I am not sure about putting swear words in writings. This dilemma does not seem to be
covered in any how to books I have read to date. I am not a prude & have certainly sworn a time or two myself. However this is causing concern for me(not sure why). Should I even care? If a character needs to swear to drive home a point do I just go with it?
Thanks for any direction :)
Looking forward to Tue. evening.
Happy snow day.
I think that as long as it's not a preschool book, go for it, what the f&*%$#.
ReplyDeleteMy husband wants me to quote Spock - but he can't remember the exact quote. Something about verbal expletives being part of human vocabulary - apparently Spock swore a lot in that early Star Trek movie. Or maybe think of Tom Robbins....
ReplyDeleteI think you have answered the question yourself. If a character needs to swear to drive home a point (or to stay in character) then go with it. Many of the books I read contain swearing in the mouths of both the characters during dialogue and the narrator, if it's written in the first person. Tidying up the language is tidying up the characters, making them less than real. Your piece will not be alone Tuesday evening in containing the vernacular!
ReplyDeleteOnly in fiction.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh thanks everyone.
ReplyDeleteI feel much calmer within now.
Hugs
Wow...if I had a dollar for every time I swore I could go to Winners. This mostly occurred when parenting my teen daughters, muttering 'colorful metaphors' under my breath. Sometimes a good cursing fits the bill, although I just finished the Jack White series where it was over-used and drew attention to itself but if it expands the scenario without focusing the reader's energy on the words, that can be highly effective...but what the hell do I know. HAHA Susan, your comments made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteOh my God, I just realized writer's group is this Tuesday again already and I haven't even written anything!!!
ReplyDeleteWell looks like you got some good answers from the group. I had never thought about it but now I have -- may go back and look at MY dialogue-- I am sure THESE characters would have used a few !
ReplyDelete