The one thing that makes a lot of these online stories so fun to read is the fact that they're usually incredibly 'personal' to the author. They often tap into distant memories, hidden fantasies, tragic experiences, feelings of first love...the kind of life experiences that we can all relate to in one way or the other. And that creates a strong emotional attachment between the author and the story...which in turn creates a strong attachment between the READER and the story.

But, there are times when the author may have something important to say, or a point that he wants to make, and it might be such a strong attachment that a 'statement' can very easily turn into a 'rant', and for a reader that can be a turn-off. If only I could get a dollar for every long winded rant that I read over and had to take out of a story (sometimes cancelling the story altogether and never letting it be seen), I would have been able to buy my own island by now! Hehehe! Yes, that almighty soapbox can be hard to resist sometimes. And most people can tell when you're on one, so it's hard to slide that one past 'em.

The question this week is...do you find yourself backing away from an author or a story that seems to be 'preaching' to you in it's message? Does the idea of an author driving home an opinion with a certain level of 'righteousness' turn you off of a story? Or is it a virtue that should be crafted and used to the advantage of the author? Maybe a stronger message is needed, even it seems a bit blatant. Who knows?

What are your thoughts? Let us know!

Every author has an agenda. A measure of that author's craft is how well he disguises it and allows the reader to figure it out on their own without the author resorting to removing their shoe and banging on the lectern.

I don't have a problem with an author who has an agenda. If I agree with the agenda, then they can be more long winded than if I disagree, but either way it is possible to go to long and that's when I turn off. If I disagree with the agenda, then a lot depends on how the author has approached it. If they are heavy handed, I turn off because they're not giving me the chance to disagree. They are, in effect, trying to tell me what to think. If that's the case, I stop reading.