Write a Mission Statement
In almost every book and course on business principles and starting your business, they talk about the importance of writing a mission statement. Almost every big business has one for good reason. A mission statement focuses everyone involved in the business on what is important to the business and its core values. It keeps them on point of what the business was created and meant to do. Vendors and potential employees often look at a business’ mission statement to determine if the company’s values align with theirs and if they want to work with the company.
A mission statement distills into one short document, usually only a paragraph or two long or about 200 words, the driving force behind your author business. It includes your why, your motivations for writing, what you want to accomplish with your writing, and your core values.
As authors, it is just as important for us to create and write a mission statement. We need to examine why we’re doing this extremely hard work of writing stories and books. By examining our motivations and what we want to accomplish with our stories, we can better focus on writing those that are important to us. When we’re in a writing slump, looking at our mission statement can reinvigorate and re-motivate us.
Part of a mission statement is examining our core values and what is important to us. This can help us design our author business to support our values and to determine which projects we’ll pursue and which ones to set aside.
Writing your mission statement is an exploration of who you are and what makes you happy. When creating it, think about what type of writing business you want. Is your health such that all you can do is write part-time? Then it doesn’t make any sense to have a mission statement or ambitious business plan that would require you to work sixty hours a week to achieve it.
Our core values are things we feel are important to us and to have in our lives or how we behave. They are deeper than beliefs. Beliefs may change over time; however, values rarely do. Core values include (This is NOT an all-inclusive list! There are hundreds of core values.)
- freedom
- independence
- being reliable
- creativity
- cooperation
- determination
- diversity
- inclusion
As an example of an author mission statement, here’s mine. Since I write both fiction and nonfiction, I have one for each, since the goals and my why are slightly different for each type of writing I do.
My Fiction Mission Statement
“I empower women by writing strong, powerful leading women. It’s important to me to showcase bold, independent women who know their worth and value that my readers can identify with or want to emulate. I explore and mix the sub-genres of fantasy and science fiction. My stories explore other worlds, other species, and the interconnectedness of life.
My business and the stories I write reflect my values of freedom and independence. I continually improve my writing skills and craft by exploring different types of stories and expanding my creativity.”
My Nonfiction Mission Statement
“I use my expertise and experience in business and publishing to assist other writers to succeed in their author business. I want my readers to find the information accessible and practical. I try to make complex subjects, like accounting, easy-to understand. The tone for my books is friendly and encouraging.”
Take the time to consider why you write and what you want to accomplish with your writing. Examine your goals for your author business. Do a deep dive into what your core values are. Then write your mission statement for your author business.
If you have one, pull it out and examine it. Does it still fit what you are doing now? If not, you may want to rewrite it.
Mission statements, like business plans, aren’t a one-and-done thing you do for your business. It’s a good idea to review them every year to determine if your why, what you write, and your goals for your author business have changed.
If they have, you’ll need to write a new mission statement to reflect the changes. If not, then reviewing it may have reignited your love and passion for your writing.
If you want to know more about how to treat your writing as a business, get this book.
It has a section in it on writing your mission statement.
If you need more help in developing your mission statement, micro coaching and getting feedback on it may be what you need.
Receive 10 minutes of focused coaching for $10!
We do it If you need more help in developing your mission statement, micro coaching and getting feedback on it may be what you need.on the Volley app, so we don’t have to match our shedules or find a time that is good for both of us.
You send me a volley (text, video, or audio) with your question, and I respond. We keep “volleying” until your questions about your mission statement are answered.