Swearing (cussing) in my Books

I’m getting the last of the feedback in on my second book, and a recurring theme is emerging. This could be simply because of who it is I have [beta] reading my books, but there’s a level of consistency to this particular criticism, and that’s my use of ‘bad’ language. It carries over from White Shores, so it makes sense to take the time to listen.

You’re bound to have an opinion on this, ranging from “who cares?” to “you dirty sinner!” so let me lay it out for you. Here’s what I do, why I do it, and why I may change it.

In my first book, White Shores, and in my second, forthcoming book, Tomb of the Relequim, there’s some swearing. Not a ton, but it’s there. I don’t swear/cuss/curse much in normal life. I generally find it unimaginative and – at the risk of sounding dubiously posh – uncouth. It doesn’t take a genius to drop F-bombs in place of adjectives or adverbs left and right. But I do think the occasional outburst is fitting in certain circumstances. All that to say: do what you will. I simply don’t use the four-letter lexicon with great regularity.

While I don’t personally think there’s a great moral risk to the mortal soul over expressing one’s frustrations or disappointment with the appropriate language, I do recognize the potential it has to offend and off-put. My parents taught us growing up not to use the words “butt” and “crap,” not so much because they were ‘bad,’ but because their generation and that of our grandparents found those words to be highly offensive. They were, and remain, mundane to us. But to many they are not. In order to maintain good relationships and respect those around us, we were taught to avoid unnecessary blunders. A+ parenting in my mind.

However the world at large does not work that way. People tell racist jokes, they recount their most lewd exploits in gory detail, and they flop F-bombs on the table like a blitzkrieg over London. Outside of the US, people are far less concerned with the offensive nature of stereotypes, and words often carry different weight based on culture and context. My jaw audibly hit the floor the first time I heard a group of people saying “shit” in the middle of a church function in Germany.

When I write, even though it’s fantasy, I don’t intend to recreate the world into something unrecognizable or unrelateable. I want it to reflect our world as it is. The joy is in providing my characters with the tools they need to overcome the inherent challenges our world comes with in ways we only wish we could. Jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, murder, rape, war, and injustice on a global scale exist here in the real world. I can’t remove that from my world. I want to attack them in my world. In a way, that’s what I’m aiming for when I say that I want to be “honest” to my story or to my characters. I don’t remove their emotions, I don’t remove their fallibilities, I don’t make it easy for them to overcome their grief or their greed. They are people of great character, or they are not, but they all have flaws and they all have weaknesses.

When I put those colorless four letter words into their speech it serves one of two purposes. The first is to denote a level of character. The way someone speaks in a book tells you more about them than most anything else. It speaks to their intelligence level, their education, their perception of the world, their biases and their fears. It tells you tons, and cussing is one way of expressing something in a character.

The second use is for heights of emotion. When a character is killing or being killed, watching someone lose themselves or finding their own path obstructed beyond hope. In some moments all the emotions in the world can find themselves packed intp four little letters in a way that communicates to humanity at large that something terrible is happening here. Now. To me.

But that doesn’t remove the off-putting nature of those words to some people. This raises the question: who am I writing to and does the purpose those words serve outweigh the possible ramifications of having put them into play? The fact is that I haven’t entirely figured out who my audience is. My first book resonated well with everyone from 10 year old American kids to Norwegian mothers. However I do know that my beta readers are people that I am writing for in the end. They’re my biggest fans. And if the words I’ve chosen cause them to take a step back, I need to listen.

I also know that those ‘dirty little words’ are limiting me to an audience that is far smaller than my books could be reaching.

I have received a number of emails, and even one review, saying that they loved my writing style and where the story was going but couldn’t finish because of the language. I had a friend write to say that he loved my book and wanted to let his son read it, but that the language was too much for him. If only I could remove some of that, then he would let his son read it.

I’ve fought against it up to this point. I have removed language at times because it put off beta readers enough to make them put the book down for periods of time (only one or two of them), but I’ve refused to remove all of it because I see it as such a slippery slope. Where do I lay down the law? Where do I make my stand and say “this language is acceptable, that is not?” I’m not sure, but I’m going to do my best.

At this point, with the release of Tomb of the Relequim, my plan is to remove some of the grosser language from both books. Primarily the “F-word.” I’m doing this mainly to open my books up to more readers who would otherwise miss an opportunity to enjoy a world that I’ve created for them. A world I want them to explore, characters I want them to love, and struggles I want them to overcome.

I can’t please everyone, and my goal isn’t to do so. But if this is something my hardcore fans want, and they do (my editor included), then I’d better listen. If you have an opinion on the subject, I’m still up for the discussion. You can speak up in the comments below. I might even sway at some point again on my stance, as I’m doing right now. Just don’t get your hopes up