Profanity in your writing

[J.D.Rajotte]

So I've just finished my first novel. The dialogue has a fair bit of profanity. It's not absolutely laced with swears but maybe a bit more than just sprinkled in. Some of my beta readers, (My wife and mom) think that it's a bit much and that the frequency of the swears takes away from the impact that they could have with less. Do frequent swears in dialogue make your writing look amateurish? Or does it come down to the individual who is reading?

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Personally I don't like too much swearing in my read. However that's just me.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Inish Carraig - my odd little cult hit - is riddled with swearing. It’s Belfast swearing, very much part of the venacular. Without those words it would not be of the place. But that doesn’t mean all of my books are, or should be - and that’s my take on it. If it is right for the book, do it.

 

[Extollager]

It would be easy for me to skip the book if I was glancing at a copy and it was studded with profanity or obscenity. I'm very deeply read in classic novels and have read a fair bit of popular fiction up through the 1930s or so, and I know for certain that authors can tell good stories without the R-rated "language."

 

[Montero]

I think it depends on the characters and whether it is natural to them. I can be put off by swearing, but only if it feels forced, and swearing for the sake of it. I definitely swear myself......

(ETA swearing when stressed or in pain, not as adjectives.....)

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Or does it come down to the individual who is reading?

No, it should depend more upon the character that is speaking. If it is in context then swearing is fine. Characters in Trainspotting, for example, would be expected to swear. But sometimes I see swearing wedged in to the dialogue, almost like the author is desperate to be edgy. And then it sounds unnatural and contrived. Almost the same conversation could be had about sex in novels.

[Edit: In other words, what @Montero said. We posted at roughly the same time]

 

[sule]

Profanity is a bit of a special case for writers because, for many readers, it stands out very easily by itself. But, like all dialogue, to be done well it requires the writer to both have an understanding of the background of the characters speaking and to also have a good ear for what sounds realistic and what sounds fake.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I actually get peeved with people who say it’s cheap writing, or not needed and all that sh*te. I think more about swear words than any others. If they’re there they were for a reason and needed

 

[Toby Frost]

I agree.

 

[Phyrebrat]

We can’t comment without seeing an example ( ) of a passage where it’s laced with profanity. If you have thirty posts or more you can post it to crits with the offensive words asterisked … then we can get an idea.

Swearing is normal albeit offensive to some. If your characters are swearing they’re being regular folk.

For the record in my second novel I have no swears at all as it’s set in 1855 London. My current one is a bit potty…

 

[tinkerdan]

I tend to use swearing for the impact so there will be few and far between.
What I find both in reading and in viewing is that if the swearing is profuse I tend to become inured to it to the point that its similar to the use of Umm and uh in speech--which is often considered poor taste when giving a speech--this makes it annoying at best and something that the average mind blanks out.

However there is some bit of argument in favor of having a specific character who is identified by the use of profanity and that might be the best time to take the gloves off.

So if a chapter begins with:
"*uck you!"
The reader already knows who is speaking without any attribution added.

If they all speak like that then they probably begin to sound the same.

As to using it for effect:

I've managed a number of fast food places in my career and one day a drive thru customer asked for a specific salad--which someone actually charged him for despite the fact we were out of that specific one. So when he arrived at the pickup window to discover he couldn't get it he was rightfully annoyed. In an effort to be helpful as the manager I had the employee offer a different salad and some form of compensation which he declined and started ramping up his own abuse about what he wants and how he wasn't going anywhere until they gave him exactly that. At this point he was holding up the drive thru window and we had a dozen cars behind him.

I finally handed the employee the customers full cash refund so the customer now had that along with his drink and fries. He continued to delay things at that point and I had to get him to move so I politely asked him to move into the designated parking spot for drive thru orders that are delayed so that I could take care of the rest of the customers. He once more refused and I knew that I had to address this directly myself so I slipped in to the employees spot and looked down on the customer and said. "You have a full refund-we don't have that product so get the #uck out of my drive thru."

He promptly left.

Within an hour I got a call from the boss who asked me if I really said that.
"Yes, I had other customers to serve and that was the only way I could get him out of the way. And it worked."

What surprised me the most was that I didn't lose my job.

 

[alexvss]

So I've just finished my first novel. The dialogue has a fair bit of profanity. It's not absolutely laced with swears but maybe a bit more than just sprinkled in. Some of my beta readers, (My wife and mom) think that it's a bit much and that the frequency of the swears takes away from the impact that they could have with less. Do frequent swears in dialogue make your writing look amateurish? Or does it come down to the individual who is reading?

That reminds me of a recent Tor.com article about how authors use (pseudo)swearing as worldbuilding, which makes me think that you should use profanity with specific reasons in mind. It could be worldbuilding like in the article or character development or showing instead of telling. If you use it just because, you'll lose readers. Your wife and mother (people who usually say that your work is wonderful, even when it clearly is not) already told you that they didn't like it, so I'd expect a much harsher response from editors/readers.

I recently sold a short-story that has a lot of swearing in it. It's there to show the personality of the characters, so I think it's necessary; but most of the beta readers were very disturbed by it. Many editors also frown on swearing, so I had a hard time selling the story.

If you plan on selling your story, I advise you not to use much profanity. Or you could just try to be like Harlan Ellison and sell the story anyways... but prepare to be rejected with very mean rejection letters.

 

[Swank]

Swearing might be realistic, but something being common and real doesn't mean that it is necessary or useful. We all use the toilet multiple times a day, yet it is rarely mentioned in literature or film. When it is, there is usually a purpose. Swearing is generally similar.

Swearing also runs the risk of making a character or situation comedic when not intended.

 

[msstice]

Who the smeg cares? It's not like anyone gives a frak.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I wonder if this is genre-specific? The question (or concerns) are remarkably proscriptive when it comes to fiction.

Don’t overdo it. Write authentically and it’ll be no different from any other book on the bookstore shelf; irrespective of profanity.

Each to their own, of course, but the amount of advice against swearing makes me wonder about the generational impact on this question. Just because one does not like or approve of swearing should have no bearing on what we push on others in terms of expectations.

As far as the market is concerned swearing is a non-issue. Don’t overdo it and it’s fine and if anyone clutches at their pearls in horror, that’s their business.

 

[Wayne Mack]

One of the challenges of writing is what to do with critiques that one does not agree with. I suggest putting the story in question aside for a month or so, then reading it with fresh eyes. It is entirely up to the writer as to the level of profanity that is necessary, appropriate, or desirable. Perhaps when you reread the story later, you may agree with your mother and your wife, or you may determine your initial feel was the correct one.

 

[Montero]

With mother and wife, especially if you are publishing in your own name, there may be a small element of "I don't want to be associated with that in case someone else objects".

 

[Troyzan787]

As long as the profanity comes off as natural. If it is being forced in to be "edgy" then it will read clunky and childish. I don't think that it is cheap writing, or in any way bad, just can be tricky to do right.

 

[JunkMonkey]

So I've just finished my first novel. The dialogue has a fair bit of profanity. It's not absolutely laced with swears but maybe a bit more than just sprinkled in. Some of my beta readers, (My wife and mom) think that it's a bit much and that the frequency of the swears takes away from the impact that they could have with less. Do frequent swears in dialogue make your writing look amateurish? Or does it come down to the individual who is reading?

Given the prevalence of swearing in British culture at least I think any contemporarily book set here that didn't include it would feel odd - unless it was set in a very particular place where swearing was avoided. I don't suppose for an instance the bishops of the Church of England greet each other with the friendly cries of, "How ya doing, you c**t?" which how I heard a couple of young men greet each other outside a pub in Scotland the other day.

 

[msstice]

I don't suppose for an instance the bishops of the Church of England greet each other with the friendly cries of, "How ya doing, you c**t?"

You are right about this. They greet each other with "Feck" and "Arse" and ask where the "Gurls" and the "Drink" are.