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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 9:11:50 GMT -5
As I write my dialogues in my WIP, I imagine what real people would say in the scenes.
In books, authors sometimes don't have their characters swear or take the name of God in vain, etc, just so they won't offend certain groups of people.
But here I am, writing quite lively dialogue in a book where the story takes place in Ireland. And Irish people do swear a lot. They say 'fuck' and they go 'Jesus, you're a lucky bastard', they say 'you bitch' and 'Mother of God' and 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph',just to give a few examples.
But this would be offensive to certain people. So what is the best thing to do here? Have them not use these expletives and skirt around them? Use 'feck' instead of the alternative?
How do you handle this?
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Post by vrabinec on Mar 10, 2014 9:42:04 GMT -5
There isn't a cuss word I don't use. My MC's fave is Jesus H. fucking Christ. Though, now I'm not certain the fucking shouldn't be capitalized.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 11:18:24 GMT -5
There isn't a cuss word I don't use. My MC's fave is Jesus H. fucking Christ. Though, now I'm not certain the fucking shouldn't be capitalized. Yeh, but you're a guy... |
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Post by The Scroggins! on Mar 10, 2014 11:29:49 GMT -5
I'd say go with what works best for your story. I have no qualms about using the absolute worst language possible if a character demands it. I'm sure my last book turned some people off, but I wrote it in the way the characters dictated it to me.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 11:30:05 GMT -5
It depends on your audience and your characters. My audience probably wouldn't appreciate a lot of cussing, since I crossover age groups. I use the Star Wars extended universe books as a guide for style. And I actually cuss very little in real life. I prefer to confuse people for my own nefarious gain.
I don't know that I'd make every character cuss a lot, if I did write it in. You can create a strong voice with cussing that balances out with other characters. Having everybody cuss might make all characters sound the same. If you're writing in 1st POV, and it's the MC, then you could color other characters' voices with that voice, as it would be the MC's interpretation of them.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 12:14:58 GMT -5
Well, I agree about cussing. But what about the 'Jesus' and 'Christ' expressions? That's so typically Irish.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 12:20:46 GMT -5
I still think it depends on audience and character. I don't know that it would be a problem for American readers, but at the same time, I don't know if American readers would recognize that specifically as a signal of Irish voice. If most of your readers are in the UK, then they might. I'd still keep it to one character you really want to strongly voice, but if you have a heavy American audience, you might want to signal with more obvious tells (such as describing their accent as Irish).
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 12:25:01 GMT -5
I don't think I have to say their accent is Irish, as the story is set in Ireland. I have had one review from a reader who said the characters didn't really speak like you'd expect in Ireland (because I had toned down the language). So in this one I thought I'd make it as real and authentic as possible.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 12:36:10 GMT -5
My characters rarely swear. I'm not much of one to swear either, but I did have one character who was a serial killer that had a bit of profanity when things really started to go awry.
I've had quite a few people mention how they like that I don't have much swearing in my book. I didn't do it for them, I just wrote the characters the way I would want to read them.
I don't believe a writer can go wrong writing books they want to read. If you like swearing and you think it fits the characters then I say go for it.
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Post by vrabinec on Mar 10, 2014 13:30:40 GMT -5
Interestingly, I don't think any of the characters in my historic romance cusses. Strange that my two WIPs that are the farthest along are polar opposites in that regard. I didn't really set out to haveIit one way or the other in either book. It's just that one has an MC who's a soldier from a broken home who doesn't care how people view him, and the other had to raise younger siblings and is very conscious of how they perceive him.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 10, 2014 14:23:13 GMT -5
One of my characters has a really dirty mouth. Some of the others swear, but not as consistently. The MC swears only occasionally. Some characters never swear. (By "swearing" I mean both cussing and blaspheming.) So, I guess I'm trying to reflect the variety in real people.
At least a few reviewers have commented on bad language, and I had one Fb exchange with a fan about it, so if it's there it will definitely offend some folks -- and I imagine there's more patience for it in urban fantasy than in some other genres.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 15:34:18 GMT -5
I think you have to go with what suits the character, the story and the scene and not compromise to please some poeple. You can't please everyone.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 10, 2014 15:53:32 GMT -5
For my fantasy trilogy, I haven't included much cussing. I used "bastards" a couple of times, but that's about it. Some of the characters swear with the word "spirits," which is essentially blasphemy in the story world.
ETA: My next story will be contemporary fantasy, but I haven't decided how much cussing I'll include.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 15:56:54 GMT -5
I don't swear a lot myself. I tell someone to f*** off occasionally. About once a year. Haven't done it this year, though...  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 10, 2014 16:00:47 GMT -5
<waits with bated breath ...>
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 16:02:26 GMT -5
Gosh, no. I have to be REALLY provoked! Might not even happen this year.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 10, 2014 16:28:16 GMT -5
Gosh, no. I have to be REALLY provoked! Might not even happen this year. How about if someone tickled you? Tickling is *very* provoking.  |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 10, 2014 16:31:39 GMT -5
I'd just tickle right back.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 10, 2014 16:40:26 GMT -5
I'd just tickle right back. Eek!  |
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Post by Alan Petersen on Mar 11, 2014 1:47:26 GMT -5
My books characters come from a military background, so lots of cussing. That said, I did dial it back a bit. I have an author friend that received some bad reviews over the language, so it made me more aware. There are still plenty of effenheimers, Jesus Christ, and Goddamn, because those are normal cussing words in that world, so I didn't want to go to far in self editing that it would make their interactions unrealistic.
So if it's true to your story and your characters I wouldn't cut back to much for PC-sake, but keep it mind so you don't alienate readers. I'm not sure how readers in your genre take the cussing, in thrillers it's more acceptable (I think).
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