In  one of my literature classes in high school, we read a narrative about the Great Plague of London.  I’ve completely forgotten what the book or story was.  But I remember there was a scene where the narrator decided he wanted to go see the mass graves of the plague victims, and he was determined to see them at the time when the workers were actually throwing the bodies in (gruesome, I know).  I vividly remember the class discussion, when the teacher asked why the character felt the need to visit the graves at that most horrible time.

I must have had my writer’s brain on, because it seemed abundantly obvious to me that the character wanted to go at that time because it let the writer describe a more compelling scene.

That may only be one jump back from the teacher’s question, which I think is, why is it compelling in its horribleness?  But I think there really is something else at work here.  For me, the interesting question is not why someone would go look at bodies being tossed into a grave (because frankly, I find it unlikely many people would).  The question is, why did the writer want to write about that?

It prompts emotions.  Sometimes I think that is the core of what we are doing when we seek out stories (novels, movies, any kind of story).  We want to feel something.  And it’s easiest to make someone feel something horrible.  Fear and horror are relatively easy emotions to invoke.  I think that’s why we see so much sensationalism on the news–the news companies have realized that it’s easier to create deeper emotions by talking about kidnappings and murders than by covering positive news.

I often think about this in my own writing.  Some of my most helpful responses from people have been about what they feel when they read a story I wrote–are they worried about a character?  Are they angry with the villain?  Does a scene make them laugh or make them sad?  In a way, “it’s good” or “it’s bad” is so subjective.  But if someone says, “I was so angry with that character, how could he do that?” and that’s what I was aiming for–then I feel more sure that I’m conveying what I wanted to convey.

We don’t normally seek tragedies in real life.  Real life has enough feelings, and most people don’t need to go watch bodies be tossed into a pit in our effort to feel something.  But in fiction, we get to harmlessly try on other emotions and other experiences–and then we do seek out the tragedies, the dramatic love affairs, the hilarious comedies, because they all make us feel.  They help us engage with the story–they draw us into the other life we’re reading about.