Storytelling =/= teaching

You can teach while telling stories, but storytelling isn't teaching. Generally if you have to stop telling the story to educate the reader you've already lost the battle. I am periodically reminded of this at Wyrdsmiths meetings when I put something in a story that goes against the common understanding of how something works.



Sometimes, when I do this, I'm simply wrong. Usually even, and that's actually easier because I can just nod and fix it. Occasionally however, I'm right. For example I have more than once used a word in a traditional fantasy piece that everyone associates with a very modern usage, but which comes originally from the context in which I've chosen to use it in the story.



At that point I have a number of choices. I can ignore the critique, knowing that it will bounce many people out of the story since it doesn't matter that the word is five hundred years old and that it means exactly what I've said it does if my readers don't know that. I can simply rephrase something to avoid the unfortunate word, which makes my inner pedant very cranky. Or, I can try to find some way to explain the etymology of the word that makes since within the context of the story.



It is at precisely these times that it is important to remind myself that storytelling =/= teaching, kick my inner pedant in the noogies and move on.