Weirdly, my dictionary (a lovely old Chambers that my mum and dad
gave me in 1989) defines catharsis as purgative medicine having the
power of cleansing the bowels - they missed that bit out in my drama
degree. It does go on to say that it can also mean the purging of the
effects of a pent-up emotion by bringing it to the surface of
consciousness through drama -- much more Aristotelian.
In classical terms, catharsis is the central experience, the
raison d'etre, of fiction. People read partly as an escape from their
own world, but also in order to see it reflected back at them through
the lens of the hero or heroine's heightened experience, so that they
gain insight and understanding, but also a gratifying release of the
tension you will have generated in your well crafted plot!
You can achieve this by putting your hero under incredible pressure so
that they are obliged to change in order to meet the challenges you set
them. There must be a lot to lose, and also a lot to gain. It's very
gratifying to feel wrung out at the end of a book - just as physical
exercise gets the endorphins flowing, so a good book should give your
reader a great emotional workout - that's what you should be trying to
achieve.
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