A writer is a business owner and should act like one.  With the recent growth of my team (the addition of Daniel Braithwaite in publicity), I took the opportunity to think about the core purpose of my business.  That thinking and the ensuing discussion resulted in two things I’m going to share here, at the risk of seeming goofy, trite, or full of myself.

First, here’s our Statement of Priorities.  This is a mission statement, and Daniel and I hammered it out as a document to guide us in allocating resources.  It’s a statement of what we do, and in what order.  Here it is:

We care for our families.

We write.

We market and sell.

We help other writers.

I also have a Vision Statement.  I invited Daniel to write one, because I think of this as a very personal commitment, a star to guide me and a filter to keep me working on the projects I really care about.  Here it is.

I lead readers on adventures that show them new ways to be more fully human.

I’m not saying you need Mission Statements or Vision Statements.  Odds are, you’ve worked at a corporation or two that have had such Statements, and you may view the whole idea with skepticism.  For me, I think these will be helpful in the future.  For the moment, they have certainly helped clarify my thinking.

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