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?
It doesn't have any affect on me, really, but I have a lot of English friends, and those fellas tend to throw that word around like a softball. I'm never offended by things that I read (though I have been disgusted a time or two). I would never use that word in conversation, because it strikes me as a somewhat sexist term and sounds vulgar. I have a potty mouth IRL, though. My best friend describes my speech as a mix of Mr. Spock and Martin Silenus (which is proof that I have some awesome friends). But I don't use that particular word, except perhaps while quoting something. I'm just hedging my bets with that caveat; I can't recall using that word at all. It's a horrible word that never needs to be used.
That said, one of my antagonists uses the C-word on occasion, and I think I used in in a section describing his thoughts, but he's a nasty piece of work. That character is vile on many levels. He
would use it, so he does. The guy let loose one particular rant that actually bothered me; it disturbed me that I wrote such a thing. But it is
exactly what he would say, and changing it would be a disservice to his character. That's how I write dialogue, really. If the character would say something, then they do, regardless of my own feelings on the matter.
Character integrity is more important to me than anything, and while the characters are created by me, they have long ago taken on lives and personalities of their own. The process of writing dialogue, for me, is more a matter of, "What would Nikki say to this, and how would David respond?" than "Nikki says X, then David says Y."
My universe is near-modern (very close future) alternate world, with a culture and history much like our own, so the characters talk like normal people. Some people (especially youngsters) have potty mouths, other folks never cuss at all. Often people use certain words but not others. So if a character is the kind of person to use the C-word, then he/she will. It would be used sparingly, because I can only take so much filth, but sometimes some people use it.
My personal most-hated word is the N-word. I'm originally from the South, and the KKK exists in my home town. During high school, my girlfriend was a brilliant, beautiful gal who happened to be black; it was not easy, and some people are still rude about it. Needless to say, I have no love for racists. But if a story included a racist jerk, he would probably use the N-word at some point (probably among his friends, because racist scum are usually too cowardly to say such things too openly these days). There are all types of people in the real world, and some folks are simply disgusting; the same holds true for my fiction. However, I can nearly guarantee that any character who used
that particular word would meet a grisly end. Being the creator of a universe has its advantages, like being able to clean up the filth from time to time.
