by Angela Ruth Strong, @AngelaRStrong
It may barely be February, but I’ve already written a screenplay this year. Actually I wrote it the first week of January. I don’t usually write that fast (in fact, I almost didn’t survive my last novel), but this story grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.
It’s a screenplay, so I don’t have much control over what happens from here, but the joy of writing it reminded me why I write. See, the title is Ho-Ho-Hope. Yes, it involves Santa, but more importantly it’s about the Hope of Christmas. And my mission statement is all about hope. Which means this screenplay aligned with my purpose, and probably why the story gripped my heart so.
I wrote my mission statement over a decade ago. I was a counselor at a teen camp where they offered an exercise that entailed a page of words, and we had to circle the ones that resonated with us then put them together intentionally. Here’s what I came up with.
My mission is to inspire, create, and encourage hope in myself and others.
I was also reminded of this when diagnosed with breast cancer. All the breast cancer awareness gear I got/bought had pink ribbons bearing the word HOPE. I was like, “Huh. Beating breast cancer fits with my mission statement.” And I believe hope helped me do it.
It’s easy to get off track in our writing. It’s easy to be swayed by current trends, media, culture, our own life challenges, and the desires of others. But if we want to write with purpose, we have to know what that purpose is. For me, it’s hope.
I challenge you today. If you have a mission statement, check your work-in-progress to see if it aligns with what you’re most passionate about offering the world. And if you don’t have a mission statement, take some time to craft one that can point your future, your legacy, and your writing career the direction you want to go.
As for me, I really hope you get to watch my movie someday soon.
In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?
Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.
When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.