Writers Lab: Core Values, Part 2

stay tuned for this drama on Monday. :>

Lab Coats, good eeevening! Friday night of a very busy week here. Wait, it’s Saturday morning as I finish this. It was an overfull, dramatic week (don’t you love those? jk) —

Let’s get into writing our Core Values, the last foundational element of our Storybelly Summer Project, to go along with our Mission Statement and Vision Statement for our writing, as we get ready to push into fall and change gears.

You’ll remember, I said in last week’s introduction to Core Values, that I was going to be working right along with you this week, on a list of personal core values for my writing. I’ve been doing that. I may not be done yet (well, I’m not), but I’ve got a start. I’ll list those values in the assignment.

I listed the Storybelly Core Values last week, and here they are again, this time with their descriptions. If you are a Storybelly subscriber, you should be able to spot these values in the posts I write each week, and in the work we do together. If you want to sub to the Writers Lab and write with us, you can do that here.

Storybelly Core Values:Empowerment

We stand for the irrefutable truth that every human being is worthy of dignity and respect, and every person’s story is important.

Community

We steer our ship from the standpoint that we are all part of the fabric of nature, history, home, friends, and family. We connect, in our daily lives and work, through relationships, collaboration, cooperation, and mutual support.

Empathy

We seek first to actively listen, to ask questions, and to understand. We work towards openheartedness daily.

Education

We teach and make accessible the creative tools and skills needed to foster a sense of agency, competence, clear vision, and meaning for our team and our clients, who are our partners. We learn as much as we teach.

Courage

We wrangle hard things. We do not shy away from work or our connection to history that is inconvenient, embarrassing, or uncomfortable.

Celebration

We embrace and celebrate every bit of progress along the way to doing our part, in concert with others, to create and nurture a more just world and a lasting peace.

Wow. I’m so impressed! lol. But really… I am impressed with how this came together and how it remains so true, week by week, to what I want to accomplish. I wrote this with the Storybelly team: Ops Guru Zach and Media Guru Charlotte. We hashed all this out over a several-week intensive when I was figuring out my “why”—why add my voice to the many already on Substack?

This is what I came up with. My Why included my own core values, unstated but incorporated into a set of core values specific to the work I wanted to do with Storybelly. Along with the Mission and Vision statements we put into place, I am kept sane and focused each week by having these tools to direct my work — the work that is outside of my writing work, my home work, and my personal work.

THE OVERLAP:

Personal Core Values can overlap with your Writing Core Values or your Work Core Values — which is how I think of Storybelly’s Core Values right now; I call Storybelly my “day job” in the most purposeful sense of the word. Writing is still my art — and my business — which you’ll see in the Assignment.

I recommend you try writing:

core values for how you work at the day job (we can make anything our “day job” and I think we all have them);

core values for your writing — your “why” for your writing; and

core values for your personal why — why are you here? And what is your purpose in being here? Where do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

These might feel like lofty questions, but… why "*wouldn’t* you want to know what you stand for? I’ve found that writing things down—even in rough form—helps me make more informed choices. And, since this IS the Writers Lab, where we do these sorts of things, here’s a little critical thinking and creative exploration for you:

I’m going to ask you to take a few minutes to notice where you are now, what matters to you, and where you might want to go with your writing. Let your values rise to the surface as you write, and see what they reveal.

The Assignment this week, then, is rich and varied and full of good direction for just how to do this. As promised, I’ll include the core values for my own writing that I’m working on right now, and tell you how I put them together.

Come and do this with me? Let’s see what comes up for you.

THE ASSIGNMENT, CORE VALUES:

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