the person I am today. I felt safe working with her as she is not a judgmental person. She absolutely helped refine, clarify, and strengthen my story via her exceptional insight and deep editing skills. I have complete confidence now putting my book out there, thanks to Sofia!”

~ Kim Lavinder, Artist, Bluewavecottage.com

“Working with Sofia has been an absolute game-changer for my process as a writer. I began working with Sofia as a personal writing coach with the goal of breaking through creative blocks and further defining the scope of my work and my writing style. Through weekly Voxer exchanges, Sofia was able to compassionately witness and reflect back some of the themes in my thought process and help me better hone in on my “why” as a writer — and as a person. Her style of relating is personable and reflective and, each week, she provided excellent tips, resources, and wisdom that helped me dive deeper into my own process of self-discovery and emergence. Sofia is also a wonderful editor, who is highly experienced in critiquing a variety of text types and I benefited from her developmental editing throughout the process of undergoing coaching with her. Overall, my experience of coaching with Sofia has helped me become more authentic, strategic, and soul-led in my life as a creator and writer, and I would highly recommend her as a writing and personal development coach for anyone looking to deepen, expand, or sharpen their practice as a writer/creator.”

~ Heidi Joy, writer and content creator

Interested?

Visit my contact page and fill out the form to let me know you are interested, and we can talk more about it.

Or read more / see my portfolio here.

Have a good weekend!

🦋 💜 🌿 How have you been?

The last few months have been so full of mom milestones for me as I watch my little baby grow up:

he got his first tooth,

began to crawl,

said his first words (Hungry, Hello and Up!),

went to the pool and

so much more.

I’m popping in because I wanted to make sure you saw my latest interview, the first I’ve recorded since I became a mom!

Slow, Steady Growth with Andrea Hylen

You can apply this slow, steady approach to life and writing.

As an editor and book coach, this has been an exciting year as I’ve gotten to witness two of my clients have published their beautiful books.

Both of these wonderful writers did an amazing job embracing the slow, steady growth mindset as they worked on their book and ultimately they got to the finish line with a sense of completion.

Andrea Hylen is one of these writers, and she shares about the process of writing Follow the Clues in the podcast.

Kim Lavinder is the second writer, and she published Where Rainbows Bloom. She had some nice words about the podcast and her experience writing in a slow and steady way:

Thanks Kim!!

So dear reader, I hope you also enjoy the podcast where we talk more about the slow and steady approach to growth and writing. Click here to watch or listen.

Do you need help finding the right words?

Or help to get your writing done?

Keep me in mind if you need help with your writing or editing!

To explore working together on your writing for your book, business, or personal journey, visit my contact page, fill out the form, and we can talk more.

Thanks for reading

me and my baby <3

🦋 💜 🌿 How have you been?

I am back for my monthly-ish update on postpartum life as a writer, entrepreneur and new mom.

Things are going pretty well. I have survived my son’s first cold, and all the exhaustion that entailed.

Luckily neither the baby nor us, his parents, got any extreme symptoms, but we certainly had little rest for a week.

I’ve had some great news that my client, friend and mentor Andrea Hylen has completed and published her book Follow the Clues! I’ll share about that below.

If you need any inspiration, I’m also sharing my favorite writing prompt.

It’s been nice finding a little bit more time to write this past month 🙂 you know, when I can spare a few minutes.

Follow the Clues

Andrea Hylen’s new book, Follow the Clues, is out on Amazon now!

I had the pleasure of getting to be the developmental editor on this project, which has included reading the book, offering suggestions, and being a companion to support its completion over the last year or so.

This book is a great tool to have on your journey, if you are someone who is working out what to do next, uncertain about your direction or aching to do something new in your life or career path.

I’m a big Andrea Hylen fan, having known and learned from her for around a decade.

I think this book distills down a ton of her wisdom into one easy place to go any time you need inspiration, guidance, or a point in the right direction.

Read her book, available here.

Thank you, Sofia Wren, for reading my words, polishing them, and offering ideas that inspired each round of developing this book.

Your encouragement and wisdom helped me keep writing and reminded me that there were people who might benefit from the way I see the world.

This book is complete because of your safe, loving, and enthusiastic support. Big hugs!

– Andrea Hylen, author of Follow the Clues

(Visit my contact page and fill out the form if you’d like help to write or edit your nonfiction book! I’m happy to help, let’s talk about it. Email me today.)

My Absolute Favorite Writing Prompt

Whenever I’m at a loss about what to write or what to do, I do this:

I write a letter to myself.

It’s a way to clear the cache, to empty myself out of all my thoughts and feelings.

These are the things that get in the way of clarity. These are the things that contain information about my desires. This is how I know what is important to do next.

I empty myself out and then discover what comes next.

It begins, “Dear me,” and continues with anything that is on my heart and mind.

When I feel empty of the feelings, thoughts and questions then I imagine what my wise self would say back. I wonder what its advice would be, and then I write that down.

All that is left at the end is to put what I have learned to use and take any advised actions. That’s it!

Give this prompt a try, even if you only have a few minutes right now. You will enjoy it, I promise.

Thanks for reading

🦋 💜 🌿 How have you been?

I am popping into what has turned into a monthly-ish update on postpartum life as a writer, entrepreneur and now mom.

It’s been extra busy as now both my husband and I have begun working. Our baby is now almost 5 months old.

I watch the baby more since I work at home, and breastfeed. We’ve been ironing out some help the past few months to open up more time for me to work and do necessary things.

There’s always something to do!

Since my life has changed drastically being a mom, I have to give thanks for the things I did in the past

Some things I did have prepared me for this point in a practical way, like buying a bin of second hand baby clothes.

But other things just filled my soul ahead of time.

I’ve always been a speed demon and so it would have been easy to dismiss the part of me that likes to ‘waste time.’

Sometimes self care or hobbies or going slow feels like a move that will put me farther away from other goals,

but I think knowing in the back of my head I might end up being a mother gave me extra motivation to take the time while I had it.

I’m sharing in case it also inspires you to do something for yourself today.

Things I did:

I enjoyed my cup of coffee in the morning slowly.

I sat on my balcony and read through my Get Fired Commonplace Book every morning for a summer to help me find new fire and motivation.

I decluttered my apartment and got rid of a lot of old things bit by bit.

I explored my colors, discovered I am a subtle autumn, and played with different ways to wear my hair and highlight it.

I went to Italy a time or two.

I worked on becoming more optimistic one week at a time.

I spent time with my husband and talking about the things we wanted to work on and work towards together.

I bought stickers and used them in my journal. I played with Tarot Cards.

I took time to digitally organize all my ideas, and digitize old journals in Obsidian, the free program I teach in my course, here.

Now that I am a mom, I can see I was 1000% correct in pursuing things that matter to no one else but myself.

They are now a complete luxury that for the most part I have no time for.

If I do have time for it, it is because I’m paying someone else to watch my child, so there’s basically a tax on enjoying those things now.

One thing that also helped me on all levels and is paying off in my life now is paying a lot of attention to the things that prevented me from feeling optimistic and only brought me stress.

My relationship to time was giving me anxiety. Social media was stressing me out. Politics, as well. My phone was something I was addicted to.

I limited those stressful things and did things that felt good. Now as a mom, it’s easier for me not to be on my phone most of the time.

Overall I made an effort to slow down and that helped me prepare for the many slow moments as a mom.

I took walks and went outside. I got in touch with my feelings instead of using a phone to numb them. I let go of the need to be on social media all the time. I stopped checking the news constantly.

I had a life with hobbies and little pleasures….

And thank goodness for that.

Honestly, I feel like I have to put many of these things on the shelf for a while.

I’ll have to revisit many of these things one day when I don’t have a tiny baby, but at least I filled my tank with those experiences while I could.

Does this inspire you to pursue something slow and soft for yourself?

You never know when life will change and take away your time and energy, so make sure to reserve some of that for yourself while you can!

Two More Fun Things

1. Where Rainbows Bloom

I have received a copy of Kim Lavinder’s new book and it is gorgeous!

I was lucky enough to be part of the team; I did the developmental edits for her memoir.

It’s a gorgeous coffee table book for anyone in need of a boost of art, healing and inspiration. It includes dozens of her lovely watercolor prints.

Contact Kim here for a copy of her lovely book.

[[Sidenote: if you need help editing your book, contact me here!]]

“I highly recommend Sofia for any deep editing needs you may have for your nonfiction writing. I had spent two years working on editing my own memoir, the whole time wondering if my story was too boring, revealed too much, etc. to be shared with the public, and whether or not it was written in a way that would allow readers to understand the messages I was hoping to convey. I reached out to Sofia and am so glad I did!
​

My story includes things from my past that I’m not proud of, but that helped shape me into the person I am today. I felt safe working with her as she is not a judgmental person. She absolutely helped refine, clarify, and strengthen my story via her exceptional insight and deep editing skills. I have complete confidence now putting my book out there, thanks to Sofia!”
​

~ Kim Lavinder, Artist, Bluewavecottage.com

2. Butterfly in the Sky

Want to watch something inspirational?

As a child of the 80s and 90s, and a lover of books, I’m really grateful for this documentary about Reading Rainbow.

It seriously lit up my heart and made me cry.

​It is on Netflix until May 23, so see if while you can.

—

I have been asked if I am coaching clients right now.

Yes – and if you are interested in getting coached to write, see this page about my 2 month coaching program.

I help with nonfiction books, blogs, sales pages, marketing emails, writing for your soul, and more.

There’s also a lot of information on my page about coaching for 6 months, and how I can help with both personal and business writing goals–but I often recommend starting with a smaller commitment like 2 months.

If you are interested in getting coached on your writing or marketing copy, visit my contact page and fill out the form, and we can talk more!

I have limited spots available and a few people have been asking, so don’t wait tooooo long if it is speaking to you.

Thanks for reading

Get writing with me:

* Activate your writing: Self-study 7 Layer Writing Activation E-Course 

* Get motivated + optimistic: Self-study Optimism Program

* Write to serve others: 2 Month Faster Progress Package

* Organize your ideas: Self-study Digital Organization Club

🦋 💜 🌿 How is your week going?

This month my husband returned to work after paternity leave so we’ve been making a lot of adjustments.

Some days are harder than others.

Being a mom, I’m holding a lot of balls in the air, and while I certainly have my brains at work daily, I just don’t feel like I have a lot of writing ideas top of mind day to day the way I used to.

It’s strange because for the past 25-ish years that I’ve been publishing my writing online, I’ve rarely been low on ideas.

In fact my bigger problem was which idea to start with, or how to not overwhelm other people with the sheer force and complexity of all I had to say.

Thankfully coming up with an idea, and iterating off an old idea are totally different things.

And I did something very, very smart in the past that prepares me with more ideas than I could use in a decade.

I did not do this

Now let me just say what I didn’t do as I prepared to take a long break from my business

–I thought about doing this but I didn’t–

When I knew I would be going on maternity leave as a business owner, I didn’t write six weeks of emails or three months of emails to send you and get that all ready ahead of time. I’ve seen a lot of people do that for a maternity leave.

I didn’t do that.

Why not? I was busy. I was low energy.

I had other things to do to get ready for a baby.

Also my other business’s website exploded just before I gave birth and solving that problem basically sapped any professional energy I had remaining.

Mostly I just didn’t feel like it.

I don’t really believe in subjecting other people to content that I’m not excited about sharing. I feel like if I am not excited about writing something and am just clocking it in, how can I expect other people to get their interest up to read it when I can’t get interested in writing it?

Sidenote–That’s why I’m not super crazy about people using ai writing generation just to fill their content calendars with stuff.

You can use technology to help you but you still need good ideas to start with.

When I see a lot of stuff in my inbox, I just think, “Please just let me know when you have something interesting, original or exciting to say. Don’t just waste my time with ai slop just to say you checked the box of shooting out an email.” Ya know?

What I did instead

The thing that has set me up with years of ideas as a new mom isn’t something I hear people talking about.

I started this before I even got pregnant. And I didn’t do it with pregnancy or childbirth or childrearing in mind at all.

I started to organize my ideas.

I started to keep track of them for the long term.

I made a system and I filled it with ideas gradually, and that system remains one of the best resources that I have.

It was an investment of time and energy that has duplicated itself many times over.

Freezing Your Ideas to Eat Later

It’s like how recently I have gotten really into Souper Cubes, which is a way to freeze food in individual portions.

I’m all about creating a freezer stockpile right now. Home cooked food is basically essential to my survival because I have a lot of food allergies, so imagine the struggle of fitting in 2x daily cooking with a newborn baby. HARD.

What is easier? Making a huge batch every time I cook and then freezing what we can’t immediately eat. So then later, when there is no time, I can just defrost it really quick for a nearly instant meal.

Goodbye Churn and Burn Content

Organizing your ideas is sort of like that as well. It’s freezing an idea for later,

but here is one big difference:

Unlike eating the frozen soup you made a month ago, when you use an idea for content or writing you don’t really diminish your stockpile. You only ADD to it.

You may think–no way, Sofia, if I use an idea it is gone and then I need to come up with more…

We live in a churn and burn society where everyone feels like they have to write new material for their marketing or social media every day. Use it, share it, and then it’s gone and you need to think of something new. You start over daily.

I did this for ten years on social media. And I’m over it.

I said goodbye to that mentality over a year ago.

Now I would rather spend the time writing (just like my cooking) on something substantial.

I want to cook up a BIG meal with a lot of servings: a meaty article, or a juicy idea, that I can reshare, repost, edit with a twist and use again and again for years.

Good ideas are ones you can reuse repeatedly.

And since I reduced my emphasis on social media content, and began organizing and connecting my ideas, and spinning them into more meaningful writing…

I have been much more fulfilled with the things I have written and it’s possible to dine out on them (so to speak) many times over again.

When you repeat your content or ideas or writing, you may thing people are sick of it but most of the time they never saw it the first time or don’t remember, or appreciate a reminder. So it’s fine.

AND when you share something again, you can edit it with new insight, fix it up a little.

Then it becomes better and better.

The thing about art is that it is iterative, and doesn’t have to be done except when you say it is done.

You can probably keep improving it each time you revisit it in the future.

In SUM

My baby is playing with my babysitter right now. He hasn’t been napping super well today. I could be called away at any moment.

I don’t have time to waste anymore.

So I’m thankful that I spent the time I had before the baby ENJOYING the process of walking through the garden of my ideas,

organizing my journal entries,

categorizing old ideas and filing them away,

creating a digital organization system

so I could use the writing and ideas I already have for years on end.

It saves me so much time now, it makes me so much more genius even on my worst day.

And I don’t have to worry about “mombrain” making me forget all of my ideas.

They are written down and I know how to find them.

Cool, huh?

I recommend it to everyone. Freeze your ideas for later. Put them into a digital organization system (or an analog system if you prefer that).

And if you are scratching your head unsure HOW to do that exactly, well, then I have something for you.

Ready to freeze your ideas?

Do you want to learn how to organize your ideas?

I have a digital organization system I created to hold all my ideas for writing and business.

Previously I have taught my method and recorded all the materials, which you can access for a very low price.

Click here if you want to get off the daily creation hamsterwheel and fill your freezer with years of ideas that will stand the test of time.

—

I have been asked if I am coaching clients right now.

Yes – and if you are interested in getting coached to write, see this page about my 2 month coaching program.

I help with nonfiction books, blogs, sales pages, marketing emails, writing for your soul, and more.

There’s also a lot of information on my page about coaching for 6 months, and how I can help with both personal and business writing goals–but I often recommend starting with a smaller commitment like 2 months.

If you are interested in getting coached on your writing or marketing copy, contact me about your goals, and we can talk more!

I have limited spots available and a few people have been asking, so don’t wait tooooo long if it is speaking to you.

Thanks for reading

🦋 💜 🌿 How is your week going?

This week an old post I wrote on facebook started circulating again. It got a lot of comments. It was me announcing that I needed space from Instagram and facebook.

It’s funny because I wrote it a year ago, and have been enjoying how not-on-my-radar posting on Facebook feels. I love the mental space.

But some people just noticed it and responded to it like it was new that I wasn’t on there as much. Someone said they wanted to hear updates about what I was up to.

That inspired me to write this! As an email not a Facebook post.

These days as a mom, email is so much more efficient because I won’t get sidetracked by something I see on the feed.

I do scroll Facebook a little (and regret it half the time), because I got bored breastfeeding or because something I need is on there.

It’s so easy to get distracted and forget the point of why I was on Facebook, though, and it makes me not feel as present with my son after I get off of it, so I don’t like doing it much.

Anyway I wanted to address that question, “What am I up to?”

I’m a mom of a 9 and a half week baby. He recently went through a growth spurt. He’s only been napping during the day on top of me or my husband’s body.

I don’t know if the baby has changed his mind about that yet. I figure when my husband’s paternity leave ends in a week, I’ll try to put him in the crib for day naps more, but we can stick to the contact naps for now since we have two people trading off.

I like to spend my contact nap shift watching TV, which is one of my few bits of leisure. Bridgerton’s new season is good. The Last Thing He Told Me on Apple TV with Jennifer Gardner was compelling.

I like to spend my husband’s nap shift doing chores like dishes, laundry, or essentials like feeding us all, taking medicinal epsom salt baths, using the toilet, doing PT exercises, or working on my business taxes.

Sometimes I don’t have a lot of time. A thing I do to multitask is to eat my food in the tub. I know it sounds really unhygienic, but I just hold a bowl or plate above the water while I soak my legs, and it’s a great timesaver for a new mom.

You never know when the baby will wake up to cut a warm meal or a warm bath short. The baths are to melt my aches, not primarily about becoming more zen, but they can help with that as well.

I like to watch my husband and my baby together. The baby laughed for the first time this past week, at my husband, of course. The pair is very cute. And the baby is cute alone, when he’s just with me, asleep or playing.

We both constantly talk to the baby, which is what you are supposed to do to make them smarter, but it’s also just how we amuse ourselves. We also make up songs.

The baby may need me to stop writing soon. My bowl of soup sits forgotten as I write this…I should eat some…

I try to write when I can. I like writing emails this way, like letters to a friend. And it’s nice to be able to send this quickly to my friends without a bunch of other crap getting in the way like Facebook.

I started journaling on paper again lately, for the first time since the end of 2025 when I gave birth. It’s starting to feel easier.

It’s starting to get easier to think in general, because the baby is sleeping better at night. Not all night, he still needs to eat in the middle of the night several times…but his sleep is better and longer. I go to sleep when he does, around 7, 8, 9, 10 pm or whenever he decides.

Sleep deprivation is no joke.

Anyway, I’m writing less than I did before even though I’m not writing zero. But I am okay with it.

It helps to know everything is a season. There will be things I don’t do for a while or don’t do the same way. I don’t need to force it.

On my post about Facebook, a lot of people tried to help by suggesting ways to solve the problem of how to post there more…but I’m not interested in solving that problem right now.

Sometimes the answer isn’t to figure out how to do a hard thing. Sometimes it is fine to just wait until it gets easier on its own, or to just let it go for now.

I feel like our society is all about overcoming challenges. Finding a way, no matter what. It’s like a game or a pride thing, maybe. Or someone else did it, so you can, too.

Sometimes I don’t choose to overcome the challenge. There are so many possible challenges I could tackle, I choose to let some things stay unconquered.

I’m managing my energy. And there’s nothing wrong with people being different, some people will choose to solve X problem, while I might choose to really not care to think on it further.

Right now, I just see my baby’s beautiful face in my mind. He’s so much work and so worth it. I tackle challenges daily while taking care of him.

How to juggle him in my arms and also do XYZ.

How to take care of his needs and respond to his cries.

How to lay trapped under his napping for as long as possible without killing my neck, arm or back.

Speaking beyond Facebook posts, I am writing less right now than I have in decades, and I am okay with it.

There’s so much I am not doing right now, (because I barely have time to use the toilet or eat)

…and for the most part I don’t mind.

The things I care about, I am doing or I know I’ll figure a way out to do. Or circumstances will eventually change to allow that.

But being on Facebook more isn’t high priority at all.

Last Thoughts

My final thought before I lose the opportunity to finish this email is —

You are the one who decides how you should spend your time and what problems to care to solve right now.

Even if everyone else is doing it. Even if you used to do it, too.

You can change your mind.

You can be different from others, and

it isn’t a slight on other people’s opinions;

it is just purely authenticity. Living your own life.

It isn’t a failure, it’s a success at following your real priorities.

I know someone needs to hear this.

I’ve known many people to change goals around their writing and feel shame about it.

I’ve spoken about ungoaling before and how important it can be. It means removing a goal and undoing it in your mind, which can be a process.

Many people feel like they can’t give themselves permission to change their mind or behavior if it means they won’t reach one of their writing goals.

(These are goals which they set in the past, before a revelation or a change, and never would have committed to had they known the wind was about to change).

It’s especially hard to let go of old goals when telling people about it feels like “failing” in public.

But you can’t let your past self or other people dictate your entire future.

I’m glad I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I care less about changing my mind, changing in general, or appearing to fail at something that I no longer even care about.

I’ve lost people to cancer, I’ve gotten older, gotten perspective, and I just don’t care as much anymore about the little things.

Life is TOO short to spend energy on things that aren’t a high priority. And only you know what those are.

Pursue the new thing. Ditch the old.

I’ll be the person in the room who says consistency and follow-through with writing goals is great, but so is pitching sh-t out the window when it no longer serves.

Rip it off like a Band-Aid, if you have to, or taper off; whatever feels right. But stop going the same way if things have gotten stale.

Hope that helps whoever needed to hear it.

Let me know if this speaks to you by shooting me a quick reply!!!

xoxoxo

—

I have been asked if I am coaching clients right now.

Yes – and if you are interested in getting coached to write, see this page about my 2 month coaching program. 

I help with nonfiction books, blogs, sales pages, marketing emails, writing for your soul, and more.

​There’s also a lot of information on my page about coaching for 6 months, and how I can help with both personal and business writing goals–but I often recommend starting with a smaller commitment like 2 months.

If you are interested in getting coached on your writing or marketing copy, shoot me an email about your goals and we can talk more!

I have limited spots available and a few people have been asking, so don’t wait tooooo long if it is speaking to you.

Thanks for reading

🦋 💜 🌿 How is your week going?

I hope you have been well — two months ago I had a baby! He is healthy and currently being held as he sleeps by his dad.

I wanted to shoot you a quick email while I can. It’s been crazy around here with a newborn, as you may imagine.

Immediately after the birth, I not only had to start learning how to take care of my little baby, but I also had to heal from rather severe wounds from birthing him. I didn’t get out of bed unless absolutely necessary for 5 weeks.

Luckily, I had a lot of help to allow my healing to happen, but man, it still was really tough. Getting help when you have a newborn baby and breastfeeding doesn’t necessarily mean feeling rested at any point. And there is always more to do.

I had to devise the simplest possible way to keep track of things. Because feeling like a bus hit me doesn’t mean I’m not still the person in my house who does most of the admin work, ordering things, making grocery lists, etc.

I wanted to share what worked for me, not only to keep track of what documents need to be filed with insurance, what groceries need to be bought, but also how to keep track of some of the memories and feelings so I can keep hold of memories.

This has basically replaced my journal and the other writing I have done for the time being.

Being a writer, I miss the luxury of being able to journal in my notebook. That just has not felt right since I had the baby. In fact, writing this email feels like a huge luxury and I may be interrupted at any point…I had to find an easier, quicker way to do things while basically only having one brain cell left awake.

It’s all about getting the job done.

So watch my 5 minute video for a little update from me where I share what has been working, including free apps I use to keep my life together as a new mom.

Also here are a couple other things I am loving

-The site CHIRP for its audiobooks, I have gotten a lot of great ones for $3 and they help while the time away holding babies or breastfeeding.

-For those midnight feedings where my brain can’t really comprehend an audiobook, I like to listen to music. I’ve listened to the album, “Wild and Clear and Blue” by I’m With Her a million times. It recently won a Grammy and it sure deserves it. If you only have time for one song, my favorite is Standing on the Faultline

I have been asked if I am taking clients or working.

The answer is yes- as long as we don’t have to meet for a live zoom call.

What does that mean?

It means there are two ways we can work together. I can:

A. edit your documents and leave notes in google docs or

B. have discussions over voicenotes which can be done in various free apps like Telegram and Voxer.

If you are interested in getting your writing edited or getting coached on your writing or marketing, shoot me an email about your project and we can discuss it!

I help with nonfiction books, blogs, sales pages, emails, and more.

New Video

Well, until the next email, take care and have fun!

Thanks for reading

🦋 💜 🌿 How is your week going?

I’m going to have a baby this week!

It will happen naturally or it will be induced because my doctors don’t want anyone of my advanced age (38, thank you very much) to go past her due date. So I’ll be holding a baby by Christmas!!

This is my last post before all hell breaks loose lol. I am officially on maternity leave for a little bit.

I’m super excited and happy to be going through this huge life change of becoming a mom with the positive community of folks I have around me, including my friends, my family, my partner and people like you who support my creative endeavors.

Thanks for reading my emails! This may be the last email I send for a little while as I get my bearings as a mom.

By the way, I love writing so much. Writing these posts isn’t really something that necessarily feels like work. It’s a creative outlet.

Thus, I might feel like posting again rather soon.

Or maybe not, I could be tired with a wee one to take care of. Not putting any pressure on myself if I want to wait months to do anything.

(Sign up here to get an email when I write next!)

Either way I hope you have a fantastic holiday season, and a happy New Year.

New Video

Here’s a video I just published where I share my thoughts about how I’m planning for the new year while pregnant even though I have no idea what life will look like with a baby.

I share my process of planning on paper and also using free digital tools.

I also share reflections on this very special moment in my life,

how my goals the past year have gone while pregnant,

how I think about my priorities these days, and so on.

​Watch the plan with me video on Youtube

My Fav New Year Practice

There’s a practice I do every New Years.

I write a letter to myself ahead of time, and then read it on Jan 1st.

This is always so fun.

Even if you wrote yourself a letter today, I bet you would forget what you said and be delighted when you read it again in 2026.

​I wrote an article describing my favorite practice more in detail, which you can read here.

​This article is free for you to read on Medium through my link above.

By the way, I have really been enjoying reading articles on Medium lately, it is a nice way to be entertained without feeling stressed from doom scrolling on social media.

Trying to reeeeelax right now.

Well, until the next email, take care and have fun!

Thanks for reading