It’s
becoming more and more common to read four letter words and other profanities
in our books. Is this a new trend… or has it in some way been around for a
long, long time. (By the way there are still some writers and readers who have
no tolerance for the average curse word).
So is it
okay for YOU to drop a 4-letter obscenity into your writing? And what about
readers who can take offense at other profanities like using the Lord’s name in
vain, or “cursing” someone with misfortune?
Of course we are talking about
adult-level stories and not those aimed at young children or used with a lot of
discretion for young adults.
First of all
get over your own inhibitions, understand how comfortable you are (or not)
using swear words, four-letter words, or visual descriptions of body parts. If
you are not comfortable using these words, or you know you are writing for an
audience that would take offense, think about what you are doing.
Also realize
that just because YOU do or do not use certain words in literature doesn’t mean
that you must follow the same pattern in your social media posts or in-person
appearances. (I personally would suggest keeping your language on social media
and in-person as clean as possible — unless of course you are doing a book
reading which includes the questionable language)
In 1948
Norman Mailer wrote a novel which included the F-word in all its glory. The
hard-hitting tough subject book was about men in wartime and was rampant with
emotion, anger, fear and release; the publisher thought the F-word had to go.
The word was replaced (in all cases) with “fug” and many readers did not
receive it well. This novel which captivated readers with all of its realism
turned them off because they felt slighted that the realistic language was
watered down as if they couldn’t handle it. The real terminology would have
been accepted because it would not have tossed the reader out of the story.
If you do
not have a problem using the language, if the audience you are writing for
would definitely cringe (unless that is your goal), and if the cursing,
swearing, profanity, or other “bad language” would be appropriate for the
situation, the use it. Personally I like to contain any questionable language
in my dialogue, is this really the way the character would talk? Too much
profanity loses its effect so if you are using it to give a character
personality or to shock your readers, too much and it’s about as tasty as an
overdone piece of steak.
Remember, everything
is moderation if you choose to use profanity (of any kind) in your writing. “Frankly
Scarlett, I don’t give a damn.” Was one of the most effective show stoppers in
history because in the entire movie that was the one and only curse used.
Writing
Exercise: Write an angry letter (for your eyes only) to an
imaginary character that you really detest. Throw in curses, swears,
vulgarities and more. Make your own ears sting and get it all out of your
system and when you are done read the letter OUTLOUD. Now take a pen of a different color and change every naughty word, substitute it or simply
eliminate it. Re-read the letter with the changes. Does it still make sense? How
many of the original curse-words were really necessary? Adjust it as necessary.
Writing
Prompt: Choose three to four of your major characters.
Make a list of the five worst words each particular character would feel
comfortable using when they are at their angriest.
Challenge
Assignment: Write a short disaster scene using no more than
six speaking characters; choose professions, social status, and education for
each character. Make sure that the disaster scene is heavy on dialogue and each
character talks the way you believe he/she would based on your assumptions.
Choose the same characters but change or mix-up their careers, education and
social status but keep age and gender the same. Rewrite the scene as closely as
possible using the characters’ new qualities. Do this a few times and see how
you change your characters’ personalities through their language.
