Successful businesses often refer to their companies’ mission and vision statements as foundational to their success. These statements help companies define purpose, stay focused, and set goals. If you’re a writer, you probably realize that purpose, focus, and goals are important to your writing life. But have you considered defining them with your own mission and vision statements?
The Mission Statement
A mission statement defines your creative purpose. There are a lot of distractions in the writing world, and it’s easy to find ourselves with multiple unfinished projects or on a path we did not intend to travel. A mission statement will narrow the focus of your work to only that which you have identified as important and will help you establish your “author brand.”
When defining your mission, it’s important to ask yourself a couple of questions. These questions will guide the development of your mission statement and help you maintain focus.
What do I most like to write?
Identify the genre and style you gravitate toward. Finding joy in the creative process will yield a more authentic voice and produce stronger motivation. Your passion will sustain you through the tough times and will shine through to your readers.
What is my creative purpose?
Maybe your creative purpose is very personal, like writing stories that record your family’s history. Maybe your purpose is larger, and you want to make a positive impact on the social and emotional development of young children. Or perhaps you are driven to bring science to life in ways that draw kids into STEM. Articulate your greater purpose and allow that purpose to guide you.
Once you’ve answered both of these questions, you’re ready to craft a mission statement that defines your creative focus. Identify that focus and be very selective with the action verb(s) you use. Here are a few examples of possible mission statements:
- My creative works will shine a light on the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ youth.
- I write to preserve the stories and personalities that shaped our family.
- My books will engage young adult readers in imaginative worlds where diversity is celebrated and good triumphs over evil.
The Vision Statement
A vision statement gives you a trajectory toward an ultimate destination. It’s less about what you will do and more about who you will be.
To craft a vision statement, picture what success looks like for you. This isn’t a wish or a dream; it’s a realistic image of your future self that will help you generate specific goals. Ask yourself these questions:
What impact do I hope to make with my writing?
Your impact is about the effect you want to have on your readers. Some writers want to bring humor and joy to childhood. Others want to reveal untold stories from the past or make sure kids from marginalized groups find themselves represented in books.
What do I hope to achieve?
You might define success in a personal way, like presenting your family with bound copies of family history, complete with photographs, descriptions, and meaningful stories that shaped generations. Or, maybe you aspire to see your books on the shelves of bookstores and in the hands of readers.
Your vision statement declares your aspirations. It’s about your creative legacy and the long-term impact of your work. As the name suggests, this is something visual, so many writers find it helpful to create a vision board. Whether you create a visual display or not, articulating your vision is a powerful step. Here are a few examples of possible vision statements:
- To create thought-provoking poetry that addresses social justice and creates change in my community
- To bring history to life for elementary-age children through engaging reading material published in educational resources.
- To build a body of work that helps young readers from marginalized populations feel seen, valued, and empowered
Setting Goals
Once you have your mission and vision established, your writing has a focus and a destination. Now you are able to set measurable goals that will get you to that destination.
One goal might focus on your work habits. Many writers like to set a specific number of words, pages, or minutes they will write each day. Another goal might focus on building your craft, like attending three craft workshops within the calendar year. If you seek publication, you probably want to set some goals involving your connection to writing communities, submissions to literary agents, and the establishment of your online presence.
Be sure to avoid setting goals that rely on the responses of others, like securing a literary agent within six months or winning a Pulitzer prize. These are great aspirations to work toward, but your goals should focus on what you can control.
Once your purpose, focus, and goals are established, you can weed out the activities that don’t serve you and make a plan for achieving your goals. Now there’s only one thing left to do….Write!
Kristin Gilson is the Editorial Director of Aladdin, an imprint dedicated to quality commercial fiction and non-fiction for ages 12 and under.
The biggest joy is being able to return to characters and a world that you are already familiar with and get to know them a bit better or a bit differently. Those same things can also be challenges, because you can’t change their characteristics to fit the new story, the new story has to fit with what has already been established.
