# Usage of Profanity



## hup2thepenguin (May 30, 2015)

I have two questions regarding the use of swear words in books.
One of my fiction writing teachers in college told us that the use of profanity in writing is much different than we'd imagine in actual speech, or in movies and things. He said that profanity becomes a distraction, because apparently some readers aren't mature enough to get over the use of the f-bomb and other stuff like that. Does anyone think that it is indeed distracting if there's too much of it? Like what if one of your characters has a sailor's mouth or something. Should it be toned down compared to what you'd imagine they'd say in real life?
This leads to my second questions: what is the threshold of profanity for a target audience? I imagine children books don't have any, but if you do use f-word in a book, does that exclude it from being marked as a teen/YA book and moved to an adult category?
I've been reading some Kyell Gold samples, and there's cussing _everywhere_, and the use of more extreme words in his non-adult books, so idk.


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## Shankmeister (May 30, 2015)

Well yeah, to be honest it is quite distracting. Personally I've stopped reading many books for that reason. It seems as though the writer didn't put in too much effort, seeing that half the word count is comprised of "son of a bitch", "fuck", "shit", and "goddamn it"; plus, it makes me think that the writer lacks proper vocabulary. Now, I know no one wants to read big words like "cynosure", "incarnadining" or "osculator", because if we did, then we'd just go pick up a thesaurus and spend the rest of the day with it. At the same time, if I wanted to hear someone cuss for the entirety of the plot I'd go to the local dive bar, get drunk after drinking half a bottle of vodka and piss people off so I could listen to the moronic babbling of the local tough guys.

So yeah, unless the character's personality is clearly defined and points towards his lack of intelligence and vocabulary, I'd advise against it. If you're really into it, and put effort in it, you'll find ways of making your characters interesting, tough and relatable without making them look like complete asshats.

Emphasize and show their actions when they feel anger/disgust/happiness/etc. Or use other, uncommon funny swear words that won't be repeatedly used and grow stale.

Check this website out for some more colourful picks on swears: http://www.noswearing.com/dictionary


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## Deleted member 82554 (May 30, 2015)

Insight from a very wise man.


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## BlitzCo (May 30, 2015)

This is an acceptable amount of swearing.

http://youtu.be/7RLDZaWN8b4


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## Charrio (May 31, 2015)

It does distract and readers are apt to get bored or just a distaste for the read. 
I try and only use it when in a situation or scene calls for it. 
Brutality, Rape, Family Explosions and the like. Situations where it makes sense and 
to not make every few words a swear. 

The only people who cuss all the time are people who are misfits and already a semi
outcast and the language creates a distaste for them IRL or literature. 
Using them too often takes away the impact or effect they can have for your story as well. 

I'd say keep it to a minimum unless called for, like a group of soldiers, they can make a sailor
cry.


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## Conker (May 31, 2015)

People swear in life. It's just a thing. We like bad words, because bad words are fun. Most of my characters swear in some regard, some more than others. I've had sailors with a sailor's mouth, for example.

It's really about context. People swear when they're hurt or upset or baffled. Sometimes for jokes. You gotta make it seem like a natural part of the language and not for simple shock value.

I will say: the last part of editing for me is to go through EVERY curse word I have and see if I should get rid of it or not. I tend to overuse them on my first draft, and that means i tend to cut out at least half by the end. 

I wrote a 130,000 word book, and 40 of those words are "fuck." That seems like an alright ratio to me.


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## Unsilenced (May 31, 2015)

I like swearing. It's a good way to add punch to something a character says. It's important though not to use it too often, or it becomes worn out. While in real life a group of characters might be people who swear constantly, it's only really worth having them swear when something important happens. My first writing project opened up pretty swear-heavy at first, because it's about a couple of naval school drop-outs who ended up getting assigned to coast guard duty on a planet nobody gives a shit about. Based on someone's critique though, I removed most of the swearing before things start happening, which I think was a good change. It sounds a little weird to have them being so euphemistic at first, but it definitely makes the first f-bomb more notable. 

Having characters drop an f-bomb in the last sentence of a speech, lecture or monologue is also fun, especially if it starts with more poetic or romantic terms. Having characters start to wax philosophical before taking a sharp left at scatological puts a lot of emphasis on wherever they decided to get crude. 

TL;DR though, having characters swear is fine, but you should have a better reason to have them do it than they necessarily might need. Just because a character would say 'fuck' doesn't mean you should necessarily have them say it. It needs to fit with /your/ vision of the scene's mood and pacing.


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## RedSavage (May 31, 2015)

Only if it fits the character, in dialogue only. 

As part of a narrative it seems like a veritable attempt at edginess. But if you pull it off in the narration (mainly 1st person) then what works, works.


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## DevilishlyHandsome49 (May 31, 2015)

I think that your teacher saying cursing in writing can more distracting than cursing in movies, is not very true. Excessive cursing in any media or entertainment can be distracting or eye rolling, especially when the curse words are used to such a ridiculous amount, that they're as frequent as someone saying "the" in their everyday life.

Curse words don't really phase me. It all depends on the delivery of the word, the context of it, and the amount of times its used


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## RedSavage (May 31, 2015)

Use discretion. Cursing would work in a Quentin Tarantino movie, but not Lion King.


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## Connor J. Coyote (May 31, 2015)

hup2thepenguin said:


> I have two questions regarding the use of swear words in books.
> One of my fiction writing teachers in college told us that the use of profanity in writing is much different than we'd imagine in actual speech, or in movies and things. He said that profanity becomes a distraction, because apparently some readers aren't mature enough to get over the use of the f-bomb and other stuff like that. Does anyone think that it is indeed distracting if there's too much of it? Like what if one of your characters has a sailor's mouth or something. Should it be toned down compared to what you'd imagine they'd say in real life?
> This leads to my second questions: what is the threshold of profanity for a target audience? I imagine children books don't have any, but if you do use f-word in a book, does that exclude it from being marked as a teen/YA book and moved to an adult category?
> I've been reading some Kyell Gold samples, and there's cussing _everywhere_, and the use of more extreme words in his non-adult books, so idk.




Just use common sense. That's what I do. If it sounds like it might be too risque when you read it, than it probably is.


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## Zaedrin (Mar 2, 2016)

In my novel the word "yiff" is actually used as an expletive. Heh. 

I try to keep the F-bombs dropped on occasion and where it is needed so that the shock of it is there. A Precision F-Strike as TT puts it.


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## Zrcalo (Mar 3, 2016)

I just go with what a character would say and do. If they curse a lot, they curse a lot. If they dont, they dont. I just let the characters write themselves.


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## glitchology (Mar 4, 2016)

Sometimes it fits in the story, sometimes it doesn't, but if someone's using it to make the person seem 'edgy' or something, it's kinda weak writing.  It does get a bit distracting sometimes, if it isn't done really, really well (and it has to be, if used a lot.)  But it's all about the character, really, and the environment, and whether or not it ends up fitting.   Just gotta be cautious about how much, 'cause in written form, it always seems like it's being said more than it really is.


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## OddOcculitist (Mar 5, 2016)

Personally, I would say sometimes too much swearing makes the author look like they want to be "super edgy". I can't really say much for fiction, I'm a poet by trade. It poetry it really tends to make it look like the author wants to seem edgy. I say permit one fuck in a serious poem, but if the author is obviously going for humor, I'm cool with more swearing. I wish I could think of some examples...


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## Zrcalo (Mar 5, 2016)

I never really understood the taboo around swearing. If the word is appropriate for the situation, I'll use it. If I have a character that is disappointed in another character's actions I'll have them say "goddammit Quinn, go home, you're drunk."
to which, quinn would reply...
"shit fuck cocks motherfucker ..uhh.. dicks. dicks. cocks. fucking your mom again. my anus in your face. .. *plays an eminem song*"
then the other character would close his blinds and go back to whatever he was doing.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 9, 2016)

I'm just going to come in here and talk about a different word entirely, 'usage'. 

Honestly what is the point of this word? There is no case where 'use' is not clearer and more succinct than 'usage'. 

The man 'lost the use of his arms'. He did not 'lose the usage of his arms,', for example. 

To the topic at hand, I think that swearing in writing is lame; often simply stating 'She checked her watch and swore under her breath,' is a more captivating writing style than 'Sasha checked her watch "Bitch-tits and ass-nuggets" she hissed, realising she was late,'. 

My brother read some sentences from Steven King's 'Under the dome' to me and we both couldn't stop rolling around with laughter, because the dialogue was so profane and awkward.


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## nicanor (Mar 13, 2016)

Profanity is a spice.  A dash here and there can maximize the impact of a piece, but just throwing it in for swearing sake topples many young writers.  

 Some writers are masters of profanity, others hold it back, but what matters most is that the writer tells their story in an authentic voice.  As a former film student I know a lot of young screenwriters try pulling off Tarantino-esque dialogue and it always sounded awful.  It's because they were  trying to replicate another writer's voice instead of developing an approach that worked best for them.


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## Fopfox (Mar 25, 2016)

Do whatever the fuck you want.


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## Spazzlez (Mar 25, 2016)

Fopfox said:


> Do whatever the fuck you want.


Well shit, can't disagree with this motherfucker. I read his goddamn comment and hell, couldn't fucking disagree with that asshole's logic.

(Before any of you call me out, note that this was a joke. Just write what feels natural and don't go overboard.)


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## Simo (Mar 25, 2016)

I think it depends on the characters, and how it's used, but I do tend to see a lot of overuse, especially on those corny low-budget action/sci-fi shows on TV, where they wanna make guys appear 'tough', in otherwise stupid, recycled plots. But no: no matter how many times you can say 'fuck' in a sentance, dos not make you look any tougher: only dumber.

And I'd agree that the dialog in Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' is laughable; I did enjoy his early works, but some of his later stuff is simply hard to take. Nobody I know talks this way, and it just makes me shake my head.

If it's a scene involving sex, well, then it might be called for simply because you have to refer to said parts somehow, and using medical terms can make it sound like some kinda dry, sex-ed video you saw in faith grade.

So I will use profanity, but sparingly. When I do, it's for dramatic effect, or humor.


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## luxdreamer (Mar 25, 2016)

I feel like the use of profanity can be a very important aspect to a character. 
As if it can add a fair bit of personality to them -- in my opinion.
Of course I wouldn't advise overusing profanity but definitely don't shy away. 
Whereas there are other words that characters can use sometimes (in real life, anyway) a person's personality just doesn't flow that way.
It all just depends on your /who/ your character is.


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## Zipline (Jul 13, 2016)

It distracts me more when there are typos. If i catch them (and i always seem to) then after about 3 typos I put the book down and find a new one. :C


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## ShamonCornell (Jul 14, 2016)

So, my couple of cents:

Close your eyes, imagine if this book was on tape.  Or worse, being made to read your writing out loud, in class.  Someone might have to, some day!  Don't laugh!

So, each of your characters has a voice...but so does the narrative.  The narration, unto itself, should have a character to it, as much as the characters.

Ask yourself: "who would I cast as the narrator, and how would they talk?".  For example, I typically imagine Rowan Atkinson (less Mr. Bean, more Black Adder) as reading my narration, while I imagine John Cleese reading Terry Pratchett.  Neither of those two curse, much.

Also, consider this:  cursing is governed by Ninja's Law.  That one or two utterances of "fuck" in an entire movie will have you rolling with laughter...while a massive diatribe out of Blair Witch, or say, Slipknot's lyrics, will just make you say "dude, there's other WORDS in English..."

Cursing can make a good punctuation, a good punch line, and it can convey the stress of a character losing their cool...but remember, sometimes censoring the cursing can be a better joke unto itself.


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## Jarren (Jul 15, 2016)

So long as it's used for impact and, even then, only used sparingly it can fit in fairly well and be a great tool. That said, if the manuscript is riddled with expletives, especially when they exist outside of dialogue, you run the risk of not being taken seriously or being outright dismissed. If a character swears often, that's fine, but avoid using profanity more than once or twice in a conversation, and definitely never as part of the narrative.


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## Yakamaru (Jul 15, 2016)

Ah yes, the morons who can't take a swear word without giggling or getting distracted. Also seems to be the type of person who are against porn. <--- There's often a corrolation between these, studies show. Weird, huh?

Swear words are often used as spice and/or to enhance something in a certain situation.

When someone is threatening to stab you, you don't shout "DON'T STAB ME YOU NOT NICE PERSON!"
You for the most part shout "FUCK OFF MOTHERFUCKER!"

Swearing words are sometimes called "bad words". How a can word be bad? It's USAGE can be used negatively, but that is the situation, not the word itself.


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## ShamonCornell (Jul 16, 2016)

Yes, but see, that's in character dialogue.  That's FINE, although it makes the character look like an idiot, if used in excess (See: "Blair Witch Project", Slipknot lyrics, et al) and it makes it hard to take the person seriously, when his version of "hello" would, on TV, get bleeped enough to sound like morse code.

Problems arise when it's in the narration.  "Steve fucking stabbed the fucking fucker in his fucking goddamned jugular with the motherfucking bigass knife, spraying a shit-ton of blood on the fucking carpet" sounds like a knuckle-dragging imbecile is writing the story, almost as much as abuse of exclamation points.  Compare this to "Steve lashed out with the dirk, taking his opponent in the side of his neck.  Dark, arterial spray lanced across the room, anointing it with the essence of an ending life.  'Cocksucker,' Steve said, 'Told you not to threaten my damned anime collection.  Shit's more valuable than your CAR...' "


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## darien (Jul 16, 2016)

As far as I'm concerned there is nothing wrong with profanity other than it's existence. As I see it the mere idea that a word or set of words can be taboo is absolutely imbecilic as the entire purpose of language is to convey thoughts, ideas, and emotions so that others might understand them. With that in mind, the fact that some people will be offended by the word 'fuck' and not 'boinking', 'bumping uglies' or any of the various other euphemisms for sex is absurdly hypocritical. It's okay to say 'poo' in a children's book but not 'shit'. The meaning conveyed is identical, so why is one socially acceptable whereas the other is not? The answer can only be that someone somewhere made the nonsensical and completely irrational decision to be offended not by the thought, object, or idea that a word conveys or represents- but instead by just one of the many words that it represent it. This absurd foolishness caught on and became a reinforced social norm. The fact that it's so heavily reinforced however, does not make it any less absurd.

I personally do not find profanity in literature distracting unless it's completely out of context. I also find that profanity can help define a character allowing the author to convey a much broader difference between a foul-mouthed sailor and a posh gent of the court. When the differences in manner of speech is properly conveyed in writing it helps differentiate between whom is speaking- something that can be very useful for both author and reader in longer sections of dialog.

TLDR: I don't fucking give a flying fuck if you're fucking offended by fucking vulgarity- and anyone that is offended is a fucking shit-brained hypocritical assclown.

Finally, I think i'll link a video/song as well:


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## WoodworkerDan (Jul 31, 2016)

I would agree with the sentiment an earlier poster made; profanity is a spice. Like cinnamon, it can be too concentrated, and may be inappropriate for a number of cases. For my own speech and writing, I avoid using it as much as possible, and convey the emotional content through massive over description, which also helps fill out any length requirements nicely.


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## Yakamaru (Aug 1, 2016)

darien said:


>


This video is fucking GLORIOUS!


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## Fopfox (Aug 6, 2016)

Fopfox said:


> Do whatever the fuck you want.



I think I'll give a more detailed response.

The only issue I have with profanity is when it's used awkwardly. Usually people who avoid swearing in stories manage to make their dialogue more awkward, but the opposite can happen as well, especially when people try to make up their own swears. Fuck is such an old word that we're not sure its exact origin; you don't mess with classics.


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## WoodworkerDan (Aug 8, 2016)

After a while, the same four letter words simply look like a lack of imagination. I'd love to see a character say 'I don't give a condemnation about <blank>', or 'hey, go take that Ship-High-In-Transit-<blank> somewhere else!'.

For a Fortnight-Under-Crass-King's sake, we as artists should do better than write just for a high school reading level, and have fun doing it!


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## Sergei Nóhomo (Aug 8, 2016)

Profanity is a good way to show someone is an uncultured dumbass

Or a Newfoundlander


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## RinkuTheRuffian (Aug 8, 2016)

www.sciencealert.com: People who curse a lot have better vocabularies than those who don't, study finds

*Drops mic*

Fuck you.


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## Sergei Nóhomo (Aug 9, 2016)

RinkuTheRuffian said:


> www.sciencealert.com: People who curse a lot have better vocabularies than those who don't, study finds
> 
> *Drops mic*
> 
> Fuck you.



Found the Newfoundlander now go back to George St. where you belong


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## Sladin5Ever (Aug 10, 2016)

Swearing is okay, in moderation and when you use it. Do it too much and it becomes redundant and annoying. I guess if just one character curses left and right bc that's just who they are then okay, but if its more than that, the characters become boring and less unique to other characters

My advice to know if you're doing it too much, read your writing out loud. If it sounds strange to you, then figure out which areas are necessary and which one's aren't


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## Sparrow-the-Wolfess (Aug 29, 2016)

hup2thepenguin said:


> I have two questions regarding the use of swear words in books.
> One of my fiction writing teachers in college told us that the use of profanity in writing is much different than we'd imagine in actual speech, or in movies and things. He said that profanity becomes a distraction, because apparently some readers aren't mature enough to get over the use of the f-bomb and other stuff like that. Does anyone think that it is indeed distracting if there's too much of it? Like what if one of your characters has a sailor's mouth or something. Should it be toned down compared to what you'd imagine they'd say in real life?
> This leads to my second questions: what is the threshold of profanity for a target audience? I imagine children books don't have any, but if you do use f-word in a book, does that exclude it from being marked as a teen/YA book and moved to an adult category?
> I've been reading some Kyell Gold samples, and there's cussing _everywhere_, and the use of more extreme words in his non-adult books, so idk.



Depending on what kind of writer you are, I personally think it has to do with the personality of the character(s) you are writing for/as in your stories.

Personally, a curse word or two in the same sentence of someone who is speaking angrily is totally fine, or if there's a clear indication of a reason *why* said character may be swearing... it's fine.

I wouldn't blatantly go overboard, just as Spazzlez said:



			
				Spazzlez said:
			
		

> Just write what feels natural and don't go overboard.


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## Troj (Sep 21, 2016)

First, I'd say you have to consider your audience and your genre. 

Some readers will find profanity inherently distracting just because of who they are and the kind of experience they're expecting or seeking from the books they read. Other readers won't bat an eye.

My sense is that any word or phrase can become distracting if it's employed awkwardly, inappropriately, or too often--but, this applies just as much to the word "said" as it does the word "fuck."

In that sense, words are like spices. 

You need to ask yourself what you hope to accomplish the use of a particular word, and if it's going to add the right flavor to that scene. 

Something to keep in mind about obscenities is that they can lose their punch if invoked too often. If you want "fuck" to still pack a punch, you'll want to save it for just the right moments. 

Certainly, I can tell when a young writer is excited about getting to exercise their potty mouth for the first time, and _that _is definitely distracting.


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