Mission Statment for Writing?

Christina Katz, in her latest book, The Writer's Workout, encourages every writer, regardless of genre, to create a mission for their writing. Really, a mission for my writing? When I read that, I groaned. "Another thing to do?"

My Old Badge Mission Card

But then, I gave it some thought.

Corporations have mission statements. As a matter of fact, I still have my badge companion from Intel that the company gave to every employee so we would carry a copy of the mission everywhere we went. So, I pulled it out and read it again, surprised to find it was from 2000. (Had it really been that long ago?) I remember how I worked to embody that mission. It wasn't too hard as integrity and discipline figured heavily in my own upbringing. What stuck with me was how that mission provided a foundation from which to conduct business with internal and external customers.

My Old Mission Statement

Shortly after I joined the company, I took a course called 7 Habits for Highly Successful People, in which mission statements came up again. I had to write a personal mission statement for my life. I balked at that, but as it was homework, I wrote one, and maybe not so coincidentally it was very similar to Intel's corporate mission. When I reincorporated a paper weekly planner in my life last year, I found that handwritten mission tucked into my old planner. Eleven years after leaving Intel, thirteen years of marriage, and three kids later, that mission still fit, even if it was too detailed for my tastes today. It was just a statement of how I wanted to present myself to the world.

A foundation to work from. How I want to present my work to the world. Maybe having a writing mission statement isn't that crazy.

My Writing Statement : TBD

So now, I'm committed to developing a mission centered on my writing. But what will my writing mission be? A good question that leads to other ones like: How will I present my writing to the world? What experience do I want an audience to get from my stories? I'm still figuring out the type of story to write ... romance, paranormal, fantasty, so I'll have to create one that encompasses my interests and aspirations. A tall order, but one I'm now prepared and ready to tackle.

Once I have one that speaks to me, I'll share it here on my blog.