spiritual matters

Your Story Might Be A Little Too Preachy
by Jan Fields

One of the most common phrases in the guidelines of religious magazines is “no preachy stories” – but writers can be a little confused by what makes a story preachy and how to avoid preachiness while still crafting a story with thematic depth. In other words, how do you write a story that has value for the reader without preachiness? The key tends to be in how the main character undergoes growth and change in the course of the story. Does growth and change come as a result of the natural consequences of his actions and choices? Or does growth and change come when another characters acts upon him, causing change to come through that other character?

Since I’m from the South with a bit of a Southern sense of humor, I’m going to borrow a bit from Jeff Foxworthy and show you how to detect when your story might be a little too preachy.

If talking with a grandparent helps your main character see the error of his ways…your story might be a little too preachy.

If remembering the sermon from church suddenly makes your main character see the error of his ways…your story might be a little too preachy.

If getting a lecture from another kid character makes your character see the error of his ways…your story might be a little too preachy.

If your character sums up what he’s learned at the end of the story…your story might be a little too preachy.

If your character behaves one way through almost the whole story, then suddenly decides to look at everything differently with little motivation…your story might be a little too preachy.

Generally preachy stories focus on the lesson, the main character usually gets the lesson in some way other than the consequences of his actions and choices, and the character change is sudden and radical – usually with a summing up moment at the end. I’ve seen stories with all of these elements in place, making them super sermon stories…but not making them something most editors want to see.

To avoid being preachy, think of the “lesson” you hope the reader will walk away with as a kind of buried treasure. Something the reader needs to figure out the clues for in order to find for himself. For your main character, the story is just life. In life, you face problems and you deal with them – sometimes well and sometimes poorly. As you make choices for how to deal with problems, you learn what works, what doesn’t, and sometimes a bit about yourself and others. In life, the lessons that carry the most “weight” don’t come from someone telling us something, they come from living. That’s how they come in the stories too – your character is just living. Through the course of living through this problem, the main character will grow and change.

For example, a main character may be a teen whose family trains service dogs. She decides she wants to train a service dog on her own. Through the course of training though, she might get attached and not want to give the dog up. She turns to her parents but they remind her that she’s made a commitment and that she owes the person who will be getting the dog. She decides she’ll go to the person who is going to get the dog, and explain that she’s developed a bond with the dog and wants to keep it – she’s sure that she can play on the person’s sympathy. She takes the bus to the house of the person and meets a young woman. When the teen explains she’s been training a service dog for her, the woman gets so excited and invites her in – wanting to hear everything about the dog. The teen describes her experiences with the dog. The young woman tells the teen that she can see the girl loves the dog, and asks if maybe it’s too hard to give it up. But given the perfect opportunity to keep the dog, the teen realizes that she can’t – especially when she sees all the ways “her” dog could help the young woman. She assures the young woman that the dog will be coming to her on time.

Now, in the above plot, the teen got a lecture from her parents – and clearly it didn’t take a bit (as happens with most lectures.) But it does give the teen an idea of a course of action to resolve the story problem. While working toward a solution – she changes as a result of what she sees, hears, and experiences…and she doesn’t change until the choice is totally and unquestionably hers. That is change that a reader would believe because we would see it happening. We would see the meeting with the young woman and we would also see the ways the dog would be helpful, and we’d hear it from the main character’s recitations about the dog. Then, we would believe the change from the teen. And the story would be open enough, touching so many themes, that each reader could get something different of value from it. That’s the key to a good story.

So as you craft your next story for a religious markets, think about the themes would want to touch on – generosity, faith, family, responsibility – then come up with a plot that tests the main character in that theme area by having to work hard to overcome a story problem of great importance to the main character. When you do that, you won’t have to worry about being too preachy.

This page last updated on 01 December 2007