Episode 318 - Reimagining Success Through Self-Advocacy and Collaboration with Laura Goode
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Laura Goode discusses REIMAGINING SUCCESS THROUGH SELF-ADVOCACY AND COLLABORATION, including how authors can build supportive writing communities, strategies for finding the right mentors and artistic partners, overcoming comparison and competition in the writing world, and how redefining success can strengthen your writing practice and your confidence as an indie author.
Laura Goode is the author of a collection of poems, Become a Name, and a YA novel, Sister Mischief, which was a Best of the Bay pick by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and a selection of two ALA honor lists. With director Meera Menon, she wrote and produced the feature film Farah Goes Bang, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize from Tribeca and Vogue. Her nonfiction writing on intersectional feminism, female friendship, motherhood, gender, and race in culture, TV, film, and literature has appeared in BuzzFeed, New Republic, New York Magazine, Longreads, Elle, Catapult, Refinery29, and elsewhere. She received her BA and MFA from Columbia University and currently teaches at Stanford University, where she was honored with the 2025 Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford's highest award for excellence in teaching.
Episode Links
https://lauragoode.substack.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thereallauragoode/?hl=en
https://dialoguedoctor.libsyn.com/episode-295-pitching-your-work-with-laura-goode
Summary
In this episode of The Indy Author Podcast, Matty Dalrymple talks with Laura Goode about the ways writers can rethink success through self-advocacy and collaboration. Laura begins by emphasizing the importance of “good art friends” and how creative allies can strengthen both a writer’s confidence and their professional opportunities. She notes that writing is often a solitary craft compared with disciplines like dance or theater, where artists regularly practice together. Because of that solitude, writers especially benefit from intentionally cultivating supportive relationships that provide encouragement, perspective, and connection.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS
Laura explains that artistic collaborators play a key role in helping writers feel less isolated, and she connects this directly to self-advocacy. For her, part of taking oneself seriously as a writer is offering oneself compassion and support—and allowing others to do the same. She shares that many of her closest collaborators have seen potential in her before she recognized it in herself. One example came from her friend and film co-writer Mira Menon, who once told her, “You’re organized and good with money. You could be a film producer.” Laura recalls that she had never considered that path, but she trusted the observation. That single comment launched her into film producing and illustrated how a collaborator’s insight can open new creative directions.
MENTORS, PEERS, AND “CAREER COMPS”
Matty asks Laura to differentiate mentors from collaborators, noting that mentors often seem more experienced. Laura agrees that mentors and peers serve different roles, but they share an essential quality: both are rooting for your success. She highlights the emotional maturity required to celebrate others’ accomplishments without feeling threatened. Jealousy, she says, is a natural part of creative work, but it can be used as information—an indicator of what we want for ourselves.
Laura introduces the concept of “career comps,” the people who are three to five years ahead on a path similar to the one you want to follow. She illustrates this with what she calls a “truly deranged” story from her book, when she googled a talented woman her ex-boyfriend had brought to her workplace. After discovering the woman’s poems were widely published, Laura submitted her own poems to every publication that had accepted the woman’s work. Although the behavior makes her laugh in hindsight, she credits that strange burst of competitive drive with leading to one of her first published poems. What mattered was that she used her jealousy to propel forward movement rather than resentment.
COLLABORATION VS. COMPETITION IN THE WRITING WORLD
Matty and Laura also discuss how the writing and publishing landscape influences this sense of competition. Matty describes how, at a book fair, she and two other mystery authors were able to collaborate by steering readers toward the author whose style best suited them. Readers never say they have “enough mystery novels,” she notes, which makes collaboration more natural among indie authors. Laura relates to this and contrasts it with the greater competitiveness she witnessed in graduate writing programs, where high-stakes opportunities were more limited.
FINDING MENTORS AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Laura encourages writers to seek out environments where mentors naturally emerge—MFA programs, writing retreats, and short-term residencies. She says that opportunities like Bread Loaf were transformative for her because of the concentrated exposure to other writers who “had bled for their work” as she had. While she typically approaches life in a structured way, she found that the best approach in those environments was to let go of rigid expectations. She calls this her “seaweed approach”: allowing herself to drift toward conversations and activities that felt energizing. The openness made networking more organic and rewarding.
GOAL-SETTING WITHIN COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Matty raises the question of whether writers should enter these spaces with specific goals—for example, seeking a literary agent—or remain open to discovery. Laura replies that both approaches can work, but she has often relied on mentors and collaborators to help her define goals, not simply reach them. With her Stanford students, she sees many trying to plan the exact steps required to become a bestselling author by a certain age. But Laura believes that rigid strategies are less helpful than candid conversation, reflection, and acknowledging what a writer truly wants.
THE ROLE OF THE MENTOR AND THE NEED FOR CONSENT
A significant part of the discussion centers on boundary-setting and the importance of mutual consent in mentor-mentee relationships. Laura quotes a saying she attributes to Anne Lamott: “Help is the sunny side of control.” She believes mentorship cannot be imposed—offering guidance uninvited can feel condescending. Instead, mentorship requires the mentee to ask for help, ensuring both parties are aligned.
Leading and supporting other writers, Laura notes, is also an important responsibility for those who have benefitted from mentorship themselves. Mentorship is part of what she calls a “self-renewing resource” in the literary community. Because creative work is slow, often isolating, and rarely accompanied by immediate feedback, she believes writers with experience should support those early in their careers—not only to strengthen the community but also to honor the help they once received.
WHEN A MENTORSHIP HAS RUN ITS COURSE
Matty asks how writers can recognize when a mentorship has reached its natural end. Laura says that any guidance that no longer “rings true” or begins to feel misaligned may be a sign that the relationship has run its course. Writers must learn to distinguish between feedback that is useful and feedback that does not serve their work. This skill applies not only to mentors but also to peers, workshops, and critique groups.
A QUESTION FOR LISTENERS
Near the end of the episode, Matty asks Laura to pose a reflection question listeners can use to apply the episode’s ideas. Laura offers two. For evaluating collaborators, she suggests asking: “Is this person someone I want to emulate?” For self-reflection, she asks writers to consider: “Do I believe I was born worthy of belonging and love, or do I believe that is something I have to earn?” She explains that many writers unconsciously believe they must earn their worth through achievement, publication, or external validation. Understanding that creativity does not determine worth can free writers from resentment or competition, allowing for healthier collaboration.
Laura and Matty close by connecting this idea of inherent worth to the writing community as a whole. When writers recognize their own value—and the value of others—they can step away from competition and lean into collaboration. This shift can help authors build stronger creative partnerships, cultivate community, and define success on their own terms.