Five Encouraging Writing Tips from Paula Gooder
Paula Gooder sat down with writing retreat participants recently to talk about the joys, struggles, and quiet persistence of writing. Drawing on her work as an academic theologian, her love of words, and her experience as a published author, she offered a handful of practical and deeply encouraging insights.
Here are five that stayed with us:
1. Can you see it?
Before you begin, spend time seeing what you want to write.
Gooder compared this to preparing the soil of a garden before anything is planted. Ideas need time to turn over, settle, and mature. When they’re ready, you’ll begin to sense not just what you want to say, but how it will feel to write—and how you hope it will feel for your reader.
That sense of clarity doesn’t mean every detail is fixed. But it does mean you have something from which to grow.
2. “It doesn’t have to be good. You just have to start.”
Permission to write badly is essential.
Drafting and editing are different tasks, and trying to do both at once can bring everything to a halt. Use a first draft just to get words onto the page: for building momentum, finding your voice, and discovering what you actually think.
Good writing comes later. It grows out of something that already exists.
3. “Ask the right people to read your work at the right time.”
Feedback matters. But timing matters just as much.
Early in the writing process, your work is still fragile. Sharing it too soon with highly critical readers can quietly drain your confidence and stall your progress. Instead, be intentional. Seek encouragement when you need momentum, and thoughtful critique when you’re ready to refine.
The right voice at the right moment can help your work grow rather than shrink.
4. Read widely
Reading is part of writing.
If you only read within one genre or style, your imagination can become narrow without you noticing. Gooder suggested a simple discipline: every five books, pick up something you wouldn’t normally read—another genre, another perspective, another voice.
You don’t have to finish everything. But even encountering something unfamiliar can stretch your sense of what writing can do. Pay attention to what others love, too. Read shortlists, recommendations, well-loved books. If something doesn’t work for you, ask yourself why it might work for someone else.
5. Notice what makes a book good
Enjoy reading and learn from it.
When you find a book you love, return to it with curiosity. What makes it compelling? Is it the voice, the structure, the pacing, the way it handles ideas or emotion? Being attentive as you experience a book helps you understand what makes a book meaningful, beautiful and marketable.
Gooder also spoke about the value of prayer in her writing life, and leads her to unexpected and meaningful insights. Sitting in the presence of God and listening, was her way of holding her writing with careful attention and openness.
Writing can be slow, uncertain, and sometimes difficult work. But as Gooder reminds us: it’s also generative, surprising, and full of life. Especially when you give yourself permission to start.