Hi my lovelies! I’m so glad you could join us today for this weeks Tips for Tales! We are blessed to have Sarah Rhomberg join us on the blog so that she can give us a Tip that been on her heart. Lets see what she has to say!
Tips for Tales:
Creating a Mission Statement Helps You Know Where You’re Going
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Susanna Rhomberg, and I am a writer of fiction and non-fiction. For fiction, I mainly write contemporary with raw, real-life with real-struggles type of characters. A short story of mine, which features foster care and a bit of the hurt that comes with it was published in the collection “Anything”. As for non-fiction, I write articles for websites for Christian teens or young ladies, such as theReb, The Wilting Rose Project or TCKs for Christ. I also recently released a 5-day devotional for my email list subscribers, which you can find here.
From Fun to Gift: My Writing Journey
Just like most writers, I was first a reader. Even before I was a reader, I loved books. When I learned to read, I was hardly ever seen without a book in my hand. (And yes, I was the kid who read under the covers at night and under the desk at school. Whoops.)
I can’t remember when I first started writing. I do know, though, that eight-year-old me had a few stories penned into lined notebooks stashed away in her drawers. Most of the stories remained unfinished because when I was in the middle of writing story A, I’d get an idea for story B… and story A would get lost somewhere in the back of my mind, to be written “someday”. Anyone out there relate?
As a child, I wrote for fun. I never thought much about sharing my stories with others or about doing anything with my writing. I just wrote because it was fun and that was that. With time, however, my mindset started shifting. I started seeing writing not only as something for me, but something I could use to influence others. Maybe writing was a gift. A gift I could share with others.
From Gift to Goal: What Was Missing
I started researching. I started reading about writing. I knew that I wanted to do something with my writing, but I didn’t really know what. Still, I started learning about publishers and agents and POW and MCs and all the other writer-jargon. The more I learned, the more confident I became. But one key thing was missing: a clear vision.
Writing tips and skills are like tools. They help you in your writing journey. They’re like the stuff you take with you when you go on a hike – they make your hiking/writing-experience better. However, all the writing tips and skills in the world won’t help you the slightest if you don’t have a vision. A good pack for hiking won’t help you if you don’t know where you’re going. It was only when I figured out what I was missing – a vision, a goal, a mission statement – that I gained clarity about why I was writing.
From Goal to Vision: Figuring Out the Why
What is your goal? What is my goal? Why am I writing? Why are you writing? I think this is the most important question you could ask yourself.
When I realized that I had never defined a clear “why”, I sat down with a pen and some paper – a very writerly way of figuring out goals, I know – and I started making notes. It took me a while, but after much thought, prayer, breaks and scribbles, I had figured out my why.
My Mission Statement
For the past few years, I’ve had the same mission statement. I’ve even put it in the title of my website! I decided that if I had to summarize my “why” in two words, it would be “truth” and “hope”. Those are the two core things that should define my writing. I then put those two words into a sentence. Whenever I write, I remind myself of this mission statement. This is why I write.
See below:
I, Sarah Susanna Rhomberg, write to speak truth and share hope in this broken world.
You Mission Statement
If you are a writer who sees your writing as a gift you want to share with others, I’m sure you’ve done a good pit of learning. You may have googled questions or followed some writing blogs or joining a writing program. All of that is great! It’s important to learn and grow and hone our writing skills. But all of that is useless if you don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t have a clearly defined vision.
I challenge you to spend time thinking about your mission statement. If you could sum it up in one word, what is your answer to “why?” Write that sentence down and hand it up beside your desk or even put it on your website.
Friend, let me tell you: knowing where you’re going makes getting there a lot easier.
Wow! That was amazing Sarah! Thank you so much for your Tip! I hadnt thought about having a mission statement before. But ill definitely be working on one soon :). Let me know in the comments below: What is your mission statement? Did you participate in this Tip for Tales blog post? Have any questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!
Connect with Sarah
Website/Newsletter/Devo: https://sarahsusannarhomberg.mailchimpsites.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21398884.Sarah_Susanna_Rhomberg
Links Mentioned
Articles at theReb: https://www.therebelution.com/blog/author/sarah-susanna-rhomberg/
Articles at The Wilting Rose Project: http://thewiltingroseproject.com/2021/02/10/13-reasons-why-you-should-keep-going-even-when-life-is-hard/
Articles at TCKs for Christ: https://tcksforchrist.com/author/sarahsusannarhomberg/
penlightenment.quest 
Great post!! Ahh, yes, having a end goal/purpose/vision is incredibly helpful when writing. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
I agree! I wish you all the best for your writing journey, Joelle! 🙂
LikeLike