1. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Do you remove unintended innuendo?

    Discussion in 'Revision and Editing' started by Elgaisma, Aug 15, 2010.

    Does anyone else have the problem that they accidently breathe meaning into their works that they shouldn't. My best friend is having an absolute ball at my expense during my writing/

    In my first novel on top of using a falcon (I am told is a gay porn studio)

    I had a character I had forgotten to dress ride bareback on a black stallion along a beach.

    Oh and in my opening scene with my gay character I had him go into a wardrobe (closet) and come out holding a couple of beers.

    My gay friends have had a lot of fun with my ability to put other similar statements into my work.

    Last night only 30 pages into my novel I had managed to have my gay character, go home to his cottage, go up an inlet and skin a rabbit. To name but a few:)
     
  2. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    Well, you could take absolutely anything and find a way to make it sound wrong, so if it's something subtle I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it blatantly sounds wrong and isn't supposed to, you might want to tweak a few things.
     
  3. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    I agree with Mallory. It would be absurd to think you could never have a falcon in a story, or someone riding a horse bareback, for fear of someone construing it as a sexual reference. People prone to that can construe almost anything as a sexual reference, gay or straight. I wouldn't give it much concern.
     
  4. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    I'm finding it funny as much as anything else:) I left the falcon but changed the black stallion to a horse:) I also remembered to mention my character put clothes on before going bareback riding:)

    I've probably got dirty minded readers lol
     
  5. w176

    w176 Contributor Contributor

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    I would consider it on a case to case basis.
     
  6. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    Also, just because your friends laughed about it doesn't mean it's a real issue. Friends joking around together can crack up about anything, just because creating humor is a fun thing to do.
     
  7. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Innuendo is not unintended. Innuendo is deliberate double meaning.

    You cannot prevent anyone else from seeing double meanings in anything you or your characters say. To some people, any opening or any protrusion will have sexual connotation, and anything with a covex surface will arouse them as resembling breasts or buttocks.
     
  8. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    true but a good innuendo will be funny on many levels. Its like a good Carry On Film or a Pantomime. The whole family can watch it, but it changes as you grow up.

    I wonder about deliberatly leaving in something you know will be taken a certain way:)
     
  9. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    Well, it's the same thing, isn't it? A kid will think of someone riding on a horse, or a hunting-bird falcon. Adults who are more prone to innuendo will see it differently. Just like "The Little Mermaid," "The Little Engine That Could," etc. ;)
     
  10. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    from the examples you gave, i don't see any innuendo intended or otherwise, other than the falcon reference which i didn't get at all... the rest are only goofs of yours that were pointed out as needing to be fixed... and to leave them in would simply be poor writing...
     
  11. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    I am leaving the closet scene in, but apparently black stallion has other meanings which went on to change my whole story lol
     
  12. Peerie Pict

    Peerie Pict Contributor Contributor

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    Oh my word how I laughed when I read this. Priceless, but true.
     
  13. Show

    Show Contributor Contributor

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    I agree. Anybody can read something into anything. As long as it isn't so obvious that my kid cousin could get it(which I rarely see happening by accident), I don't think it's a problem.
     

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