What is catharsis in writing?
According to Litcharts.com catharsis is the process of releasing strong or pent-up emotions through art.
The historical philosopher Aristotle came up with the term meaning to purge. He described this regarding what Greek theatre goers experienced watching tragedy.
I first learned the term in college when I took a writing course. It has stayed with me. When I started writing, it struck me that there are times when I’m reading that I experience tension, anxiety, etc. for the action on the pages of a book.
I felt it when I read the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. I won’t spoil it but, in books 2 and 3, Golden Son and Morning Star, there are moments toward the end that pierced me (no pun intended) and I wanted to throw the book against the wall.
Likewise in Nicholas Sparks’ novels, The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, there are moments at the end where your heart is purged of emotion as Aristotle explained.
How does catharsis in writing happen?
When a reader becomes so involved in the characters, when the characters have so captured your imagination that you are feeling everything they are inside the pages, you will experience this purging of emotions. It also leaves me, as a reader, wanting more.
So, it’s with delight when I have had readers come to me with expletives, epithets and more when they have read books in The Apocalypse Series-Brad Stockman Adventures, The Judas Legacy, Kayne’s Revenge, and The Prodigal Son.
No, I’m not a sadist gleefully exulting in the misery of my daughter who came to me and asked in anger, “What is wrong with you?!?”. I did not smile too much with sibling joy when my sister called me an a**hole. I’m not enjoying the anguish of my partner who exclaimed a simple, “No! Just no!”.
But when they did, and others who have read the stories did so in other ways, I know the stories have been able to strike a chord that makes it real and involves more than just another book to read. That the stories made an impact.
I hope you felt something, too, when you read them.
I would love to get your feedback.