Profanity

[The Jedi Master]

How do you feel about profanity in literature, be it poetry, fiction, etc.? Do you try to avoid using it at all costs and dislike it when other authors use it? Do you enjoy profanity-ridden stories? Do you use it excessively? Do you use it rarely, only in context?

 

I'd classify myself in the last category: I use it very rarely and only to make a point. I recently shared some poetry with my parents, for the first time, and out of the 50 or so poems I sent them they immediately noticed my use of f***, twice, in one of those poems. None of the others contained any profanity to speak of, maybe a hell or damn but maybe not even that. They had a real problem with it, but don't seem to understand it was in context. I was pissed off, I was writing about a girl who f***ed me over and expressed it literally in that particular piece. Is that such a bad thing? Gratuitious use of profanity is rather uncreative and lazy, I feel, but sporadic use is certainly acceptable. Afterall, they're only words.

[DarthBrendo]

In context, sparingly used can be very effective. Lee's current fsnfic is a good example of using it that way, and it works very well.

[Tress]

I personally think that profanity can serve a great purpose, especially if it is emotionally charged. However, unbridled and excessive use just shows a lack of maturity in the material.

[Travis]

When I write, about the most drastic of words I will use is "damn" and that is fairly rare. I see very little true value of profanity in all honesty.

[Tiana Calthye]

I use profanity when nothing else will do in its stead. It makes a point and stands out in a way that normal words don't. I don't enjoy profanity-ridden stories if they're just using the words to shock, rather than using the words to create an image in the reader's mind. When it comes down to it, I toss around damn and hell because to me they're not bad words, you see them in the Bible, for goodness sake. There was a time when I was horridly offended by piss and shit but now coming from certain character types, I'd be shocked to see anything but those words for bodily functions. There's a gross difference between a character saying "There's bird shit all over my car" and a character saying "There's bird poo all over my car." Can you hear it? It makes a picture. A different picture.

 

F*** is an interesting word. My brother and sister use it liberally so I've grown hard to it, when it used to make me cringe on sight. When used by someone who doesn't use it a lot, it has impact.

 

Which is why I use it very, very sparsely.

 

I treasure that impact. I treasure that shock.

 

Used frequently, it loses that impact, and you can't stop people in their tracks. If I say f*** people listen, because I don't say it very often at all. In my Nano, I used it five times over 70,000 words and every one was very gingerly picked for shock, impact, and value. It's the most times I've ever sworn in a piece of writing. Interestingly, it was the same character each time and I used the word because I felt nothing else was sharp enough or in character enough for her.

 

So I enjoy profanity if well used to create a picture or add impact or show a character's character. If just used to be profane it gets old very quickly.

 

Both Tress and Brendo echo my points. Sparingly is effective, and emotionally charged is likewise effective while excessive use of profanity just looks immature. Interestingly, I feel that going out of the way to avoid profanity for a situation where a harder word is wanted, looks immature as well.

 

"Goshdarnit! Ow! Frick!" he screamed as the giant robot took off his leg and then turned on to his girlfriend, decapitating her. "Darn you all to heck!"

 

I mean, admit it, it just looks silly then. That may have been an extreme example, but I know that when I initially started fanficcing I had segments like that at times.

 

I think a great example of profanity used sparingly for impact comes from Star Wars itself, which is mostly free of language.

 

"I'll see you in hell!"

 

A stronger "f*** you" might've been used in a modern movie, which I feel would've been unnecessary, but I think it added emotion and power to the scene, to the dialogue, and brought the character out a little more. In a movie mostly free of profanity, it caught your attention right away and told you something, very clearly. You remember the line, because it was shocking, and because it made its point.

[Jidai Geki]

I use it a lot in the story I'm currently writing, because it reflects the harshness of the world and the coarseness of a lot of the people. In some things I write, however, I rarely use it. That said, I come from a background of friends who frequently and liberally drop f- and c-bombs, so nothing is really shocking to my ears.