It's time to let a story be a story.

The Maine Man is right. 

Some writers feel that it's their moral obligation to have a message or agenda--and hammer away with it as readers slog through a manifesto thinly veiled as a story.

" Can't you guys just let a story be a story?"

That's a big problem with today's writers. The message is too important to them, it overtakes the story and the characters. It's bad storytelling. The last season of Doctor Who is a good example, but that's typical for Russell T Davies.

Star Trek: Discovery. Well, that was a mess from the very beginning--on many levels--and while the second season was somewhat promising, it went back to its formula of bad, heavy handed writing and the characters doing way too much whispering and crying. Discovery is a good example of show with talented actors wasted as they played boring, cringe-inducing characters as they uttered lame and, again, cringe-inducing dialogue. 

It's a shame because actors like Tig Notaro and Mary Wiseman, to name a few, deserved better. 

More importantly, the audience deserved better.

"First tell the story and everything else will work itself out."

The great science fiction writer and screenwriter Leigh Brackett said that. A lot of today's SF/fantasy writers could learn a lot about the craft of storytelling from Brackett and her contemporaries. That's why I gravitate to those older stories; they weren't overwhelmed by messages or agendas.

Yes, it's fine that writers inject sociopolitical messages into their stories. There's nothing wrong with it. Back when I was in my Libertarian phase--mea culpa, yes, I was one of them--I had some fairly decent ideas but I was so concerned about hammering my beliefs into the reader. Looking back at those stories, they're bad; I can now say that was my Eye of Argon period. 

Some of you might want to Google that.

I want to tell a good story and throw in some social commentary. Nothing wrong with that. But, you see, that's all I want to do. My primary goal is to tell a (hopefully) damn fine story and entertain people. Now, if I can make some comments on this or that, that's okay too. Sinclair Lewis did it quite well with It Can't Happen Here. Lewis had something to say about men like Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip and he did so in an entertaining but frightening way.

Not only did it work but it worked well.

It was also prescient as the world saw Donald Trump's presidential campaign and his nightmarish administration.

It's a fine line, telling stories infused with one's various sociopolitical messages. It can be done. Stephen King has done it quite well over the years; so have other writers but you'll always have your Russell T Davies or a Brad R. Torgersen with their shite.

It happens.

But don't let it happen to you.

Well. That's my opinion.

That's all I have to say.

Be seeing you.

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