Does violence ever/-n work?

[Кал]

I'm sure I've already talked about this--ranted, you may say --but let me start with this observation hot off the press:

I talked a bit more about the careless way we still use violence in our stories on this Worldcon panel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bohjpFT1hzM

Actually, I have a feeling that recently authors have begun overusing violence as a way to punch our emotional buttons. Consider grimdark or the current dystopian wave. Even if we ignore the ethical angle and focus only on the craft of writing, this is self-defeating: anything we overuse loses its impact. I find myself increasingly bored by stories where people's deaths serve as a tool to make me feel.

Later, I'll try to gather here all relevant posts.

[Кал]

Actually, the only other post focused on violence I can find around is this one. However, it's more important as a "feature" of the person Kalin than as a rumination on the topic of violence, so I'm leaving it there.

[Кал]

A question to ponder (and ask the PC crowd, point-blank, when they get especially one-track):

Do writers use sensitivity readers when they write violence? Do they have an idea what it means, for instance, to be beaten to an inch of your life? How it changes you?

(A few years ago, I edited a novel that handles the above situation authentically and admirably. It devotes about a quarter of the story to the evolution of the victim. Unfortunately, the manuscript hasn't found a publisher yet.)

Maybe I should try writing a Heroes and Villains tale focusing on the repercussions of experiencing/witnessing violence.