Swearing in fiction. Is it necessarily "bad"?
This is an odd time for me to be writing this post, since my next project is a children’s book that contains no scenes of violence, blood, gore, aberrant sexual behaviour, swearing or anything else that might be considered offensive (although the world has proven me wrong before. Do a search on Google to see how many people are horribly offended by “The Giving Tree.”)
Still, here I am writing it, because, as has been brought to my attention before, my fiction generally (not always) has a lot of swear words in it. Although, by simple math I’ve found that my latest book “Missing Pieces” has less than 1% offensive words in it. Wow! NOT REALLY A SPOILER ALERT: That’s still a lot of swearing since it clocks in at 138,730 words.
I’ll sidestep the whole issue of whether or not swearing (among other things) is necessarily “bad” since I’ve already written a long-winded diatribe about how I feel about that on this page on my blog.
Instead, I’ll focus on the three complaints/arguments I hear most often, and, hopefully, answer them with some measure of clarity, although that should, technically, be impossible (see below).
1. Use of swear words in fiction is an indicator that the story, or the writing is weak, or that the story-teller is unable to tell the story in a compelling way without resorting to the use of profanity.
This may be the case in some instances, certainly. I won’t argue that. But, I think, in general, when a story is weak, or a story-teller is unable to tell a story in a compelling fashion, inclusion or exclusion of profanity is rarely the reason. I could write eloquently for days (and I have, literally, millions of words to prove this) and go absolutely nowhere while never ever resorting to the use of expletives in any form or fashion.
A good story is based on interest. And it really boils down to a very simple premise. Forget about three or four act structures, or any other formulae you may have learned. At the most basic level, a good story is based on how invested your reader is in finding out “what happens next.” And that boils down to them caring about your characters and/or plot (preferably both) enough to ask that question. Really, they should be dying to know “what happens next?”
If you can’t get a reader to wonder “what happens next?” (whether they consciously realise it or not), they’ll stop turning pages and then, no matter how great your story is, it will never be read to completion (unless you can work it into a school curriculum ;)
It’s certainly true that a good story can be told without the use of profanity. Authors like Lee Child (Jim Grant) prove this again and again. Of course, it’s also certainly true that a good story can be told with mild to excessive profanity. Authors like Stephen King prove this again and again. And it’s also certainly true that a good story can be told with loads of profanity. While he was still alive and kicking, Tom Clancy was busy proving this again and again.
So, it seems to me, in this case, that the use of profanity isn’t really the issue. Good, bad, and mediocre stories can, and will be, told with or without profanity and to varying degrees of commercial success. And that commercial success will likely not be entirely dependant upon the amount of profanity in the work.
2. The use of profanity weakens narrative, works against character believability and is a substitute for investing actual effort that the reader can sense instinctively.
This is an argument I honestly can’t believe exists. For instance, in many of my novels and stories (most of them, in fact) some characters swear all the time, some characters swear occasionally and some don’t swear at all. This, of course, has been my experience of life.
And, when it comes right down to it, the only things that weaken a novel, or hurt character believability, are the lengths to which you’re willing to go to tell your own story in a way that you think other people will want to hear it.
Go ahead and break out the Thesaurus. If you don’t have anything to say, it doesn’t matter what words you use.
For instance, if you never swear, but create a bunch of characters who do (perhaps even a narrator who does) because you want to be edgy, it’s going to come off as inauthentic, weak and contrived. Readers may not be able to put a finger on why, but something about your whole story (characters, narration, etc.) will feel off. They won’t like it.
By the same token, if the people in the story in your head swear constantly, changing all the f-bombs to h-bombs is going to come off as inauthentic, weak and contrived. Readers may not be able to put a finger on why, but something about the whole story (characters, narration, etc.) will feel off. They won’t like it.
3. Overuse of profanity reduces the impact of the words themselves and renders them impotent, which is (for some reason) not a good thing.
While I’ll agree whole-heartedly that use of profanity in excess (which I’m wont to do with certain characters and narrators) does dull the effect of those “bad” words, it brings another question to my mind:
If the use of excessive profanity is considered a sign of a weak writer, shouldn’t the dependency on that very same profanity, to shock the reader or command his/her attention, be considered just as much of a weakness?
My point being that, if one has engaged in the overuse of profanity in his or her narrative and dialogue, to the degree that its been rendered neuter, why is that considered a bad thing? Certainly it’s not the author’s intention that you be shocked for your entire reading experience. I can’t say for certain, but I’d imagine anyone who expects a reader to be shocked for 200 to 600 pages, straight-through, has his head in the clouds. Especially if he or she is counting on profanity to provide that constant experience for the reader.
It could just as easily be argued that, once the writer’s overuse (which, let’s face it, is a relative measure) of profanity has rendered those self-same naughty-words impotent, he or she is going to have to actually write something clever, intelligent or otherwise shocking, to knock you out of your boots. He or she can’t just have the good guy finally say: “This is some fucking bullshit." Not, at least, to let the reader know that the good guy is, finally, at the end of his rope.
But, in the end, the truth of "what happens when you use (or overuse) profanity” in your written work, is entirely subjective. You’ll almost certainly offend someone. And if your language doesn’t, your story, or something else, will.
You can’t win this battle, really. Unless you choose not to fight it.
The best thing you can do as a writer, in my own humble opinion, is to be true to your own voice. Don’t change anything to suit your audience, unless you desperately want to write YA novels and you have a foul-mouthed protagonist with a BSDM hang-up that you’re trying to work in there. Good luck with that stretch, or anything close to it.
Your audience will find you, if you wait long enough. If you’re impatient (or you just want to get noticed and appreciated, to whatever degree, before you die), go looking for your audience. I can virtually guarantee that there’s a group of people out there who want to read whatever you’re writing.
As long as it’s entertaining and true (not, of course, in the sense that it’s necessarily realistic), good writing will remain in play (and it will touch many hearts and minds) for a long time.
Peace, you beautiful bastards,
, Mike
