5 Word Mission Statement
Posted by Ariel · Writing

Tonight I had dinner with a beloved old friend and she was asking me about my book. I was telling her about how weird it is, after years of writing for other people, to be writing for myself. I explained about how I told my editor how I'd need lots of feedback initially, "You know," I said. "Until I nail the right tone."

My editor reassured me that she'd give me as much feedback as I needed, "but you've already got the right tone," she explained. "You've already got the voice for the book." Buh?! I do? Really? Oh! Right! I haven't been hired to take on someone else's voice in exchange for money. This isn't a word whore project. This is MY BOOK. I guess I use … my voice?!

Weird.

Then my old friend asked me what exactly that voice was. It was a simple question, and in trying to give her a simple answer I stumbled over a five word mission statement that pretty much sums how I write.

Conversational. Accessible. Profane. Funny. Pedantic. Not sure if that last one is good or bad, but it's certainly apt.

In further navel gazing, I have yet to figure out how much I should write about the process of writing this book over the next 10 months. Writing about writing makes for some damn dull reading, and maybe it takes some of the magic out of the finished product to hear all the tooth gnashing and hand wringing that went into it. I'm not sure yet. I mean, it's not that I won't write about the process — it's just whether to bore you lot with it, or whether to write it down for myself.