How do you handle profanity?

Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Montego Bay, Dec 21, 2015.

  1. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I would like to read that story.
     
  2. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    You mean "at least in my friendship circle, particular culture and area."

    I'm beyond the stage where I think saying cunt casually is cool, and into the stage where I'll censor myself appropriately!
     
  3. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not saying saying cunt is cool. Swearing isn't something I'd describe at all as cool. It's an expression chiefly of frustration, not a admirable stylism. My point was that it's not that shocking anymore. You hear it on tv and movies not infrequently. It shouldn't be used too brazenly, fuck is the most used and abused it seems to me, but cunt doesn't need to be avoided all together. If people reading your book aren't able to handle that level of swearing, they shouldn't be reading a book where that is appropriate. Dark stuff almost always has stronger swearing, and it doesn't sound like your writing "A Guide To the Proper Etiquette of Drinking Tea." Drug addiction, if portrayed in detail, is far more shocking than any one little word. Especially stuff like Krokodil, that one's just fucked up.
     
  4. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    I'm trying to keep mine family friendly, but I do have some swearing;

    Adults and antagonists sometimes say "Damn it" if they're annoyed, and one of the child protagonists swears in Russian - a trait he copies from his bilingual father. That said, they also use Russian if they're overjoyed.

    Then there's some implied swearing, such as when somebody begins to say "sh!t" but they get cut off by static on their radio.
    One of the AI characters says "Son of a bit!" once. I don't know how the readers will react to that one, we'll see.
     
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  5. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    This! One theory that I've read (sorry, don't recall the source) is that the increasing secularization of society has robbed blasphemous swearing of its taboo, and hence of its ability to shock. Excrement, genitalia and sex acts were still taboo in polite conversation as the 20th Century progressed, and so were all fertile ground for a new generation of swearing.
     
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  6. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Thank you. As it happens, it was only my second attempt at a novel - still within the first million words that are typically "practice" - and therefore has several flaws in it. Someday, though, I may go back to it.
     
  7. Startled Crow

    Startled Crow New Member

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    I write horror and in some case, profanity is appropriate within my writings. I do make it a point not to use a lot of it though but sometimes, I use the 'big cuss words' that many writers are a bit skittish of using in their tales. I don't say anything racist or anything like that but some of my characters are 'bad' and the use of profanity strengthens the negativity of those characters at times.
     
  8. historymom

    historymom Member

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    @jannert Always the great American resource coming to my rescue! I haven't seen "Deadwood" but I agree with you 100% about authenticity. It's the same reason I can't stomach "Little House on the Prairie" and probably one of the strongest drives for me to create a story that is true to history.

    As far as swearing is concerned, I don't do any of it myself and am not apt to employ the more modern curse words in a historical narrative.
     
  9. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    It sounds like a good concept so you can probably just fix the execution. You can even change the set-up without losing the essence of the concept.
     
  10. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Why can't you include any racial slurs? Even in my main WIP, which is actually lighter than my usual high-intesity fare, I have fag, poof, homo and queer appear a not insignificant number of times because there are a number of homophobic characters. And who cares about the word anyway, what matters is who's saying it and why, just because it's there on the page, doesn't mean the author is meaning to insult that group. I've got "nigger" in one of my things that's set in the fifties, because it's what they said and it's, I repeat, just a word. I think the whole black people own the word "nigger" thing is hypocritical, either you have a problem with the word or you don't. I think it's racist to suggest that it's racist for a white person to use a word in exactly the same way as black people use it to each other, if someone light-heartedly, good-naturedly called me "queer" or "fag" or "poof" or any other slur word like that I would laugh at their teasing because it would be funny. I'm not going to disallow jokes.
    Sorry, rant over.
     
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  11. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    Personally I hate swearing in the big bad real world, and very rarely do. I cringe when my partner says "crap", which she has done, once or twice. Potty mouth! I think in reality, not many people sound good when they swear. I was brought up that swearing is used by unintelligent people when they don't have the vocabulary to express themselves correctly.
    However, in my novel I am a character, I am in the head of another man, a man less middle class than myself, and he effs and jeffs all over the ruddy shop. When I edit, it may mean some heavy editing, and I fear what it will do to my word count. But by god, I am showing it to my mother!
     
  12. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Swears express frustration or insult or wry humour, they have a meaning like every other word. If anything, heavy swearing is usually an indicator someone is pissed off, not that they are unintelligent. For example, I consider George Carlin intelligent, and I'm not the only one, but he has quite a profane, confronting style.
     
  13. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    I know :) Try telling my mother that!
     
  14. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I don't think your mother would like Australia. We're a little bit more liberal with swearing than America.
     
  15. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    Actually she is about to go there next week...
     
  16. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I would enjoy hearing her reaction to our television programs. Seeing as that is where the difference is highlighted. If she saw some of our more aggrevated/snarky comedy I bet she would notice there's a little more swearing for like 5 in the afternoon. Ooh!, Ooh! She should watch Tim Minchin! He's awesome, and he's a good example of Australian comedic style.
     
  17. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    Tim minchin is quite tame compared to the UK comedy circuit from what I've seen. He recently wrote a musical version of matilda (i believe for the RSC?) . I'd be interested to hear the differences on TV though. Eg new film out at moment called deadpool about a comic super hero. In UK it is rated 15... I hear that everywhere else it is an 18 rated?
     
  18. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    It's R. And Tim is not tame. Watch the song "The Good Book". There's language, themes, and seriously controversial humour. And it's exactly why I love him. He is not scared of humourless morons. .
    Not saying religious people are all morons.
     
  19. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    I've not seen enough of him to judge, but from what I have seen I'd say Adam hills is more out there. I like Tim, he is whacky, but mainstream uk comedians like Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle are fare more offensive. I'm not saying they are funnier. And not saying one is this or that. Just trying to draw comparisons on cultures and what's considered pushing the envelope.
     
  20. Ezekiel2517

    Ezekiel2517 New Member

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    I like to put my hands over my ears when reading naughty words and I am like all "ear muff!"
    1) don't swear if it is because you are being lazy. In a way they are cliche words. Do something different. Like say Bastard is unoriginal, but shit bird is not. Make it memorable.
    2) if it fits the character do it
    3) if you stub your toe . . . DO IT!
     
  21. Ezekiel2517

    Ezekiel2517 New Member

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    Well, I hope not as only a bigot would do that.
     
  22. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    But usually only an eccentric character is likely to say shit bird as opposed to bastard. Common things are, you know, common. Cliche things are employed. I wouldn't even call the commonality of bastard cliche, it's like saying "and" is cliche; I think it's silly. People use swear words often in emotional situations, so even more so than other times, they rely on well-known examples chiefly.
    EDIT: should have been wouldn't.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2016
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  23. agm

    agm New Member

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    My mom is also my number one fan, but in my case I worry mostly about her reaction to my descriptions of violent events. After all, what good is any of this if you only disappoint the most important people in your life? Perhaps the best way to get past this is to have a long, honest conversation with her about the needs of your story. Rather than disown you, she might be more understanding than you think.
    It might also be worth pointing out that there's plenty of heavy stuff out there that's managed to avoid the use of expletives and is still considered great writing.
     
  24. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, but realistically, in dark situations, people swear. Hell, people swear all the time in mundane ones. And as someone who writes my stories around not just meaning, but as a real thing that has logic, I like to display real behaviours, especially ones with very real settings like my main WIP that's set in real modern Sydney. So I do include swearing, in all my stuff actually.
     
  25. mg357

    mg357 Active Member

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    I wrote a short story and I filled it with a considerable amount of profanity, because a couple of characters got upset and needed relief from their feelings so they used profanity a lot of profanity.
     
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