%^#&!!

[xenith]

My main character, to quote another character in the book, can't open his mouth without a string of obscenities coming out. His friends aren't much better. They're crude, bitter, uneducated and, yes, they do have a limited vocabulary.

Obviously this in one area where written speech differs from the spoken word. Putting f*ck in front of every word doesn't work, even if that's how someone actually speaks, because swear words have more impact in print. Limiting it too once per sentence looks silly. It's too artificial. Not using any at all, in the case of these characters, just reads wrong.

I googled a bit to find out other people's thoughts. Not very useful. When it comes to swear words, it seems there are three approaches.

The first uses the idea that if swear words are used very lightly they have better shock value. I understand this. If a character who doesn't usually swear, or who uses mild curse words, suddenly comes out fuck or their culture's equivalent, then it has an impact. They're angry! They're upset! Whatever. Running alongside this idea is the common thought that overuse of curse words reduces their impact, dilutes them. Of course it does, and if you want the shock! effect, it's something to bear in mind. I'm not sure it's so appropriate to this situation.

The second type of discussion goes along the lines of "I don't use swear words in my writing and you don't have to either. Here's how!". Um, yes, there are many characters types who don't feel a need to swear. We know this. Now fuck off.

The third is don't actually use it. "Jill ran together a string of words that made all those around her blush." We can see how this would be a little difficult for a main character, yes?

I guess I shall have to pick up some books with crude, bitter, uneducated characters of limited vocabulary and see how they're handled. Suggestions?

Comments

[cassiphone.livejournal.com]

I have this problem! I have some characters who just WOULD swear all the time. But swearing in books does come across differently in real life, it's hard. There's the madey-uppy swear word angle in fantasy, but it's hard to make it sound believable and not stupid.

and there's just only so many 'fucks' you can put in before editors start going whooooa. Which is a shame because sometimes it's exactly the right word.

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

We're such polite young ladies :)

My workaround for now is to use a variety of words, although this is starting to stretch believeability in places.

[ex-benpayne119.livejournal.com]

>My main character, to quote another character in the book

Oh dear... that's the third sign of madness you know!

Once you start quoting your own characters it's only a couple of months before they wheel you away in the back of a van while you explain to people that your made-up religion isn't in fact, fiction at all!!

:-)

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

Ha! I've been doing it for years :)

[tmclarke.livejournal.com]

I say just put them in. One of two things will happen. It will work, and the words will become little more than punctuation, just the way they are with people who talk that way (like me). Or it comes off as way over the top and you can cut them down until they seem appropriate.

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

I was going to say "That's what I did and it doesn't work". But, no, I was trying to do it artificially (e.g. not repeating the same word within one sentence). I'll just write and see.

[flinthart.livejournal.com]

Recommendation: two episodes or so of Battlestart Galactica, to watch how "frak" vanishes into the background once you've heard it often enough. And then two or more episodes of Deadwood to see how 'cocksucker' can still be blunt and startling even when used every two minutes, or less.

Seriously.

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

I can't say I noticed "frak" disappearing at all. It annoyed me through the two seasons I watched, but that's probably just me. :)

Haven't heard of Deadwood?

Obviously there are different ways to handle things, depending on the effect you want. I am thinking verbs & nouns work better than adjectives, because then it becomes part of the sentence, rather than something stuck in. This is as far as I've got though :\

[flinthart.livejournal.com]

Haven't heard of Deadwood? Oooh!

Okay -- Deadwood is weird. It's kind of a historical, a costume drama set around the founding of the gold-rush town of Deadwood, USA. The writing is impossibly brilliant, particularly the dialogue, and the character acting is breathtakingly good.

I'm not saying another word about it, except that yes: it's a frontier mining community, and the characters swear a little bit. But you absolutely must see Deadwood. It's one of the best pieces of television writing in decades.