Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Midwest Office, IL
God created some, like Ray Comfort, to be in-the-trenches evangelists. Others—yes, you—to convey truth through the written word. (Celebrate doubly if you are gifted in both ways!) So, what is your personal mission statement for your writing? Exactly what is a mission statement, you might ask, and what is its purpose? How do your brand and your mission statement differ?
Your brand tells readers the type of books you write. In general a mission statement is a broad summary of aims and values. Your personal mission statement tells the reader the purpose for what you write. It should answer the question, Why do I write what I write? Examples might be, “I write Christian contemporary romance to show young women the godly qualities to look for in a man,” or “I write parenting books based on Scripture to communicate examples and wisdom of the perfect parent, our heavenly Father,” or “I write light-hearted women’s fiction to lift a woman’s spirit, encourage her soul, and bring laughter into her life.” Your mission statement promises to deliver some consistent take-away for the reader. Readers will come to expect that benefit from your books and will be disappointed if it doesn’t deliver on your promise.
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, every challenging circumstance presents clear opportunities to communicate truth. Millennials see the church as going through the motions and merely a place for a feel-good exercise. They are spiritual but have no moral compass. Consequently, they are ripe pickings for any false religion. Do you write to this generation? You can offer them the moral compass that points to the one true way.
Generation Xers, the latch-key kids, distrust institutions and don’t believe in absolutes. You can offer them the solid rock.
Baby Boomers, the “American dream” seekers, need a shift in priorities. You can show them what that looks like.
The Silent Generation thought science had all the answers. You can show them Who really does.
Authors have opportunities to offer hope in the midst of the struggles and hardship we witness around us. Economic hardship isn’t going away any time soon. Recent droughts, wild fires, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes—oh my, the effects of these will be felt for years. Stories written against any of these backdrops will have lasting relevance. If they’re also infused with your mission’s purpose, the benefits for the reader multiply.
Every once in a while we need to step back from the challenges we face in the publishing industry, view our circumstances from an eternal perspective, and evaluate if we are balancing our marketing efforts and our mission. I’m directing this challenge to myself first and foremost. But it’s a privilege to serve so let’s celebrate our calling and make it our daily prayer to do our work excellently as unto the Lord for his glory and kingdom’s sake—to bloom where we’re planted.
I’ve heard some authors tape their mission statement to their computer monitor as a visible reminder when they write.
Have you written your mission statement? If not, why haven’t you?
If you have one, how does it help you in deciding: what you write; how you prioritize your responsibilities; how you respond to feedback, including negative feedback?
Bill Giovannetti
Thanks for this reminder that we who name Jesus write as an extension of the Great Commission above all else. Yes, for money. Yes, for personal pride and satisfaction. Yes, for widespread influence (celebrity?). But above all else, for the gospel.
Whatever you might think of how Ray Comfort fulfills his mandate, I sure like the way he does it a lot better than the way many Christian leaders don’t do anything.
I do not view my writing as directly evangelistic per se, though some of that is included. I do view my writing as instructing, equipping, training, motivating, informing, and firing up the hearts and imaginations of God’s people — who collectively will fulfill the evangelistic mandate just a little better because they read something I wrote.
God help us when Christian authors forget their mission (multiplying disciples), their true power (the Word and Spirit), and their motivation (the glory of God).
Thanks for the reminder.
Sorry for preaching; it’s what I do. 🙂
Bill
Mary Keeley
Well said, Bill.
Peter DeHaan
I have not drafted a mission statement for my writing, but have developed personal mission statements. The problem is that as I change, so does my mission, I suspect the same will be true for my mission statement on writing.
Even so, I will craft one at some point and it will likely contain the words Millennials and spirituality.
Sarah Thomas
I’ve spent some time thinking about my brand and aiming for a certain consistency, but it didn’t occur to me to write a mission statement! I love this idea! My tagline is “Everyday miracles happen every day,” bit that’s not a mission. I’m excited to do this and will put some serious thought into it. Thanks for pointing up the importance of being aware of and defining a goal for my writing.
Janet Ann Collins
My tag line is “Opening Eyes, Opening Hearts” and I write to help people understand and accept others who are different, especially those with special needs. My newest book for kids, Signs of Trouble, is an example.
Larry Carney
I don’t write my mission statement, because I see it written in the eyes of the young people I work with on the local college campuses. They have come there, through various circumstances, seeking some form of truth. To figure out why the world works as it does, desconstructing the physical laws of nature to measure the rate at which the other shoe drops, feeding endless numbers into computer programs like coal into a furnace to deduce the reason for why one human plus one human can result in a million points of view. Decoding the legal edicts of society, parsing each word with the fervor of a Pharisee seeking to see why justice does not translate into all languages.
And they do not find it in the classroom, they learn by osmosis from the long flowing beards of tenured worldly wizards only an insitutionalized rage, and not even how to write a decent paper.
I see it in their eyes, their cry for help.
The only feedback which then worries me is a still, small voice which if I do nothing I know will ask, “Why didn’t you answer them?”
Kate
Thank you Mary for a great post. I haven’t taken time to write the mission statement residing in my mind. I shall do it now.
Just today, in our small town, we witnessed the truthful written word change a course of action and justice prevailed. This was not a book author, but a journalist with true “grit.”
I believe we have a tremendous responsibility to be “truthful,” even if we are writing fiction. Sometimes it isn’t easy being a follower of Christ…and to pretend that life is a walk in the park after you accept Jesus will only cause others to doubt your sincerity.
The Bible is full of life…with all if it’s heartaches, sorrow, joy and love. There is no pretense. And I am convinced the “reality” of the truth will causes others to desire a relationship with Jesus…
So…I hope my writing would reflect the truth of difficult issues in a believer’s life, would inspire a search in the Word for truth and would cause people to surrender to Christ.
Thanks again Mary for a thought provoking post!
Julie Surface Johnson
Thanks, Mary, for this post. I’m a strong believer in mission statements because they keep me focused (in life as well as ministry). At the end of life, I want to have spent my time conforming to the work I believe God has prepared in advance for me to do.
Julie Surface Johnson
That’s a great tagline, Janet. It sure resonates with me. When most of us open our eyes to those with special needs, God opens our hearts as well.
Eva Ulian
Mary, here’s a copy of my mission statement which is referred, in this case, to my blog but it is what I also apply to my fiction or other narrative:
Why Do I Blog?
So as to tell the story of the events and people that travel alongside my time line, which means you… because as Benedetto Croce said:
“Our story is the story of our soul; and the story of the human soul is the story of the world.”
Diana Dart
I have yet to put my mission into a concise statement, but it’s written on my heart. Thanks for the prompting to get it out there, and to be both inspired and accountable for that!
Some of the comments above (@Janet and @Sarah) mention taglines. Could y’all expand on that? Is it your mission or your brand… or perhaps a funky mix of both? Thanks 🙂
Cheryl Malandrinos
What a fabulous post, Mary. I haven’t written out my mission statement, but I know that I feel called to write books for children that retell Bible stories in a way they can understand by giving them characters they relate to; characters who like them are faced with choices and are asked to step out in faith. Perhaps a mission statement will help me shape that a bit better.
Thanks for a great week.
Janet Grant
Diana, if I could jump into this conversation, a tagline is a succinct statement that summarizes who you are to the reader. You’re telling them what you write about to entice them to check out your individual titles. Both Sarah and Janet’s taglines help to identify who might want to read their books.
A brand is much more subtle and difficult to grasp. It’s almost easier to point out when someone moves outside he/her brand’s “zone” than it is to identify that brand.
John Grisham broke out of his brand when he wrote one novel that wasn’t legal suspense. I don’t recall reading any specific critiques about the book, but his fans kept saying, “I don’t know…I just didn’t like it as much as his other books.” That’s because they had come to expect a novel that fit in his brand; when he violated that expectation, his fans weren’t charmed or pleased by creative expression. When that book came out, it landed with a thud rather than taking off.
An author’s tagline, look of his/her website, Twitter and Facebook “voice” etc. are all created from the brand.
And the brand grows out of an author’s mission statement. If you know what you’re trying to accomplish, that informs how you present yourself to the reading world.