Potty Mouths

[learntosayhello]

Characters curse in my stories on occasion, but it's not really... used by most. In my daily life I simply don't use it very often, so I suppose it's also reflected in the narrative and dialogue of my fictional little friends.

[Sasha Distan]

Self censoring? F*** that

 

I hate it when people do that! 

 

Agree with FishWings, whatever you do, do not do that. Also.... are we allowed to swear in this topic?

 

Many of my characters swear because people swear in real life. I have a story where the first line is: "Fuck it, fuck it, TREY!" it works for them...

[The Pecman]

The key, I think, is to pull back from overuse, but not be afraid to use curse words when the story (or characters) dictate it. For example, one of the absolute funniest moments in the classic 1980s film A Christmas Story is when Ralphie, the little boy, drops a bolt and says the F word (which is bleeped in the movie). His narration calls it "the mother of all curse words." There's a shocked reaction by his parents, and then a quick cut to Ralphie sitting in front of the bathroom mirror with a large bar of soap in his mouth. Hilarious.

 

"Darn" would not have garnered the same reaction.

[Thorn Wilde]

Self censoring? F*** that

 

 

Agree with FishWings, whatever you do, do not do that. Also.... are we allowed to swear in this topic?

 

Many of my characters swear because people swear in real life. I have a story where the first line is: "Fuck it, fuck it, TREY!" it works for them...

 

The first paragraph of my favourite book is as follows:

 

 

Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough and looked don't-fuck-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife.

 

That's the start of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It's a powerful and interesting beginning, and part of the reason why it draws your attention the way it does it because of the f-word. I love it when eloquent writing is broken by the use of curse-words. I draws you out of it for just a second, and I think makes you appreciate the rich language of the story even more.

[RobsWriting]

I always have problems with my characters and swearing in the first draft. Some of those who, on here, only cuss occasionally (or not at all) start off with a lot of verbal garbage which I then have to weed out in the edits. Frankly, I don't blame them for cussing liberally in the first draft. I think I would too if I were them and was faced for the first time with the latest author-induced catastrophe-in-the-making.

 

On the other hand, I will leave cussing in in two situations: 1) when I intend to shock the audience (it works best for me when the character does not normally swear at all) or 2) when no other reaction seems appropriate.

 

I am the first to admit that I will allow them to use words which, in British English, would not generally be regarded as cussing here, but may provoke strong reactions elsewhere (notably, it seems, in America). These tend to be more the character's verbal tics than specific reactions though.

[Thorn Wilde]

On the other hand, I will leave cussing in in two situations: 1) when I intend to shock the audience (it works best for me when the character does not normally swear at all) or 2) when no other reaction seems appropriate.

 

In Lavender & Gold, Ben doesn't curse much in every day speech. It's not a good habit when you're an actor and a semi-public figure and people quote you a lot. But I make a point of Mark bringing out that side of him more, causing him to curse more liberally around his boyfriend (there are other 'bad' habits that Mark bring out in him, too).

Edited June 12, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Mark Arbour]

I actually had  an interesting conversation with a reader about this when I wrote The Box.  He opined that the offensive language the protagonist used would not be acceptable in society back then (1941-44).  But the story is written as mostly the protagonist's diary, and what he would say to himself, in his inner thoughts, and what he would say in public are two different things. 

[C J]

Cussing?  OK, well, I see it a lot.  Why the hell should I care?  It's just so many words, and it's all just a story.  Make it what you want it to be!!!

[Sasha Distan]

all my teenage characters swear a lot more than their adult counterparts. Cole Sathie was a case in point there.

[Aditus]

I have stories on a site where they generally exchange parts of the 'bad' words with *. Even I had trouble to understand some passages of my own story after that. Um... one of my characteres swears a lot. I then noticed most of the other authors worked around this by using f-ck and the like. This is very annoying because I need two versions of each chapter and I almost stopped posting there. It wouldn't have been fair to the readers though.

[Former Member]

It's all about the character and tone. Stef swore up and down even in his narrative. It's part of who he is. I have other characters who blush and giggle every time they say damn. Most of my characters tend to follow my own habits and use swear words very casually. *shrug* you just have to make an executive decision based on your intended audience.

[StueyNZ]

This thread made me go back and check my own in progress story - turns out although I swear like a trooper in real life my 'slightly autobiographical' main character has managed a total of 7  swear words out of a total of 40,000, and all of them were muttered under his breath or said internally.  Maybe I am a prude after all.

[JamesSavik]

If you've ever happened to overhear a bunch of jr high kids waiting for the bus, they could teach sailors a few new words.

[Krista]

Like everything else, if it is overused, it quickly becomes more and more irrelevant to the story.  If they are cussing in every other dialog portion, then really extreme scenes that has a lot of cussing, you sort of lose any punch or bite to what is going on, if you've overused it in more minor occasions within the story. I'm not a fan of overusing swear words. A lot of movies make the same mistake. In my writing, I use it as a, I guess, a cheap trick to show readers that my characters are to a higher point of anger, sadness, frustration, what ever.

 

In a comic scene it can add a bit of flavor as well.

 

If it is used too often it might turn away readers instead. 

Edited October 10, 2013 by Krista

[Graeme]

On a real life note, when I was a teenager back in the 70s, most kids around me swore and probably didn't even realise they were doing so.My general impression was the F word was used to fill in the gaps while they thought of what they wanted to say. I, on the other hand, almost never swore, and everyone noticed on the rare circumstance when I did.

 

I see nothing wrong with a character who doesn't swear. It may not be the norm, but it's still a normal character because there is such a wide variation in human behaviour. And, like myself in real life, when/if they do swear, the other characters will take note. Hopefully, the reader will, too.

[Daddydavek]

Funny thing is, neither my generation or my father's generation invented potty mouths.  They have always existed and some words we wouldn't think of as swear words today were really naughty in the past.  F-bombs have been around for centuries apparently.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck

 

Most Americans don't think bloody hell is all that bad, but Brits in my father's generation certainly did.  He grew up on a farm and learned German curse words as a child because the grandpa and older adults didn't want to cuss around the kids.  Funny, that's the only German they did learn.  My dad and his three brothers all served in WWII and two were in the Navy, one in the Coast Guard and the youngest in the Merchant Marines and I don't think they heard any curse words there that they hadn't already known.

 

I was in the Army infantry and I certainly heard a fairly constant amount of curse words.  The drill instructors alone could rattle off a string of curse words that made you stare in wonder sometimes.   

 

So potty mouths, I think it is safe to conclude, have pretty much always been with us.   Those words do add a certain grit and bare truth to dialogue.  Their overuse can be distracting as well.  

 

One thing I have noticed in the last fifty years is that women are more likely to use curse words in mixed company than in the past.   Among themselves, women have always been as bad as men according to all my female friends.  

Edited October 10, 2013 by Daddydavek

[The Pecman]

This thread made me go back and check my own in progress story - turns out although I swear like a trooper in real life my 'slightly autobiographical' main character has managed a total of 7  swear words out of a total of 40,000, and all of them were muttered under his breath or said internally.  Maybe I am a prude after all.

 

I just did a quick check of my last novel, and I used the "F" word a grand total of 18 times -- but that was spread out over 124,000 words. Not a bad ratio. And I think most of those were done as "oh, F you," that kind of thing... not in a sexual way. But the story has no shortage of sex scenes.

[Sasha Distan]

I just did a quick check of my last novel, and I used the "F" word a grand total of 18 times -- but that was spread out over 124,000 words. Not a bad ratio. And I think most of those were done as "oh, F you," that kind of thing... not in a sexual way. But the story has no shortage of sex scenes.

 

where as the combined 80,000 words of Bad Stereotypes and Unexpected Liaisons there are 137 instances of 'fuck' and no one told me i swore too much in that book...

[Daddydavek]

Since other's did a count on their stories, I did one on Dean Warner Intrigues as well.  (Just over 63,500 words.)

 

I used:  shit twice

             damn three times

             fuck  five times

             hell  six times

 

But I used the word cock at least 38 times.  I guess that says more about me than anything else.....

Edited October 22, 2013 by Daddydavek

[Sasha Distan]

 

But I used the word cock at least 38 times.  I guess that says more about me than anything else.....

 

I actually try not to say cock, or dick for that matter, but i'm not sure why. expect, don't test that theory when i write my nano novel, because Paddy says dick a lot.... 

[Kitt]

I really think it has got to be a function of the character speaking.  You would not expect the Sunday school teacher who just got run off the road to say "God damn fucking son of a bitch ran me off the road."  On the same coin you would not expect the biker in the same situation to say "Oh my, that man was so careless he ran me into a ditch."

[Thorn Wilde]

Well, in the 40,000 odd words of The Jacob and Marcus Tales, I have used the word fuck (and derivatives there-of) 589 times.

I have used shit 61 times.

Twat 34 times

Cock 33 times (though that includes cocking of heads and eyebrows)

C*** 25 times

 

 

...I think I win.

[Ron]

That's quite a feat Thorn. You averaged fuck and/or it's derivatives every 67.9 words and used some form of 'offensive' or 'dirty' word every 53.9 words. I do believe you may have won!

 

I only managed to use fuck and/or every 241 words and when including 'other' types it comes out to every 167 words in my prompt 270 response. So, no where close to you my friend.

[Thorn Wilde]

That's quite a feat Thorn. You averaged fuck and/or it's derivatives every 67.9 words and used some form of 'offensive' or 'dirty' word every 53.9 words. I do believe you may have won!

 

I only managed to use fuck and/or every 241 words and when including 'other' types it comes out to every 167 words in my prompt 270 response. So, no where close to you my friend.

 

What can I say? I seem to have a talent for being a sweary, foul-mouthed twat.

 

And I didn't even include 'lesser' swears such as hell, bloody, wanker or tosser...

Edited October 22, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Sasha Distan]

What can I say? I seem to have a talent for being a sweary, foul-mouthed twat.

 

And I didn't even include 'lesser' swears such as hell, bloody, wanker or tosser...

 

you can hardly take this as average though bro, because we did start our convo about Jacob and Marcus calling it the Sweary Series before it became the F*cking Trilogy.

 

on the other hand, bloody well done.