On readability vs realism

[palominocorn]

I have several characters leaving abusive relationships in my novels, and on the one hand, I try to keep my work fairly optimistic and not depress my readers with a cycle of leaving and coming back, but on the other, I wonder if maybe I'm doing people a disservice by not showing how hard the process really is.

Comments

[yvannairie]

I mean, an option is to show the pattern repeating, but not with the abuser? Maybe their next relationship turns toxic but is reconciled or both parties realise their flaws? There are a lot of ways to show the effect abuse has on you that are raw and illustrative while giving characters catharsis eventually :)c