Swearing/Profanity in Fantasy for or against?

[Robert Zwilling]

I use it in everyday speech but leave it out of my writing or make up my own words.

 

[Wayne Mack]

they finally found out about the sexual coronations

That one certainly intrigued me.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If you look at medieval swearing, at least in English, it does seem to be mostly profanity (God's life, God's death, God's hooks [nails]* etc.), which people must not have been much offended by because they were apparently all doing it, whereas 21st century swearing seems to be mostly about sex or bodily functions. Maybe that is why medieval or faux-medieval characters saying f**k and s**t sound unacceptably modern. Not that they never would have said the equivalents** but just that they weren't as typical for expletives.



_____
*Which later morphed into Gadzooks! or even Zooks! Which sounds so amusing to us, a character probably wouldn't come across as angry or distressed, though a few hundred years ago they actually would have been.

** I remember seeing graffiti on a wall at our local Renaissance Faire one year where someone had written in giant letters Swyve.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I'm quite happy for the text to read 'he swore profusely' and then you can fill in the gaps to decide for yourself.

 

[wearywanderer64]

I have been self evaluating my own work and have never was shy to write with profanity where it was suitable for the character and setting. However censorship is a concern to a small degree and it seems many writing communities have various reasons for and against its use.

Hows the rest here feel about it?

I heard it in Game of Thrones, and there were some right swear words, and I thought it added to the dialogue.

 

[Harpo]

 

[THX1138]

That's a good list there @Harpo! I remember hearing many of these used in old movies and tv shows from my youth.
I used to say, 'Son Of A Biscuit' and 'Horse Feathers' a lot myself as a kid. And Colonel Potter from MASH said, 'Horse Hocky!' many times on the show.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I'm reading Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World and the characters use "Blood and Ashes."

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I think something that we shouldn't lose sight of is that in writing a work of fiction is that we are telling a story, not producing a transcript. The dialogue is supposed to represent how a character speaks , not necessarily duplicate it -- especially if it detracts or distracts from the storytelling. And people who tend to swear a lot tend to repeat the same few words a lot, and too much repetition can be distracting AND as boring as f ...

In such cases, it it is much better not to be too heavy-handed.

 

[Harpo]

I think something that we shouldn't lose sight of is that in writing a work of fiction is that we are telling a story, not producing a transcript. The dialogue is supposed to represent how a character speaks , not necessarily duplicate it -- especially if it detracts or distracts from the storytelling. And people who tend to swear a lot tend to repeat the same few words a lot, and too much repetition can be distracting AND as boring as f ...

In such cases, it it is much better not to be too heavy-handed.

“Buggrit! Millenium hand and shrimp!”

 

[Abernovo]

It's all about context. As @Teresa Edgerton says, writing it out (especially repeatedly) can make dialogue very boring.

But, like spices, the right amount in the right dish can enhance it. My grandfather was born in 1910, and never swore in front of me as a child, although the time he was fixing his car and gouged his hand with a screwdriver may have brought out words which made me find somewhere else to be.

He was also a soldier, and I have it on reliable authority that he didn't say, "Dearie me!" when he was repairing vehicles under fire.

Context, people's differing personalities, and other things come in to play. As does the market you're writing for.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I'm not sure that context alters one's vocabulary. Personally, I do not curse even when I have had nonfatal injuries. I have also noticed that stories that avoid much cursing do not have any less levels of tension in stressful scenes. I feel that the level of profanity is writer's choice, but I am not convinced that using it necessarily makes a story better.

An aside, I have recently reread some of Alistair Maclean's books and saw that he sometimes used damn'. I can only guess that it was intended as a contraction for damned, which gives a slightly different perspective on the word.

 

[paeng]

I think its presence will depend on one's audience and where or not it's important to the story, i.e., to character development, atmosphere, etc.

 

[Abernovo]

I'm not sure that context alters one's vocabulary.

I'd disagree somewhat. Context doesn't alter vocabulary, but I think it can alter vocabulary usage. One does not swear in a church, but might with close friends, when being ribbed something rotten. As a Scot, educated and also of a working class background, growing up in farming, military, and (beside) fishing circles, I have access to a fine selection of words. My choice to using them is that, a choice, based on what I think is appropriate. But, I do not think that swearing is wrong, per se. It's just a form of language expression, neither good nor bad in itself, only in how it is used by a person.

I feel that the level of profanity is writer's choice, but I am not convinced that using it necessarily makes a story better.

This I agree with. Swearing does not make a story better. The lack of swearing does not make it better. The story must be able to hold its own either way. I would probably be as happy with "X swore as the heat from the fire increased," as I would be with the words being there; however I would likely be disbelieving of a character saying "Golly gosh, that stings," as they get burnt. There is a caveat that the character could be shown previously to be very pure in thought and deed, and I might then accept it, but that again refers to context, in that it's been set up. Alternatively, someone who is very prim and proper finally losing their decorum to exclaim something unusual might also add to the tension. It all depends.

I have recently reread some of Alistair Maclean's books and saw that he sometimes used damn'. I can only guess that it was intended as a contraction for damned, which gives a slightly different perspective on the word.

I don't know if this is a wider British usage, but it's certainly a Scottish usage. "Damn fine" would be very good. "Damned" would be literally bound for Hell, especially back in the day. You have to remember, as well, that Alistair MacLean was a Gaelic-speaking minister's son, with all the cultural baggage which went along with that, so "damned" had a very specific, and dark meaning. "Damn" is only considered a mild-ish word.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Thanks for the reply, @Abernovo. I'm still curious as to the intention behind damn' with an apostrophe. It was used consistently through one of Mr. Maclean's books while no apostrophe was used in others. It wasn't selective use within any of the stories. Maybe it was an editor's choice rather than the author. I believe this was the only swear word Mr. Maclean used in his writing (I don't have access to the books currently to check).

 

[Abernovo]

I'm still curious as to the intention behind damn' with an apostrophe

Apologies. I missed the apostrophe in your earlier post, thinking it was a quotation mark. I have a few of his books. I will check, but it's something I've not noticed before in the UK editions.

 

[Harpo]

Even the apparently squeaky-clean Taylor Swift is swearing more than she used to, and presumably her fans are fine with it.

Here’s a chart (took me a while to find a censored one, but you can guess if you really want to)

 

[Oligonicella]

Write what you want, how you want it. If people read it and like it, nice. If they don't and that bothers you, tailor it.

Do not let others preemptively censor your writing. If you do, it will lead from that to them telling you what characters, plots and pronouns you must use.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If you do, it will lead from that to them telling you what characters, plots and pronouns you must use

Or they may go even further than that and start telling us what parts of speech to use or not use. Next thing you know, they'll be scolding us for using adverbs and adjectives . . . oh wait! They already do that.

 

[Extollager]

Generally I won't stay with something that has a lot of swearing. I'm more sensitive the past few years than I used to be. Visual stuff too. Now if I'm watching Endeavour or the like, I look away from the scenes of beaten bodies. I've come to believe it's a fallacy for me to make a snap judgment: "No problem, I can look, I can handle it." At the moment that's probably true, but at my age I ought to think about what I'm putting in storage for the day when I'm an old man with possibly little control of my mind's workings. I don't want to be the old man in the wheelchair who uses offensive language. Eventually my dad experienced some Alzheimer's symptoms but you know what? He was a sweet old guy, pleasant to be around. He might have started "remembering" things that never happened, but his mind was evidently stored with materials that made for decent talk. I do wonder what their old age is going to be for some people who are storing up endless images of carnage, monstrous faces, etc., and abusive language.