Profanity in your writing

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Maybe after Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford didn't want to be typecast as the guy with the hat.
 
Swank said:
I see Bladerunner as a planet full of old, sick or genetically damaged people who are all that's left after the healthy people went off world. The only gang shown are the little people trying to steal stuff off Deckard's car.

One of the hints that Deckard is also a replicant is that he looks just as healthy as the other replicants. (And he doesn't wear a hat.)
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I am using 'thug' in the original meaning of the word: a violent criminal. Not a gang as such (though they might act as one) - more an individual who will use merciless violence to achieve his goals. Deckard a replicant? :O That suspicion has never crossed my mind. Certainly in the book he is a human - albeit a ruthless one.
 
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Orcadian said:
I am using 'thug' in the original meaning of the word: a violent criminal. Not a gang as such (though they might act as one) - more an individual who will use merciless violence to achieve his goals. Deckard a replicant? :O That suspicion has never crossed my mind. Certainly in the book he is a human - albeit a ruthless one.
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In the film, there are no illustrations or even hints of violent criminals. The LA of Bladerunner is underpopulated, dark and wet.
 
Swank said:
In the film, there are no illustrations or even hints of violent criminals. The LA of Bladerunner is underpopulated, dark and wet.
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:oops: Then how would you classify all the acts of horrible violence we witness?
 
Swank said:
An invasion of off world androids without profitable criminal intent.

Would you call Godzilla a thug?
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Well, Godzilla is a cartoon strip character. It's like Tom & Jerry or Bugs Bunny: anything goes - including impossible things. :D
 
Orcadian said:
Well, Godzilla is a cartoon strip character. It's like Tom & Jerry or Bugs Bunny: anything goes - including impossible things. :D
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Godzilla is a live action SF movie character.

Words like "thug" have somewhat narrow usage - like you wouldn't use them for just any violent character. It is derogatory, implying a lowly criminal of limited vision or intelligence.
 
I think swearing in writing is fine. Often I find it's because the characters would swear in that scenario and, for me, that makes it part of the characters you're portraying. They feel more realistic and organic. If the curse words belong there or the people you have in your novel would say them then I think it's good to have them there.
 
Christine Wheelwright said:
No, it should depend more upon the character that is speaking. If it is in context then swearing is fine. Characters in Trainspotting, for example, would be expected to swear. But sometimes I see swearing wedged in to the dialogue, almost like the author is desperate to be edgy. And then it sounds unnatural and contrived. Almost the same conversation could be had about sex in novels.

[Edit: In other words, what @Montero said. We posted at roughly the same time]
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agree, also, narrative does not mimic speech - that's why I go back a read my own writing out loud to myself a day later. There is so much in my head when I write it down that it probably sounds much different to me than it will to a reader.
 
Swank said:
Godzilla is a live action SF movie character.

Words like "thug" have somewhat narrow usage - like you wouldn't use them for just any violent character. It is derogatory, implying a lowly criminal of limited vision or intelligence.
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I think we should agree to disagree on this one, @Swank. :)
 
Swank said:
Why? Is Godzilla actually a comic strip?
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I would guess Orcadian was trying to gracefully bow out of a conversation they saw as not going anywhere productive, but since they weren’t allowed to, I’ll mention that yes, Godzilla is a comic strip… The original appearance of Godzilla was in the 1954 movie, but there were more Godzilla mangas than movies in the 1950s. There were more Godzilla mangas in the 1960s than movies.

There were more Godzilla comic books, cartoons and mangas in the 1970s and 1980s than there were Godzilla movies. And the trend continued. Many people know Godzilla only from the movies, many of us here know Godzilla as well from the various comic adaptations. I’ve seen the manga, I’ve read the comic books, I’ve seen almost all of the cartoons; many of these iterations of Godzilla were quite popular.

So, some people know Godzilla only from the movies, and for some people that is just one of many incarnations of the creature.
 
It seems to me that there were misunderstandings all around, and it's time for each of you to put it all behind you. If anyone can' t manage that, at least take it elsewhere (and by that, of course, I mean offsite) so we can get the thread back on track, and stop with the personal nature of these exchanges. I' d hate to have to lock the thread.
 
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