🦋 💜 🌿
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!
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, you can email me and I can start editing your work this month! Shoot me an email.
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!
- 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. - 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?
Hit reply 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!
