The Importance of a Writer's Mission Statement

I found a great definition for a mission statement on Wikipedia. It said, "A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making. It provides "the framework or context within which the company's strategies are formulated."

A mission statement for your career as an architect might be something like, "I will design a house that is featured in Architectural Digest". For a chef, your statement might be something like, "I will own four successful bakeries in the New York area". This statement is often written at the top of any business plan. It's something you keep with you so that you know when you have achieved the success you set out for at the beginning of the journey.

I know it seems a little weird that you would need to remind yourself what success is. The problem is, sometimes you forget what your goal is and then you never achieve it, or you don't do the things you need to do in order to achieve it. The bigger problem is often that the more success you get, the further away you push the bar of success. People say, "I will be successful when I make a lot of money". Well, that is relative. You might make fifty thousand a year and decide that a hundred thousand is a lot of money. Then once you make a hundred thousand in one year, suddenly a million is what seems like a lot of money. See what I mean?

A lot of creative people forget that mission statements are not just for people in the business world. You need one as a creative person just as much, or maybe even more. As a creative or artistic person your career can be more fluid than other people's, so you need a more concrete goal than someone who wants to be promoted in the corporate world. So sit down and think about what you really want from your career.

When I thought about what I wanted out of my career, I thought the same thing as most people. I wanted to be a famous author who sells a lot of books. Then I realized, that is not exactly true. I don't think I want to be famous because when I eat ice cream, I can't help but get it all over my face. I would hate to have people asking to take pictures with me while I have mint chocolate chip on my nose.

Then there is the idea of selling a lot of books. Yeah, that's great, but what if they are buying the book because it wins the worst book of the year award and people just want to read it so that they can laugh. No, that would not be good. So after a lot of thought, here is my mission statement.

I want to write the kinds of books that people buy and say, "I'm different because of this book" or "I see the world in a new way because of the stories you tell".

So, sit down for a while and brainstorm about what you're looking for in your career. Good luck, and I hope this helps you to focus on your goals.