The Word that Must NOT be Spoken

[Mr Orange]

no, not the name of a certain scottish play, but rather that last bastion of swearwords that when used in movies, TV shows and books, is still done with a childish snigger and nervous glance at the censors. you know the one: starts with c, refers to certain female body parts.

i know there was a thread a while back on swearwords in general but am interested to know thoughts about this one in particular. i have no particular problem with using swearwords in my WIP's (at least in the adult ones) as my characters would naturally use them. but, i have not used the c-word at all, even though some of my characters certainly would in real-life. to me, it's still a taboo word and a pretty horrible one that someone would have to have a damned good reason to put in a book. in fact, i have just finished reading a certain well known epic fantasy series (ahem recently made into an HBO series) and amongst other issues i have with the writing, i find the author throws the c-word in whenever he seems to think the reader might be getting bored or need a bit of a shock. several times it's been said by characters who would (in my mind) never realistically say the word and it turns me off the books a bit. in fact, on a couple of occasions he used it in narration as well, when it wasn't even character thoughts.

so, i was wondering what peoples' thoughts were on using the c-word in their own writing and also what effect it has when they read it in others' stories?

 

[Droflet]

I think back to the Sopranos. As I recall they could use as many F words as they liked but were reticent to use more than two C words per episode. I get what you're saying but I would be hmm, cautious with that one. I suppose if you use it for the sake of authenticity it might be okay. The final decision will no doubt come from your publisher. I shall be watching this space.

 

[Mr Orange]

cheers Drof. just to clarify, i don't intend on using the word as i don't think my story needs it (in fact i have been trimming down the general swearword count), i'm just interested in other peoples' thoughts.

 

[Droflet]

Me too. One slipped into my third book. I don't think the publisher will be happy.

 

[Mr Orange]

ha ha, pretty sure i have avoided any slipping in. if i had written my book 15 years ago, it probably would have been peppered with it. must have matured or summin'.

 

[Hex]

I wouldn't use it, ever ever. I wouldn't say it either. I think you're right and it's far more shocking than other swear words.

 

[alchemist]

It's the top swear word, all right, but it is just a word. In real life it's used fairly frequently around here, sometimes as a term of endearment, towards men and women. In writing, there will be a time and a place where it will be appropriate to use.

My thinking is slightly coloured by the terrible military thriller I've just finished. "Oh boy" is the worst anyone says on page. Sometimes the author writes: "He said a swear word." Yet the book is full of violence, the start of a rape scene, and a gruesome mutilation. It felt like the readers were treated as idiots because they couldn't handle a bit of bad language.

 

[alchemist]

And I thought this word was going to be WAS...

 

[HareBrain]

I've used it once, but not really as a swearword. It was a female character referring to that part of her own body, and not in a disparaging way; it was just a term that seemed to suit her worked-up state and her desire to get a reaction.

Sometimes the author writes: "He said a swear word."

Wow, that technique will make my writing so much easier. I'm going to adopt it.

He said something devastatingly witty.

They solved the problem in an ingenious fashion.

They listened amazed as the denouement tied up all the loose threads in a manner no one had expected.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Basically as you put it Orange, in it's 'natural place'.

I use it once in my WiP because the speaker is absolutely incandescent with rage & utterly insulted and therefore the use of the word seems appropriate (at least to me).

In my real life, like alchemist, I found it in use quite regularly for all sorts of occasions and uses - and not in a 'the worst swear word in the world way'. Causal, even 'friendly' use of it - as again alchemist points out. I've come across it in many walks of life, from toffs and high paid bankers to schemies and foul mouthed underclass that might have walked out of the pages of Trainspotting. If I had a character that was somehow constructed from these archetypes in my head, then I wouldn't have to much problems putting the C word in their mouths too. (Whether an editor would be happy with that is another thing, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.)

 

[Mr Orange]

as you say VB, it is much more prevalent in every day life than literature and TV would have us believe, and having worked in the construction industry for 15 years and played rugby with all sorts for even longer, i have come across it more times than i could count in all the occasions you mention, used by anyone from managing directors to site labourers, investment bankers to electricians.

i guess though, that there is still a large proportion of the population that find it pretty offensive, which is why i would never use it with my granny (although she would have heard it more than a few times from my grandfather the farmer) and also why i would really have to think long and hard before using it in a story.

 

[Venusian Broon]

i guess though, that there is still a large proportion of the population that find it pretty offensive, which is why i would never use it with my granny (although she would have heard it more than a few times from my grandfather the farmer) and also why i would really have to think long and hard before using it in a story.

The first person that read my WiP cover to cover was my dad and I was a tad nervous at some of the language, scenes and that particular passage.

His response - 'didn't really notice it, you should see what some other books have...'

I am now much less worried about using swear words

 

[Mr Orange]

that's interesting VB. my mum read my WIP, as did my partner and they both said "why do you need so much swearing in it?" my answer to that was that as my characters were an uncouth investment bankers and a couple of kids from London estates, there was actually not much swearing in it.

but i take your point that if used correctly, even the c-word can pass by without really being noticed

 

[TitaniumTi]

The first person that read my WiP cover to cover was my dad and I was a tad nervous at some of the language, scenes and that particular passage.

His response - 'didn't really notice it, you should see what some other books have...'

I am now much less worried about using swear words

I think we can become inured to certain words as we get older. I don't swear but I'm less shocked by swearing than I once was, and, I suspect, than many younger people are.

It's the top swear word, all right, but it is just a word.

I think it is more shocking than other swearwords because it is used by men as a term of contempt for women, and conveys a sense of barely-restrained violence. I don't know that I'd use it in my stories, but it might ramp up suspense, if used by a particular type of villain who was threatening a protagonist in the sight, but not the hearing, of other characters.

 

[Locrian]

I think it's perfectly ok to use if it's authentic to the character and situation. With your example of usage in GRRMs work, I didn't find it particularly ill fitting. Historically it I believe it was not as offensive a word as it is now, so I thought it was reasonable for it to be used that way in a fantasy setting.

Take the N word. If your story included characters from the KKK in the 1930s, it would be strange if they didn't say it. If it didn't mesh with the setting, characters and events, then yes, it could be being thrown in just to shock. The C word is less specific in usage, one of my characters uses it in the middle of a rant while rebuilding something they'd spent a long time making in the first place. It seemed fitting for the level of anger they were feeling.

But then, I'm not published.

 

[Foxbat]

I've never used it in my writing but, if I felt it was justified, wouldn't hesitate.
If anybody complained, I'd just tell them to F*** Off

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I haven't used it in my writing (nor anywhere else, actually), but I haven't written any characters who would. If I were writing a character who would, I wouldn't worry about having them use it.

I do find it offensive when directed at a person, and less than a turn-on when used in its logical place in erotica. So it's really more use as a swear word than as a biological statement, because all it has (to me) is shock value.

VB, taking advice from Helen Mirren these days?

 

[ratsy]

I don't ever say that word, so wouldn't think of writing it. That being said, if a truly deplorable character said it, I wouldn't be upset as a reader per se.

When it comes to swearing, I am of the mind that less is more, in my own work.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I find it offensive and don't use, even though I have no compunction about swearing in my work. As @alchemist points out it's used all the time in Ireland, casually and without malice, but it makes me uncomfortable.

 

[Boneman]

I have used it, on page three of my wip... three agents and one publisher took the full manuscript and not one of them mentioned it. One agent was female. To be fair, it's not used as a swear word per se, but as a way of getting at one of the company... But it's not a word I'd use in my own life, it's very repellent...