... swearing ... could you wade in on a specific please

[mosaix]

If it's in-character then do it.

 

[AGraceMartin]

I think that it is better to have more mild swears because it makes the character realistic. Shove it up their a## seems okay.

 

[tinkerdan]

A favorite YA novel I have starts with::

WTF
Where the f*ck am I?
It was rather appropriate to what has happened and there isn't that much more later on.

That said I think that it happens and the book would not read true if the character becomes one that might use those expletives and then fails to.

 

[jastius]

personally i don't like to read a book with a lot of cursing. to me its a lazy way of writing (sorry springs) when you can't bother to come up with an alternative phrase.
while it is becoming more prevalient, it just takes me right out of the story. i stop and put the book down . then i decide if i want to bother reading further.
if i do, then i haveto reread the previous chapters to recreate the characters voice.
because however big and 'just so' you hear it in your head when you are writing it, i am not there to hear that voice. i don't know if it was angry or sad or triumphant... delighted or despairate.
and unless you indicate it i have to reread and guess. by then i don't even follow the story, the mood is blown, the emotion is gone and for me its a dead page with undecipherable characters.
because boys and girls, when you swear you use one word and one word alone for your entire vocabulary.
F this f you f me f them f stuff f the bloody dog. f the f f f... on and on...what does that actually mean? what is your literary intention when he saysthat? that he is going to have sex with these things? that he is going to rape the people? that he has a wild cucumber partyplanning guide he has just found a reason to implement?
indecipherable.
you could replace f with any random phrase and it sounds about the same.
i want to readthe actual thoughts and words.
isn't this the reason why we don't write he said and she said anymore? because these things become so overused they become meaningless.
if you need it then give it back some meaning.
where you swear,use theother word in brackets beside it. then figure out a way to make a reader like me see what word is hidden inside that swear word. if there is no word you can find then don't use it. find the emotion and convey it. by writing it out.
let me connect with the character instead of distancing me with vagueness.

 

[tinkerdan]

Yes I must say that
'oh sugar jets'
That's much better and won't send me out of the novel and laughing all the way down the hall hoping I make it to the bathroom.

That's what my mother used to say all the time.

 

[jastius]

i don't mean that, tinkerdan.
more of actually writing the scene and the emotion and motives rather then using a throw away phrase.
please remember that over here
there is a difference in the way we swear , we mean different things when we use the same words you do.
i am saying i donot connect the vocal connottation you automatically ascribe to the phrase.
american swearing is differant again.
but we are all using the same words.
unless you get that connottation you are alienated....but perhaps it really doesn't matter. i mean there are reasons why books don't sell in every market.

 

[tinkerdan]

There is really nothing throwaway with swearing here.
It can be quite effective though nowadays one might get thrown in jail just as quickly as it comes out if it's in a public enough place.
Still it often can strip away the veneer and shows the surface that's been hidden below.
Or it can express clearly and concisely when someone has been stretched to and beyond their limit.
It can be used as a healing balm when jamming the fingers or stubbing toes.
It's quite useful and real and genuine.

There is such a thing as overusing it and I call that the Murphy Effect.

 

[paranoid marvin]

We all stammer,stutter or mis-pronounce words from time to time; we don't need to write these into dialogue to make it sound believable. Just the same as we don't usually mention that characters go to the loo, break wind or scratch their bits. We know that people do these things, and it doesn't make a story less believable if we don't tell the reader. The same applies with swearing; we all do it from time to time, some more than others.

We don't write verbatim. We use sentences that help to flesh out characters and progress the plot. If we know that the protagonist is a youth who swears a lot we don't need 'F*** this and f*** that' in every sentence. Otherwise you'll end up with a book full of swearing; and just the same as mentioning that the character goes to the toilet, yes it's more realistic but it doesn't make a story any better or any less believable.