Question: jprofanity in dialog

[Dennis]

Reviews are coming in for our newest scifi thriller. Some are five star and no mention of the profanity. Some reviewers are put off by it, and focus on it and give it two stars. I would love to hear the opinions/experiences from readers, and from other writers, of using profanity with such characters as: navy seals, Russian thugs, and a foul mouthed lawyer.

[L.C.]

If you feel the character would say the curse words, then go for it. By limiting the profanity that could hinder your character and make them feel unnatural.

There's more profanity in my novels than I would like, but I can't take them out because that is exactly what those specific characters would say. Do what feels natural for them.

[Tito]

Dennis wrote: "Reviews are coming in for our newest scifi thriller. Some are five star and no mention of the profanity. Some reviewers are put off by it, and focus on it and give it two stars. I would love to hea..."

There is a prior question that has to be asked here, by all concerned. Do you want realism, or are you looking for Never-never land so you can join Peter Pan and Wendy?
Answer that and the profanity question is easily answered.

[T.J.]

I think it is just based on your preferences. Or maybe your religious beliefs. If you use word like hell, damn, or even shit. You wouldn't offend me. But if you use GD and the F word all throughout your book. I wouldn't finish reading it , or give it very good review. Just one guys opinion...TJ

[Steve]

A lot has to do with the cultural context. I come from the UK, where profanity in everyday speech is completely taken for granted, even (to some extent) by people with strong religious beliefs. In that context, not to let your character swear when provoked would make him/her 'unreal' to readers. But different countries and communities have different norms—which is why it's sometimes hard to market a book internationally!

[Emma]

As a fellow Brit, I'm 100% with you on that. It also depends on the context of the book.
Having a gritty drama with a captured criminal saying, Excuse me, officer, sorry to interrupt, would you mind loosening the handcuffs, they are chaffing a little' would be ridiculous.

[Steve]

Yes! Or having someone who's just been punched on the nose say "Oh dear, that hurts!"

[Hock]

I have stopped reading (a very few) books because of the language used, but in every case, I think that that it was also because the story was not clear or that it was clear there was not a story.

Happily, there has been no book in any of the review groups I have joined (over nearly ten years) that served up such a book.

[Darrell]

"It can be argued the writer has been creative in finding the most vile and unusual phrases for his character to express herself. "
That was a comment about my use of profanity. I take it as compliment. In reality I did a word search for common swear words and researched things to replace them with.
Oddly enough nobody mentioned my "dumb blonde" showed her true character by using Shakepherian swear words when under stress.

[Kat]

I think it's tricky because you want that feeling of realism, but anything used too much can become grating, plus there's a fair chunk of readers who dislike too much foul language, especially a few of the strongest words. What I usually do is write it as I hear it in my head, and then go back when the first draft is done and do a word search, then cull.

[Tito]

I'm in the construction industry. I get SOOO offended when tradies exclaim 'Golly!' if something goes wrong.

[Bob]

Steve wrote: "Yes! Or having someone who's just been punched on the nose say "Oh dear, that hurts!""

But that would be funny.

Seriously, If it's in character, it's okay, overuse isn't offensive, it just boring

[Loralee, Admin]

I had a friend, a religious friend, reading a book one time where the evil villain said to the heroine he had captured, “You gosh darn wench.” Despite my friend being religious, she had to put the book down, because such language was not realistic from such a character. On the opposite end, I also know that even if it’s realistic in real life, constant swearing is grating to a lot of readers and tends to look dirtier on paper than it sounds to the ears, though most readers tolerate a well placed curse word if it fits the character and situation. I don’t swear much in my books, but I have characters that swear plenty. There’s one scene in one of my books where one character slashes a knife across the face of another, cutting into part of his lip, much of his cheek, and into one of his eyes, and destroying it. You can bet that if such a situation happened in real life, the injured person would not be saying, “Golly,” or “Oh dear, that hurt.” He did swear, pretty loudly. What I wrote was, “A curse, taut with fury and pain, burbled from the man’s lips.” So the character stayed in character, swore all he wanted, but I didn’t have to write it down. Most of my books are middle grade and have no swearing at all, but in my books for older readers, like the one I mentioned, when there is a character who curses, I just mention that he/she curses, but don’t write the word/s down. That keeps the character realistic, preserves my personal standards, and avoids offending the sensibilities of my readers who are mostly conservative.

[Tito]

Galloping Goannas! Is this topic still going?

Here in Australia we have lots of alternatives to vulgarity. Exclamations such as "Bickering Bandicoots!" or "Snoring Snakes!" or even the old favourite "Pompous Possums!"

Not that I can recall anyone actually saying anything like that, but we're talking fiction anyway. Who needs credibility?

[David]

My first book, Moorehead Manor, has a back flash to the early nineteen hundreds. The character in the scene is cruel and racist. True to the time (and the character), he uses the N word. I felt a little uncomfortable with it, but it was a true depiction of what his dialogue would be.