A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature.
‘The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to represent a developing point of view, not a new creed. The individuals whose signatures appear would, had they been writing individual statements, have stated the propositions in differing terms. The importance of the document is that more than thirty men have come to general agreement on matters of final concern and that these men are undoubtedly representative of a large number who are forging a new philosophy out of the materials of the modern world.’ Raymond B. Bragg (1933)
As you go through the following steps, keep in mind that a manifesto should be a call to action. It should definitely stir you and hopefully motivate others as well. It should be relevant and based on facts, reason, and logic.
- Choose a goal: If you have more than one goal that seem to be related, try to determine the common denominator.
- Identify your motivation:.You may have to dig deep to find your true motivation and sometimes when you find it, you may actually change or refine your goal(s).
- Justify your motivation(s) on several levels: If you can, explain how your motivation(s) is relevant to body, mind and spirit or personal, local, and global issues. Try to examine your motivation from various perspectives. This should help you clarify it more and again, through this process you may end up changing or further refining your manifesto.
- Be specific: Boil it all down to a single or abbreviated set of over-arching motivations. Make your manifesto as clear as possible using strong and incisive language. Eliminate non-essential words and try to stay away from metaphors and pop-jargon as it may not be universally understood and probably won’t have much longevity.
- Make it public: Manifestos are public declarations.