JustWrite

Just curious to see what people think.

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Spudley

Moderating: Moved this topic from the 'Introduce Yourself' forum to 'Writing Tips and Advice'.

Quan

Hello there,

I do get turned off by *unnecessary* swearing. If you have a character who just likes to swear... I don't think that's an effective way to build a character. If your character is under a lot of stress, then I think that you should have him/her express freely.

There is a fine line, and you usually can tell. The way I look at it is that if you have a character who's very nice, the F* word from that person's mouth is much more POWERFUL than someone who swears all the time.

Havoc

In my story I do try to keep it suttle, although im not scared of using a 'shit' or a 'goddamn' at some points.

Something I try to point out using swearing is the personality of my character. My good character is more likely to use jeez, or damn. He could say God Damn it and envolve God into it. But although the character is not religeus he just thinks its unnecicery to envolve other peeps believe into it.

My other main character, the bounty hunter, doesnt give a damn about that. Hes not religeus either, but he not scared to use words like 'God F*cking damnit' just becouse he doesnt care. Those are verry verry tiny detail's which youl only notice if you where looking for them. But you would devenatly notice it if they wernt there.

badash

It pends on the story, I'd say...

Spudley

If your story needs harsh language, then use it. If it doesn't, then don't. You shouldn't use it just for the sake of it, but also don't be afraid to use it if your story needs it.

A good writer will be able to justify every word in his story. It doesn't matter whether it's a swear word or a harmless adjective; every word in your story will either make the story better or it worse. Keep the good and get rid of the bad, and you'll have a good story.

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Leapord

Hm, I think Spudley covered it pretty well. Don't put in curses just because you want to; there must be a reason for it. I've gotten tired of reading stories where reading the dialogue reminds me of being in school (many people at my school curse a lot). So only put them in if it really makes sense to do so.

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Gundampilotspaz

My favorte language cover up is in the book "Double Star" By Rober A. Heinlein he said "I wanted to tell him that his parents met briefly at a masqurade ball." Instead of coming out and saying the ovious.

newbie

yes use swear words if it is a benefit to character developement,or it is relevant to the storyline,or you feel you would swear in the same situation as your characters.don`t put swear words in for the sake of using them,nothing dissapoints me more than a character swearing needlessly
some tmes the insinuation of something works much better or the timing of a response gives you more of a feel for what the character really wants to say than them actually saying it.

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Nazareth

Read books by the great authors- they don't resort to cheap constant swearing. It is usually confined to certain situations and NEVER used just for the sake of "shock" or effect. One thing I can't stand is reading some0ones work & seeing the "f" word or other innappropriate swears or sexual connotations in nearly every sentance a character stars in. I've seen alot of writing that the authors evidently felt that doing such things made them "shocking" or hip or whatever- it doesn't.

Like Marylin Manson (Mr. Shock miester) said in an interview- there's appropraite uses of swearing and then there's the kind of swearing that makes the user sound uneducated.

If your character is in a tense situation- have em swear a few times (but please, use a word other than the "f" word- it just degrades the writing & turns off certain people- too many people get turned off & you've lost an audience). If your character slams their finger with hammer- swear. etc. But my gosh- I can't stand books where the characters are swearing in every other sentance- it just sounds jeuvenile.

Falling on swearing only to charaterioze your chaacters is lazy writing- like newbie said- use your minds and learn to insinuate anger in other ways- it'll give your work much more power

Aevin

I've found that for certain stories, always when it fits the tone, it is effective to use swear words not for the sake of character development or shock value, but simply becuase some of the words are useful. Why, for example, should a writer dodge around using euphamisms such as "made love" or "procreated with each other" when there is a perfectly useful four letter verb beginning with F that solves all those problems? Likewise, it sounds quite silly in certain stories for an author to say "poop" or "do-do" or "feces." Riiiight.

So, if it fits the tone of the story and is useful, I'd say don't worry much about the language. Spudley's advice seems the best--as long as you have a good reason for your use of "profanity," then go ahead and use it if it makes your story better.

Here's kind of a pointless observation--I almost never swear. I may say "Damn" every once in awhile, though I'm more prone to say "Dumbnation." I take offense when others swear a lot, but my characters occasionally swear quite frequently. I look at it like I have a duty to accurately report what happened. If you know your characters say these words, then report their dialog accurately.

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JustWrite

"You guys are the BOMB!" as Randy Jackson from American Idol says.

Thanks for the advice!!!!!!!!!!

__________________
"You can never win the battle if your mind is too weak to fight."
Paula Edwards
Love Provocative black fiction? Then this ones for you: www.justwritepublishing.com

Spudley

A story to consider:

The fourth book in Douglas Adams' "Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy" series included a fairly long scene at a party, where one of the guests is showing off about an award he'd won.

In the earlier editions of the book, the award was named "The award for the most gratuitous use of the word f**k in a serious screenplay".

The scene carries on with several jokes about the award and it's title.

But in later editions of the book, Adams changed the name of the award to "the most gratuitous use of the word Belgium in a serious screenplay".

The idea was that outside the planet Earth, 'Belgium' is the most horrendous swear word ever.

Adams was able to rewrite the scene, and turn it from being moderately funny into one of the funniest chapters in the book, largely because the main character was completely unaware that it was so rude.

Before the rewrite, this was just about the only place in the entire series where there was any swearing at all (there was one other use of the F word that I can think of, but that also got edited out at the same time).

The point is that the book was much better without the swearing. And that holds true in the majority of cases.

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badash

In some enviroments people do swear all the time. It's definitly not impossible to justify a story with frequent swering. It may be irritating to read but if it means your staying true to the story, then it most (in some cases) be done. But I Agree with everybody that swearing look real bad when used improbably.

shaggy

Depends. If your characters swear a lot because that's how they speak on a daily basis, then swear. If not, don't. It depends on who they are. I feel that a lot of writers are afraid to swear because they believe good writing does not need swearing. That may be true, because swearing is often seen as a weakness (an inability to express oneself in clearer terms). However, it depends on your story and your characters. I know people who swear liberally in their daily speech. This is the way they express themselves, period. I know a newspaper editor who swore up and down and sideways every time he opened his mouth. I don't think any less of his ability to write, though. He was a good editor.

Simply be true to your characters and your writing. Gratuitous swearing, like gratuitous violence or gratuitous sex (in books or any other popular mass medium), will not work. Every word you write should mean something. Every sentence should serve to develop a character, enhance the mood of a scene or further the plot. Swearing can be effective or pointless - it depends on how you use it.

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