: Re: Should I avoid "lecturing" my readers? I just noticed I have the tendency of "lecturing" my readers now and then. Examples: I almost let everything out. But, funny, I didn't do it. I didn't

@Si5022468

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I think you question the utility of these passages because they stick out. This time you saw them as lecturing. Of course, "lecturing" differs from delivering a good lecture. Lecturing is boring. A teen feels an adult is lecturing when they make a point that is not relevant. That may be what is happening here.

In paragraph 1, you bring up the origin of deities which you then state that you don't believe in. The reader traveled into a blind cul-de-sac and was left there. They now must try to trust that the next time you make a point with colorful description that it will contribute to the narration and lead them toward the satisfaction of their interests in your story.

In paragraph 2, you invoke Einstein instead of deities. You then add two ways in which time can seem relative--examples that may be from Einstein or may be from the 1st person narrator. It may be that you go on to connect these examples to what is happening in the narrative, but if you don't, they will continue to seem like the lecturing adult, failing to make a relevant point.

I believe the short answer to your question is this. If you feel that your narrator is lecturing, and it is not the purpose of the narration to appear as lecturing, then you should avoid it. As Einstein says, lecturing is relative.

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