The breakthrough that changed Lauren's entire content strategy

The organizing principle was there all along—she just couldn't see it

Hiya,

So Lauren and I were two weeks into setting up her Substack, The Well, when she hit a wall.

We were working on her welcome post, trying to explain her content categories to readers, when she got stuck on something that seemed simple: naming her sections.

"I don't know," she said during one of our calls. "Should it be Date Well or Story Well? They feel different, but they're both about relationships..."

This happens more often than you'd think. Writers get hung up on the small decisions when the real issue is bigger—they can't see the thread that's been running through their work all along.

Lauren's situation was the usual confusion we all go through.

She had content scattered across multiple old blogs and websites.

Sustainability posts here, dating stories there, personal growth pieces everywhere.

All from different periods of her life, different tones, different purposes.

"I don't know that they all sound similar," she told me, "because they're all from different periods of time. But I do think they speak to a lot of the things that I want to speak to under this umbrella."

She could feel there was something connecting it all, but she couldn't name it.

That's when it clicked.

All of her scattered content—the sustainability posts, the dating stories, the personal growth pieces—they were all exploring the same thing: relationships. With earth, others, and self.

"Oh," she said. I could hear the shift in her voice.

Once we had that organizing principle, everything fell into place. Her content organized itself into five clear pillars:

✍️ Earth Well: Sustainable swaps paired with inner work
✍️ Date Well: Relatable dating stories from her fictional character, Chestnut
✍️ Inner Well: Mental health and personal growth
✍️ Adventures with Chestnut: Personal essays about life through her fictional narrator
✍️ One Small Shift: Small changes with big impact

The shift wasn't just organizational. Lauren went from "Which of these should I write about?" to having a clear editorial calendar

⚡From scattered to strategic in one conversation.

The change was immediate and obvious. Well, as obvious as anything can be when you're both squinting through pixelated video.

This made me think of you, Scribbler, and that folder of random drafts on your desktop.

That scattered feeling you have about your content isn't because you don't have anything worthwhile to say. It's because you haven't found the organizing principle that makes sense of what you're already thinking about.

Content pillars aren't meant to box you in. They're meant to give you a framework that feels like you—one that makes your next post decision obvious instead of agonizing.

Maybe your organizing principle is "things I wish someone had told me ten years ago." Or "what I've learned from failing at the same thing three times." Or "conversations I have with my teenage daughter that apply to everyone."

The thread is usually already there in your existing work, your recurring interests, the advice you find yourself giving repeatedly.

Lauren had been writing about relationships for years without realizing it. The sustainability advice was about our relationship with the planet. The dating stories were about relationships with others. The personal growth work was about the relationship with self.

She just needed someone to point out what she couldn't see from where she was sitting.

Test this: Look at the last five things you've written—blog posts, social media content, emails to friends, whatever.

What's the common thread? What are you really talking about underneath the surface topics?

Sometimes the organizing principle that will make everything click is hiding in plain sight.

What's one scattered piece of content you could look at differently to find the thread that's already there?

Keep writing,

P.S. If you're sitting on drafts, old blog posts, or half-finished ideas that never quite fit together, I have a few strategy sessions available this week. We'll find the through-line that's already there—you just might need someone else to help you see it.