In the post, WTF is Up With Cursing in YA, agent Jennifer Laughran answers writers’ questions on offensive language and its location in a manuscript.
She also points out that you’ll want to make sure you’re not sending a profanity-laced book to a publisher that focuses on younger-YA books or clean YA. She states that profanity can work:
Provided of course that it is right for the character, that it makes sense in context and you aren’t just randomly throwing words around….cursing CAN be a lazy writer’s way of making a character seem “edgy.”
I write traditional mysteries, also called cozies. Use of profanity is generally discouraged in these books—it’s just not what the reader is expecting or looking for when they purchase a cozy mystery.
Conversely, if a reader has chosen a novel that focuses on the harrowing day-to-day life of members of a Mafia family…they’re going to be shocked if there’s no profanity. That would likely be something they’d expect (especially since Goodfellas and The Godfather have conditioned us to it).
So I think reader expectations can play an important role in whether a writer should include profanity in a book. Readers are, ultimately, the people we’re trying to please if we’re publishing.
Some things to consider when deciding on use of profanity in your book:
Would the character ordinarily use it? Is it realistic?
Does it make sense in the context? Is it really needed in the particular situation? Could it be left out and have the scene be just as effective?
Do you have to use dialogue with the profanity, or can you just state: Kevin cursed fluently as he hit his thumb with the hammer?
Does it fit your genre? Your audience?
Could it potentially be offensive to a reader, or is it fairly mild?
Is it distracting in the text? (By its frequency, wording, etc?)
Is it gratuitous? Is it there just for shock value or does it add something (realism, character insight) to the story?
Does profanity work with your genre and your intended readers? How much is too much?
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I’ve been meaning to do a post on this. Some really great points, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth – That’s an interesting topic, and it’s one of those things that can really undercut a book if it’s not handled well. You’ve outlined some important things to ask oneself, too. My books aren’t really cosies, but they also aren’t what you’d call gritty. So most of my characters don’t use a lot of profanity, and certainly not the “saltiest” words there are. But then, the characters I write about probably wouldn’t use a lot of it; that’s just not how they are.
I agree that if it fits then use it. I don’t use profanity in real life…much. So, it’s not in my mind to use profanity in my writing. But if a character uses it, I let he or she.
Great post.
My romantic suspense books feature cops and covert ops specialists. For them not to swear would be strange, but I do try to keep in “in context.” One of the things I do whenever I start a new book or introduce a significant character is figure our their ‘go to’ swear word. I had some fun in a scene where I had my covert ops guy swearing in his sleep and the 5 year old child who lived in the house heard him and asked her mom at breakfast the next morning if “f*it” was a bad word. My covert ops guy then had to pay a dollar for using the word. (There were also some ‘quarter’ words).
But I don’t expect kids to be reading my books–not that they haven’t heard all the words I use, and more, probably.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I too write cozies and with my first manuscript, I was tempted to take the ‘lazy way’ to suggest an edginess. All I can say to that now is I’m glad I opted out. I am more aware of the short cut trap and what it can do to the overall integrity of the WIP. Enjoyed the post!
My book could’ve contained more profanity (especially with its military setting) but since most Star-Wars style books aren’t full of curse words, I just used one word – damn.
My characters tend not to use profanity. As a reader I find those words jump out at me and tend to pop me out of the story unless they’re used in such a seamless way that *not* using them would stick out more than using them.
I’m not a prude by any means; trust me, if I drop something heavy on my foot “Oh, poop-doodle” is *not* what comes springing to mind.
I’m a big time swearer in my life – and I have to be careful that not all my characters may be the same. I suppose that would be a problem the other way too – not to use your own style, whatever it might be, for your characters. I write literary fiction in which my characters swear (yep – all the way to the saltiest) or not as their character dictates and I write mysteries in which a little swearing would not be wrong…
Jan Morrison
Great post Liz,
As you know I do not write cozies, but even though my field is harder edged fiction, I personally really try to avoid using profanity too much. Your point on how some see it as the lazy way of making a character seem that much tougher is one of the reasons why I’ll work harder not to use them. I’d like to think that I should be able to write a manus where my imagination and experience can create the effect without having to resort to using the F- word every second sentence. And another reason is that I don’t like using profanities (even though I do slip up once in a while:) in real life. It just isn’t me, and I think if I can’t communicate without cursing constantly then my language skills aren’t up to scratch.
As per usual Liz great post:)
Good topic, Elizabeth. I’m struggling with that question with the wip I’m about to start revising. None of my good characters swear regularly, but two of my bad guys are fluent in profanity.
It’s an adult suspense novel, but one of the sidekicks is a kid, so it’s possible some YA readers would be interested in the book. Will I dilute the story if I make the bad guys say “Oh, darn”? Yeah. Would it be better for use euphemisms? Maybe. I’m still thinking about it.
Good advice for any genre, I think. :)
Great post. Sometimes swearing works, like in Training Day, Good Fellas, or Casino. Mostly, it doesn’t, especially in YA. I never use F-Bombs. No need to . They don’t add anything to my character development.
Great post! I read books here and there with profanity in places that just didn’t make sense. My motto is if you can do without it, don’t bother.
Carolina–Thanks!
H. L. Banks–It’s pretty easy to edit out and when I *have* edited it out, I’ve been amazed the number of times that I’ve really not lost anything.
Alex–I think that was a good call.
Margot–Right. And your characters are in an academic environment, trying to be professional. I sure heard my professors use profanity–but it wasn’t a *lot*. Not nearly as much as the students were using. :)
Teresa–With some characters it’s hard to imagine them *not* using it.
Jan–It’s easy to make our characters too much like us! I cuss a lot myself (under my breath most of the time!)
Terry–Clever way of using it!
Kids–oh yeah. I think they all have to really watch their language around us so we don’t know how much profanity they know/use.
Elspeth–And you’re writing historicals, so I’d guess that plays into it, too. Not that they didn’t use profanity, but I’m sure they used a little less than we do.
Stephen–Good point! Some words are, obviously, more distracting than others. My characters have used mild profanity, but I’ve toned it down lately.
It is such a delicate balance. In my YA, I’ve created a few ‘curses’ the characters can use instead of real curse words. It’s in Steampunk England, so there are also some historical slang words that work as well. :)
YA ranges from super clean to R rated. (Nice, hun?) I stuck with a PG rating for language.
Gilbert–I think I use profanity more than I need to! (In real life.) The kids don’t ever hear it, but the dog and cats sure do. :)
Yeah, I think there are better ways of showing a guy is tough and edgy. Profanity is fine, but the f-bomb every few sentences does get kind of old.
Patricia–That’s tricky when you’ve got different age groups you’re trying to appeal to.
Maybe just take that part out of dialogue and say something like: Taylor swore, barely taking a break as the words flowed out like…
Elisa–Thanks!
L.J.–And I’ve noticed that it doesn’t really affect the story to take it out.
Diane–That’s probably perfect. It’s realistic that they’re cursing, but it’s not a major distraction.
Guess who just got ANOTHER Award?
Stop by my blog and pick it up, Elizabeth! (I just hope that some day I have so many that I need to make a separate page like you did!) hehe
Thanks!
Sharon
Hey Liz, That’s the all important rule. If the stuff coming out of our mouths is enough to make sailors blush than,”MAKE SURE THE KIDS DON’T HERE IT”. That way we get to right to claim, “plausable deniability” in front of the grandparents when the smallest tells them what she really thinks of grandmas vegatable soup. The Halo above my head is shining so brightly right now:)
Great post Liz.