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Clothes are for squares.
All writers put something of themselves into their stories, but some of them go just that little bit too far. For them, the real point of writing is not to shape worlds or create characters, but to express the Big Important Truths that are close to their heart.

This is certainly not always a bad thing. Done well, this can add an extra layer of meaning and resonance to a story. Done poorly, it will just result in the audience rolling its eyes and giving up. Even done well, an unfortunate result of the Author Tract is that some people will dismiss perfectly good stories simply because they disagree with the author's viewpoint. Even those who agree with the author may tune out if the author begins to lay it on too thick.

Of course, what is and isn't an author tract is highly subjective. Asking the author to not have an opinion on anything is absolutely absurd, and demanding that the author has to appeal to everyone is equally absurd. Sometimes Preaching To The Choir is a good thing, as the reader may agree and not know there is a choir to be preached to, depending on where he or she grew up. Art for art's sake is nice, but sometimes so is knowing that somebody shares your opinion on a subject.

These are often filled with Author Filibusters and Strawman Political characters.

Note that this only applies when the entire universe and characters have been created to put forward the author's viewpoint. If an existing fictional universe or character has been altered to create a medium for a tract, then it's due to a Writer On Board. If the author's just filling up their story with stuff they like, that's Author Appeal.

Contrast What Do You Mean Its Not Didactic. May overlap with You Fail Economics Forever.

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