Swearing in Books?

[bumblebee62331]

Hi guys,

I just finished a book that had a lil bit of swearing in it and I just wondered how you all felt on the topic. Please vote for what you would be able to put up with and drop a post to explain if you'd like.

Happy writing/reading!

 

[bumblebee62331]

I thought I'd answer.

I guess for me, I can handle a fair bit of swearing, but if it becomes ridiculous I can't read it. Also if the words are too insulting or unneeded. I hate it when a person uses swear words in their book just because they can.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[oncewaslost]

swearing doesn't bother me except when it's in excess for no reason at all. like, the emotion isn't there for it. i don't like it when they're swearing just to swear. there has to be a plot purpose for it.

 

[Tariel]

I agree. Swearing when there's a purpose for it doesn't bother me much - I would never do it, but it doesn't really bother me if other people do it. People swearing for the sake of swearing though...that's just stupid

 

[bumblebee62331]

Do particular swear words offend you more than others? I've found that in the world today many swear words are used and some of them seem less offensive than others. I can deal with a lot of them, but if one or two that I really hate are used, I don't like it.

 

[GodFlute2]

I can read books with a fair bit of swearing, but I can't bring myself to write one.

 

[Solomon Kane]

I have no problem with swearing. As long as it makes sense in the context of the story and the nature of the characters.

 

[Seekeroflight]

Swearing doesn't bother me as such, as long as it's the characters doing the swearing. Having the narrator swear fouls up the whole story, but with the characters, it's just characterisation.

However, having all the characters swear at a rate that would put the Osbourne family to shame would be a huge mistake. That should rarely be used, and even then, only as an idiosyncrasy for ONE character.

Even so, the definition of a swear word in today's circumstances has become largely blurred. Who can truly say whether a word is a swear word? What is acceptable for one culture might be grounds for exile in another.

 

[avatarblade2000]

My feelings are, if you're trying to prove to your audience how harsh the real world is, fine, put some swearing in there. If you're like me, I HATE SWEARING, and when you see it in a book, it makes you even more involved in the experience from its impact, whether it's hating what path a character's taking (cursing leads to other things) or shocks you when a character who has been good up till that point in time actually falls down a rung or two (it's traumatizing in real life, even, to hear your little brother cuss you out for the first time, someone you never expected could or had the capacity to ).

I don't know about the rest of the world, but if it's anything like my neck of the woods (Oklahoma), then you can't go anywhere (high-school, college, super-market, church) without hearing "the 'F' Word" at least once. I HEAR IT EVERYDAY . Then I go to read a book with a Christian message that is trying to show me the harshness of the world, and when I don't see a single curse in there, believe it or not, IT ALIENATES ME. The real world isn't like that. It's great, don't get me wrong, like having quiet time free of "F--- this" or "Screw that," but that sense of a perfect world sometimes defeats the whole purpose of the story. Now, if you can get around the whole cursing thing and make the situation still harsh and true to today's corrupt society, by all means do it (Frank Peretti does a good job of this); otherwise, it just seems - I don't know, untrue.

I hate sugarcoating. I don't do it in my writing, and I try not to do it in my ministry. I feel that someone cursing is just another way for us to counter Satan. There are a lot of good ways to counter people swearing and turning it into a witnessing tool; my greatest strategy is showing people that when they swear they actually don't know what they're saying at all. For example, here's a scare tactic that I learned: anytime anyone ever swore at me by saying, "F--- you," I went into the actual origins of that phrase. Anyone familiar with it? I'd heard it said that it was said often in the Dark Ages, and that whenever anyone said it, it was THEM wanting/doing the F---ing. Corrupt knights who had their way with defenseless women, that sort of thing. That means anyone they cuss out is actually the one that THEY want to - well, you know, do THAT to THEM, which actually defeats the entire point of them putting down a person.

They ALWAYS recoil in disgust. It's just a way for them to see that cussing, in itself, doesn't make any sense, and is in direct contrast with God's ministry, which makes PERFECT sense. The thing with me is, though, I have Moses Syndrome - that is, I usually get tongue-tied - so a lot of the time it works better for me if I get to WRITE that sort of thing down, whether in stories or in sermons.

Anyway...that's how I feel on the subject. In the end, vampires will always scare me (anyone watch FRIGHT NIGHT? *shivers*)

 

[Swede]

I don't really mind, as I tend to skip parts of a book I'm not interested in

 

[jesusfreak7707]

I don't agree with swearing in books just like I don't agree with saying swear words

 

[rasplundjr]

Well I swear like a sailor, trying to lighten up, but I grew up with it being commonplace, and I have never had a problem with swearing, my wife get's VERY angry with me on this, because I've been doing it for so long I don't realize it half the time.

I have no problem with profanity in books and entertainment, as long as there is a purpose, if it's just litle johnny badbutt trying to look like he's hard with every other word a profanity it get's old quick. If it's a cultural thing, I have no issue swhen it's done right. if it's saying the f word just to say the f word then it's tedious and it's time to get over it then again anything too repetitious gets on my nerves if I see the same catch phrase too many times ina book no matter how benign it irks me as much as too much profanity.

Most of hte stories I write dealing with my central character have a fair bit of swearing to it, but it's usually in reaction to a situation, and it's from the roads that the character has walked....

Plus as far as I'm concerned it's just words, whose to say that had things gone some other way that table or apple, or paper might have meant something far worse than the F word?

 

[Slina]

I'd rather books didn't use bad words at all, though I'll put up with a few. I think even bad characters can be portrayed realistically without having to resort to writing out the bad words... either use mild words, or when that wouldn't work for whatever reason, just write around it or transfer it to exposition (like 'he proceeded to curse just about everything in sight' or whatever). Or better yet, just don't bother with it when possible. I think it's quite possible to write a completely believable story without using swear words. Quite honestly, I don't think too highly of writers who feel that they have to use certain words practically every single paragraph. If they're reasonably mild, are appropriate to the time (what's with putting modern swear words into the 1800s, anyway?), and are used for believable reasons, then sure, I'll put up with them to an extent.

 

[ninetails390]

I don't mind reading stuff with some minor swearing, but I personally won't write anything with it (I think "Shut up!", "Dang it!" and "Oh, thank God..." used in a slightly sarcastic manner are about the worst language any of my characters have used... so, yeah). I don't have a problem with reading stuff with minor swearing in it if it's just to help portray a character's personality... although what really bugs me is if ALL the characters in an entire book, regardless of personality, are constantly swearing...>_< That's just annoying, offensive, and bad writing, if you ask me...

 

[simpletrust]

I don't really like reading swear words, it's like it sort of hurts my eyes But yeah, it's definitely more annoying if there's just swearing pratically every second word for no reason at all! No anger or anything, just swearing! Ugh!

 

[Sabertooth]

I voted low-level. Vulgarity seems to be the least offensive, where taking God's name in vain offends me the most. It might be accurate if the character uttering it is a hell-bound atheist, but repeated utterance, many utterers or, even, the protagonist(s) uttering such seems to render the whole work unedifying.

 

[BrEnDiNo99]

Books are an art with words, to say you cant swear is to say you cant use a paint brush in an art class

 

[Sabertooth]

Books are an art with words, to say you cant swear is to say you cant use a paint brush in an art class

I have painted with flower petals, before, and I imagine you can use dung [a good Bible word] for paint, as well. The finished product would STILL be repulsive, except to a gastroenterologist.

 

[goldenviolet]

Books are an art with words, to say you cant swear is to say you cant use a paint brush in an art class

i love how you put this. i don't agree though. they way you wrote is just poetic. you must be a good writer.
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i put up with a small amount, depending on what i'm reading: like if it's a nessesity. but i don't want swearing in my head. the bible says that nothing unclean is suppose to come from our mouths. so it just doesn't seem right to write or read it.

 

[BrEnDiNo99]

i love how you put this. i don't agree though. they way you wrote is just poetic. you must be a good writer.
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i put up with a small amount, depending on what i'm reading: like if it's a nessesity. but i don't want swearing in my head. the bible says that nothing unclean is suppose to come from our mouths. so it just doesn't seem right to write or read it.

well i guess its over exagurating it would be morelike you cant use blue or yellow or something. ha ha