Does Profanity Have a Place in Fiction?

Depiction of the use of profanity and other ugly human actions in stories can be a controversial topic. I often see it portrayed in a black-and-white, all-or-nothing approach. I want to go deeper into the nuances of profanity in fiction and discuss when and why an author may include it, and if there are times when it is the right choice as well as those when it is unnecessary.

I will refrain from spelling out most cuss words in this series of posts. Maybe that seems ironic, given that we are disc...