: Re: How much value do publishers and editors place on informative/educational content in fiction stories? I have heard people say that ‘good stories are educational as well as entertaining’. But

@Deb2945533

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I think you mistake the meaning of "educational" in this case. "Educational" needn't be only about dry information that's related to what you're writing about. At the heart of a story, there is a moral choice, an ethical discussion. It's very rarely made explicit (and indeed, making it too explicit would often be considered "preaching"), but it's there. So a good story makes you think, consider how you view the world, maybe re-evaluate some ideas. In this way, it is educational.

Consider All Quiet on the Western Front: it isn't about all the specific information about trench war. It's about how we see war in general. The Lord of the Rings isn't about the info-dump on hobbits and Middle-earth (there's nothing educational there, since it's all fantasy) - it's about common people stepping up to the challenge.

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