Do You Have A Mission Statement?
What is an A.R. Williams story?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, about what I want to accomplish with my writing. This thought process has led me to examine a great many things from the subjects of the stories I write to the process of recording my ideas and putting the words on the page. I want to take my writing to the next level and I need to figure out exactly how I’m going to get there. This is about more than setting goals and performing the steps to achieve them-but I want to have an idea of the big picture-not just to write and get published in x-mag or with y-novel.
One of the things I’ve decided to do is to create a mission statement for myself. The mission statement is to help me hone in on my decision making process in creating the type of story I want to tell. I want to limit certain characteristics that blow me off course. I think having a mission statement will help create an inner compass to help chart my progress and lead to better more satisfactory stories.
I decided to look at several publications to see what types of things they were looking for and to see how that could help me create a mission statement that would encompass all of the things I want to do with my writing. The following items below come from either Dutropes or from the pub’s website.
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...send us stories of the fantastic that make us think, and tell us what it is to be human while amazing us with your mastery of language and story elements.-Fantasy Magazine
In general, we're looking for "character oriented" stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader's interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases...
…A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe.-Asimov’s Science Fiction
Within these genres, we like to see well-developed milieus and believable, engaging characters. We also look for clear, unaffected writing. Asimov, Niven, Tolkien, Yolen, and Hobb are more likely to be our literary exemplars than James Joyce.-Orson Scott Card Medicine Show
We want good speculative fiction. If your story doesn't have a clear fantasy or science fiction element, or at least strong speculative-fiction sensibilities, it's probably not for us. We'd like to help make the field of speculative fiction more inclusive, more welcoming to both authors and readers from traditionally underrepresented groups, so we're interested in seeing stories from diverse perspectives and backgrounds. We want stories that have some literary depth but aren't boring; styles that are unusual yet readable; structures that balance inventiveness with traditional narrative. We like characters we can care about. We like settings and cultures that we don't see all the time in speculative fiction.-Strange Horizons
Some things I want to achieve: The realistic feel and moral ambiguity of George R.R. Martin, the political intrigue of Lois McMaster Bujold, the world impact and nation collisions of Tom Clancy, and the character likability of Orson Scott Cards Ender and Bean-A.R. Williams ( Authors I admire )
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And so with their help, I’ve designed my mission statement.
An A.R. Williams’ story:
Are character oriented stories, in which, likeable characters face morally ambiguous decisions and realistic and personal threats to their well being. The world building is rich in detail and the milieus offer cultures and people not normally met in speculative fiction. Often the stories contain literary aspirations that do not stand in the way of a fun filled adventure. The depth of the characters will make readers care for them, while the worlds the stories take place in will offer insights into our own humanity.
What is your author mission statement?
What type of stories do you want to tell?
A [ your name ] story is one that…?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, about what I want to accomplish with my writing. This thought process has led me to examine a great many things from the subjects of the stories I write to the process of recording my ideas and putting the words on the page. I want to take my writing to the next level and I need to figure out exactly how I’m going to get there. This is about more than setting goals and performing the steps to achieve them-but I want to have an idea of the big picture-not just to write and get published in x-mag or with y-novel.
One of the things I’ve decided to do is to create a mission statement for myself. The mission statement is to help me hone in on my decision making process in creating the type of story I want to tell. I want to limit certain characteristics that blow me off course. I think having a mission statement will help create an inner compass to help chart my progress and lead to better more satisfactory stories.
I decided to look at several publications to see what types of things they were looking for and to see how that could help me create a mission statement that would encompass all of the things I want to do with my writing. The following items below come from either Dutropes or from the pub’s website.
#
...send us stories of the fantastic that make us think, and tell us what it is to be human while amazing us with your mastery of language and story elements.-Fantasy Magazine
In general, we're looking for "character oriented" stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader's interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases...
…A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe.-Asimov’s Science Fiction
Within these genres, we like to see well-developed milieus and believable, engaging characters. We also look for clear, unaffected writing. Asimov, Niven, Tolkien, Yolen, and Hobb are more likely to be our literary exemplars than James Joyce.-Orson Scott Card Medicine Show
We want good speculative fiction. If your story doesn't have a clear fantasy or science fiction element, or at least strong speculative-fiction sensibilities, it's probably not for us. We'd like to help make the field of speculative fiction more inclusive, more welcoming to both authors and readers from traditionally underrepresented groups, so we're interested in seeing stories from diverse perspectives and backgrounds. We want stories that have some literary depth but aren't boring; styles that are unusual yet readable; structures that balance inventiveness with traditional narrative. We like characters we can care about. We like settings and cultures that we don't see all the time in speculative fiction.-Strange Horizons
Some things I want to achieve: The realistic feel and moral ambiguity of George R.R. Martin, the political intrigue of Lois McMaster Bujold, the world impact and nation collisions of Tom Clancy, and the character likability of Orson Scott Cards Ender and Bean-A.R. Williams ( Authors I admire )
#
And so with their help, I’ve designed my mission statement.
An A.R. Williams’ story:
Are character oriented stories, in which, likeable characters face morally ambiguous decisions and realistic and personal threats to their well being. The world building is rich in detail and the milieus offer cultures and people not normally met in speculative fiction. Often the stories contain literary aspirations that do not stand in the way of a fun filled adventure. The depth of the characters will make readers care for them, while the worlds the stories take place in will offer insights into our own humanity.
What is your author mission statement?
What type of stories do you want to tell?
A [ your name ] story is one that…?