{"id":452,"date":"2026-05-24T10:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryboardco.com\/?p=452"},"modified":"2026-05-26T16:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:55:19","slug":"why-preachy-stories-are-never-excellent-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryboardco.com\/?p=452","title":{"rendered":"Why Preachy Stories Are Never Excellent Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Preaching can take the power away from characters’ experiences and puts all of that growth into one long section of dialogue or narrative, which is ultimately disappointing.” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Rachel Garner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is the purpose of a story? To explore the truths of human nature. Stories should promote truths to its audiences. Sometimes they are encouraging and inspiring truths. Sometimes, they are cautionary truths. In short, a story usually has a message it\u2019s trying to relay to its audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of one\u2019s upbringing, personal beliefs, or status, there are fundamental truths that apply to all of us. A good story shares a truth that we can all relate to or resonate with. We recognize it in ourselves and in the world around us.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories should reveal that we all agree with each other. We may have differences of opinion when it comes to how the world ought <\/em>to function, but we do realize that it does<\/em> function under certain principles. Stories explore these principles, good or bad, and allow us to come together and discuss them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are better ways of sharing these messages than others. And using your story as a means to preach, is not one of them. Preachy stories are divisive. They sacrifice creativity for the sake of a message they are promoting. They spoon feed their message to the audience, usually with little to no nuance, alienating half of the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people agree with the message, some feel like they are being lectured, and others (myself) are just plain bored by the lack of creativity. Let\u2019s explore why preachy stories are not the best stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preachy Stories vs Thematically Rich Stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All good stories have a theme. What is a theme? It\u2019s an idea or truth that is explored throughout the story. Some themes might include \u201chow power corrupts,\u201d \u201chow unconditional love looks past someone\u2019s mistakes,\u201d and \u201chow our time with our children is too short.\u201d Most of the time, themes are not explicitly stated, but rather, inferred. Themes are important for helping us as the audience connect to the stories and characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preachy stories have themes too. But what makes them unappealing to most people? A theme should be an exploration of an idea. A preachy story isn\u2019t an exploration so much as a statement. A thematically rich story doesn\u2019t beat its message across the audience\u2019s head, but rather, trusts that the audience will pick up on the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preachy stories tend to push people away. Not always because of the message they are promoting, but because they are insulting. They assume the audience isn\u2019t clever enough to pick up on the message. It goes out of its way to make sure the audience cannot possibly miss what it has to say by shoving it down their throats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example of a preachy story vs a thematically rich story covering the same topic would be the movies God\u2019s Not Dead<\/em> and Martin Scorsese\u2019s Silence<\/em>. Both explore the theme of standing up for your faith, even when it\u2019s hard. The first movie explores this theme through overly<\/em> antagonist characters, a lead character who is mostly perfect, and everyone coming to faith at the end. The latter movie has an imperfect protagonist, antagonists who provide compelling arguments for their beliefs, and a realistic ending that has us ponder the meaning of the events we witnessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW TO AVOID WritING Preachy Stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How does one avoid turning their story into a sermon? I\u2019m glad you asked. There are a few guidelines you can follow to help guide your story to be more thematically rich than preachy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three guidelines would be: <\/p>\n\n\n\n