I help you write for your book or business as smoothly as a mermaid swims so you can serve more people. Get free links to all my articles on writing, personal development and what I've learned in my life and 10 years in business. To get inspired, sign up for my weekly FunLetters!
Why I love typos
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π¦ π πΏ 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 EDITINGMy Approach
What I Don't Do
Here are some of the books Iβve edited:βFollow the Clues: Living Your Life as a Grand Experiment with Curiosity, Courage, and Creativity by Andrea Hylen βThank 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!β -Andrea Hylen βWhere Rainbows Bloom: A Memoir of Art and Survival.β Also a new book by Kim Lavinder will be coming out soon: My story includes things from my past that Iβm 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!β ~ Kim Lavinder, Artist, Bluewavecottage.com βA 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. βQuantum Akashic Records Manifesting: Unlocking the Spiritual Keys to Wealth, Success, and Limitless Growth, by Melissa Feick. βI highly recommend this talented woman. This is a quote I texted Sofia the other day βYour work is amazing. I love what you ve done for me and the book!β 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!
"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. βOr read more / see my portfolio here.β β |
Hi! I'm Sofia Wren
I help you write for your book or business as smoothly as a mermaid swims so you can serve more people. Get free links to all my articles on writing, personal development and what I've learned in my life and 10 years in business. To get inspired, sign up for my weekly FunLetters!
π¦ π πΏ How are you doing? I'm okay, still a mom to a baby juggling her business and all the life things, too. Lately things have been a bit intense. Last week I found myself rage screaming in a parking lot. What happened? I was supposed to have a dental appointment. Actually, I was supposed to have an appointment three weeks ago but a day before the appointment, they called to reschedule it. My hygenist quit a while ago so that would be why. Really wish they would have told me that earlier,...
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π¦ π πΏ 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...