I’m from the American South, so it should be cussin’. Basically, I’m covering profanity here, and am curious to poll writers’ and readers’ thoughts.
Generation X, including yours truly, had a certain amount of profanity ingrained in them from their peers. To us, it wasn’t that big of a deal….the profanity was not usually used in anger and it filled in nicely whatever noun, verb, adjective, or adverb we needed at the time (now, this was with our peers. Not in the classroom, not with parents, not during job interviews, not in our cubicles at whatever menial jobs we were able to find during the recession of the early 1990s.)
Then we had kids.
The only time I’ve let something really fly that I wish I hadn’t since I’ve become a parent (besides the mildest forms of profanity…and a lot of euphemisms) was when I was on the highway recently and suddenly had to swerve to avoid a pick-up truck that was consumed by a raging fire and had flames licking out over my lane. My middle-schooler raised his eyebrows at me; less at the fireball than at my language.
What about in our writing?
I write cozy mysteries and I do know my market pretty well. I use ‘damn’ and ‘hell’ but not often. I would never use any of the four-letter words I used so carelessly 10-15 years ago.
Why use any at all? This is hard for me to answer. Occasionally I just come across a situation that seems to warrant it. Oddly enough, I use it more when a character is in a humorous, but frustrating situation.
I’ve seen many movies and read many thrillers where I found the profanity a tremendous distraction. It was repeated ad nauseum, and I’m no prude. But when I start to flinch, it’s too much. And to what purpose? That’s what I can’t figure out. Why ruin (in my mind) a great movie like Good Will Hunting with overwhelming vulgarities?
So….is there a formula, depending on your genre? How much is too much? What’s the right amount for the effect we’re looking for?
It so totally depends: on the genre, on the characters, on the situation. I will agree that too much can be distracting. It’s like wasabi powder–use a light hand.
On the other hand, if it feels right, throw some &!%$@$ cussing in. If the agents and editors out there don’t like it, well, &!%$@$ them! [I mean, just take it out.]
I don’t mind reading it, but I try not to write it. Mainly because I don’t want to offend anyone.
Hmmm. Elizabeth, how DO you dig up these puzzling grey areas?? If I have a technique, it’s to put myself in the scene with the characters and try to think what my response would be, or, what a “normal” response for that character should be. Between those two, what comes out of the character’s mouth, well, comes out.
My Mom, God rest her soul, a writer herself, read a final draft of my first book and said, “Galen, there’s a lot of cussing in here. Do you really need that?” She suggested using something, like, “John cursed and looked away.” Or, “Betty swore in frustration.” I tried that in a couple of places and it seemed to work. In other places, I just let the character rip. That was fun, too.
Best regards, Galen
GalenKindley.com/blog
Props to you for not using excessive language. Personally, I never us God’s name in vain or drop F-bombs in my writings, although I’m not offended by hearing or reading such words depending on the story. I do have some mild swearing though in my book Breakthrough.
Good Fellas, Casino, Pulp Fiction, and Training Day are all stories where foul language was acceptable (IMHO) because the stories captured life “as is” and it just seemed to work.
Other stories could lose all F-bombs and not lose anything important. I was disheartened to read Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child begin to incorporate F-bombs in their books. I think this language took away a lot of credibility from their stories.
– Steve Tremp
http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/
I think used sparingly profanity adds realism to dialog, depending on the characters, of course. Like Galen said above, lots of times I’ll just write, “He swore at the jerk” or something like that – but reading an entire novel with really bad guys (or gals) in it who say “Golly Gee” when they’re mad is just la la land writing and a major put-off to me.
The Old Silly
I don’t mind profanity as long as it fits the character or the situation. The movie Gran Torino is a great example. Clint Eastwood’s character is an extremely foul-mouthed racially motivated person. He’s also a grumpy old man who just lost his wife, the love of his life. Profanities come out of his mouth with almost every breath. But in that particular instance, it fits his character and lets you see him the way it was intended. Your example of Good Will Hunting is one I actually like, because it DOES fit the character. While you may not hang out with people like the ones depicted there, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of people for whom profanity is a way of life.
I have a character in my WiP that does use a small amount of profanity, but he meets another character who calls him on it. So then he struggles with trying to not cuss, which has its own entertaining values. In this instance, I’m using profanity as a way to not only describe the character, but also to show how difficult it is for him to overcome the habit.
I use a huge amount of dialog in my writing, and one of my main characters in the book I am currently trying to get published is a 15-year old who goes through a number of tough situations. I don’t think it would be realistic to have her not swear. She only does it with adults when she is truly livid, but she and her friends do a little of it. It just seems more realistic. I think it would be extremely awkward for me to break my usual pattern that is dialog heavy for a ‘Jessie swore and…’
My adults don’t swear, and I think there is only one scene where there is quite a bit (she is being told she has to move to a new city with her dad who she’s never lived with before… not happy). I also get distracted by a ton of it, but I think lightly used, it makes it far more realistic.
Not all of my characters behave themselves or watch what they say! Hopefully, they don’t overdo it.
JaneKennedySutton
I have to agree that gosh-darn isn’t the effect I’m looking for most times. There are definitely situations that call for some cussing and some characters that do a lot of it. I just wonder if some authors limit their range of readers by stepping over the line–and what that line is?
Elizabeth
I think when used sparingly at appropriate places it can add some realism, at the very least to the book, but when it comes to profanity for the sake of profanity it reminds me of a kid testing his boundaries – it does nothing to advance plot or characters when over used because it loses the “shock value” or whatever you want to call it. Good post.
Nancy, from Just a Thought…