Good Writing Defined

God gives each of us unique voice, tone, and storytelling instincts. But excellence requires practice—and humility to improve. — Edie Melson

Writers naturally want to produce something good. We want good sentences, good stories, and good reviews. We look for good sales, good responses from readers, and perhaps a good contract with a good traditional publisher. But before we become too confident about what “good” looks like, maybe we should confront a more important question: Who gets to define good?

What looks good to us may not be what God considers good. We know the heart of our stories, respect deadlines, and track sales numbers. But God sees much more than that—everything our writing might accomplish from beginning to end.

That difference in perspective can completely change the way we approach our work.

The Really Good View

Throughout the Genesis creation account, God repeatedly looked at what he had made and declared it good. Finally, after creating humanity, God saw everything he had made was very good (Genesis 1:31). He could make that judgment because he understood the entire purpose of creation. We lack that kind of vision.

A rejected manuscript may look bad to us while God is using an apparent failure to redirect us toward a better book. We may see disappointing sales numbers while God sees every reader whose life is changed by what we’ve written. Months spent rewriting might seem to be wasted time while God is changing us more than the manuscript.

A novelist looks at one chapter. God sees the whole picture. That should make us hesitant to judge our writing journey too quickly.

The Changing Writer

Sometimes, we can concentrate so heavily on improving our work that we forget that God might be working on us. We study characterization, dialogue, and pacing. We want the structure, point of view, and grammar to be just right. We work on marketing, platform building, and publishing. All these things have value. Craft matters. But God may be asking a deeper question: What kind of person are you becoming while you learn to write?

Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:16–20). The same principle applies beyond obvious moral behavior. Our inner character affects the words we put on the page.

• Resentful writers struggle to write grace convincingly.

• Prideful writers secretly crave applause more than impact.

• Impatient writers force opportunities independent from God’s purpose.

• Insecure writers imitate voices instead of developing their God-given voice.

Writing exposes us. That can be uncomfortable, but it can also be extraordinarily valuable. Sometimes the difficult writing journey is doing exactly what God intends, because the greatest work in progress is within us, not the book.

The Narrow Way

Jesus described the road leading to life as narrow (Matthew 7:13–14), which can appear in surprisingly practical ways for writers.

Instead of the broad, easy road, we may need to choose…

• Truth over popularity.

• Service over recognition.

• Patience over rushing into publication.

• Excellence over expediency.

• God’s direction over an attractive opportunity.

• Encouraging another writer over promoting ourselves.

• Writing what God places upon our hearts instead of what seems most marketable.

We might be tempted to say: “But this opportunity looks so good.” Perhaps it does. But the better question is: “Is this where God wants me?” Not everything attractive is an assignment from him.

The Flow

We understandably pray for opportunities.

• Lord, help me find a publisher.

• Help this book sell.

• Help people notice my work.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with those prayers, but perhaps another prayer should accompany them: “Lord, if you bless this work, show me how that blessing should bless others.” That’s the flow we should be looking for.

God promised blessings to Abraham so he could bless others (Genesis 12:2). That pattern runs throughout Scripture. God gives so we can give.

• He teaches so we can teach others.

• He encourages so we can encourage others.

• He comforts so we can comfort others.

• He gives insight so we can enlighten others.

• He gives you influence so we can lead others.

• He gives success so we can help others in need.

If he gives you a powerful story, tell it in a way that serves readers rather than simply drawing attention to yourself. Greater opportunity is not merely greater privilege. It’s greater responsibility.

More Than the Manuscript

Writers often pray when they are stuck. “Lord, give me the right words.” That’s a good prayer, but God isn’t one to sprinkle magical pixie dust to make our writing easy. What does he want? Before he draws closer to us, we need to draw closer to him (James 4:8).

Jesus frequently withdrew from the crowds to pray. We can be sure he wasn’t trying to persuade the Father to support a personal agenda. His life was centered upon doing the Father’s will. That gives us an important pattern to follow. Prayer shouldn’t be to convince God to make our plans succeed. No, we want to bring our plans into agreement with his purpose.

• Instead of: “Lord, make this book successful,” we might pray, “Lord, show me what success should mean.”

• Instead of: “Open this publishing door,” we might pray, “Open only the doors you want me to walk through and close all the others.”

• Instead of: “Help people recognize my talent,” we might pray, “Let people recognize whatever truth you want them to see in my writing.”

Prayer changes manuscripts by changing the writer.

Faith or Failure

Serious writers are sure to encounter circumstances that seem inconsistent with God’s goodness. A manuscript is rejected. Sales disappoint. Someone with seemingly less skill receives the opportunity we wanted. Years of effort appear to produce little visible return. We may feel much like David when he saw wicked people prospering while faithful people suffered.

Faith doesn’t pretend that disappointment feels wonderful. It says there’s more to the story than we currently see. If we could see everything God was accomplishing, we wouldn’t need faith at all.

Imagine standing two inches from a giant tapestry. You would see tangled threads and seemingly meaningless colors. Step back far enough, and a picture appears. When our storytelling looks like a tangled mess, we need faith to accept the reality that God sees the whole tapestry.

Faith Made Visible

Writers can talk endlessly about trusting God. The stronger evidence comes when we hear and obey his voice.

If someone said, “Faith and works exist independently, so show me your faith apart from works,” I would say, “That’s impossible. Only my actions can reveal what I truly believe.” You say you believe there is one God, as if that declaration is sufficient. But it’s not. The devils believe and tremble, and their actions haven’t changed. Don’t be so empty-minded that you miss the obvious truth: actions speak louder than words because words alone are deceptive. — James 2:18–20

Faith may look like:

• Continuing to write when nobody is applauding.

• Revising again when we hoped we were finished.

• Declining an opportunity that compromises our convictions.

• Submitting a manuscript despite fear of rejection.

• Waiting when every instinct tells us to hurry.

Faith becomes visible when belief produces action. Noah demonstrated faith by building. Abraham demonstrated faith by going. Peter demonstrated faith by stepping out of the boat. We demonstrate faith by taking whatever next step God places before us.

We don’t need to see the entire road. We need just enough light for the next step.

Light of the World

The publishing world encourages visibility. Authors need websites, newsletters, social media, interviews, speaking engagements, book launches, advertisements, and platforms. None of those things are inherently wrong. But there is an important difference between being visible and demanding attention.

A lighthouse doesn’t chase ships across the ocean yelling, “Look at me.” It simply shines. We need to approach our work the same way.

• Write truthfully.

• Write beautifully.

• Write courageously.

• Write compassionately.

• Write skillfully.

Then allow God’s light to shine through our words. Some readers will like them. Others may reject them. Our responsibility isn’t to control their response. Our responsibility is to continually shine his light.

The Results

Writers love formulas.

• Seven steps to a bestseller.

• Ten secrets of successful authors.

• Five ways to build your platform.

• The perfect Amazon categories.

• The perfect social media schedule.

• The perfect book launch.

Good advice has its place, but formulas easily become substitutes for dependence upon God. Spiritual effectiveness can’t be manufactured. Neither can lasting influence. The apostle Paul understood how this works.

Writers who plant ideas and those who help nurture them should never become the focus, because God is the one who brings the words to life and makes them fruitful. One may write, another may encourage, edit, teach, or share, but each serves the same purpose and will see the value of faithful work in the harvest God produces. We are co-workers with God, writing in his field, building with words that can bear fruit in people’s lives and bring glory to him. — 1 Corinthians 3:7–9 paraphrase

Writers plant. Editors water. Publishers distribute. Marketers promote. Readers recommend. But ultimately, God determines what grows. That truth should not make us careless. It should make us peaceful. We can work hard without pretending we control the harvest.

Good Enough

Writers see a constant need to be really good. Perhaps we should edit our definition of “good.” A good writing day might not produce 3,000 words. It might recognize the need for 1,500 of yesterday’s words to disappear. A good opportunity might not be the biggest and greatest. Instead, that small article might be what God wants us to accept. A good book may not be a bestseller, but it could change just one life that reaches a multitude.

We naturally evaluate things according to immediate results. But God measures “good” according to his eternal purpose. That is an enormous difference.

For a practical guide to storytelling, check out Storytelling at Its Best

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