Question

How and why are readers impacted by painful stories?

Answer 1

BECAUSE PAIN IS THE #1 WAY TO KEEP THE ATTENTION OF PUNY BRAINED BOOKWORMS.

When your heart starts bleeding because you are ridiculously emotionally engaged in a fictional story…you know you care. OH GRAPE. YOU SURE DO CARE. And the best way to show you care is to ache and worry and fret over something.

Answer 2

Painful story can be very interesting to readers because they can resonate with the story or feel sympathetic to the pain that is being felt