Writer on Board

‘If you want to send a message, use Western Union.’— Samuel Goldwyn
As I've said before, I don't have an inherent problem with message fiction. Just poorly executed message fiction. Cringeworthy message fiction can actually undermine its own message by annoying and offending readers and shutting down critical thought on the issue instead of opening up ethical discussion.

A major cause of obnoxious message fiction is obvious authorial meddling. The worst specimens actually involve the writer stopping the action to have a character or the omniscient narrator lecture the audience on their views. This is incredibly rude to the reader, and a good way to make them lose interest . It also messes with the pacing and the buildup of suspense (or any other emotional response).

Authorial meddling can also introduce problems into the narrative by scuppering reader interpretations. For example, Injun Joe is one of my major pet peeve characters because he'd be a great villain-- he's smart, ruthless, and driven by a believable and borderline sympathetic motivation-- if it weren't for Twain telling us via narration and plot railroading that Joe is an example of how Native Americans Are Evil*. Without the annotation from above, the reader would be free to speculate about the villain and see him as a character rather than a vehicle for an author rant.

*Twain had Issues with Native people for mysterious reasons-- his comments on various tribes are reminiscent of anti-black rhetoric of the time, so given his views on Southern racism, it's particularly jarring.