By Becca Besser (Guest Post)
Recently, in a group I’m in on Facebook, someone brought up the topic of personal religious beliefs and swearing in writing based on a person’s moral standards. Being a Christian myself, I chimed in on the discussion, explaining the only way an author would be swearing, and that it’s separate from that of a character.
Let me explain…
One must understand that the only time the author would be swearing in fiction would be in the narration. The only way there should ever be swearing in narration is if it is from the point of view of a character who is prone to that kind of behavior.
Swearing in dialogue is the character swearing, not the author. The reason characters swear is to make them seem like real people. Real people swear. For example, if a character is a drug dealer, the character would have to swear or they would be unbelievable to the reader. Or, there might be brief measure of swearing by a character when they’re startled or afraid. Even if you were writing a pious character, something along the lines of a swear word might slip out of their mouth when something happens that warrants it. This makes them human, because even human beings with the best intentions make mistakes.
To force your personal beliefs onto every character you write is impossible and wrong. Each character should take on its own personality and they should have a different background (usually) than the author. If not, the author’s characters would be bland and boring. Life is diverse. Writing life calls for diversity in characters, beliefs, and actions. You can’t live is a tiny little box of your own right and wrong and write something that’s going to touch people. If that’s your goal, you need to switch to nonfiction – you’ll be better off there.
There’s also another aspect to the swear word issue that gets complicated in the “swearing” area: culture. What is a swear word in one culture isn’t necessarily a swear word in another. All words are words, and your cultural-base decides which words are “bad” words. So…no words are really bad. What makes a word bad (or a swear word) is the implied and perceived meaning of that word to the people of different cultures. If you think about it that way, no words are bad or swear words. That puts an entirely new spin on the issue, doesn’t it?
Personally, I do include moderate swearing in my writing – in character dialogue. Swearing happens whether people want it to or not, so use it where it’s appropriate and moderate the rest. Let’s all be human – authors and characters – unless, of course, you’re writing aliens.
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TIME-SENSITIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you’d like to try Becca’s novel, Nurse Blood, the Kindle edition is on sale for Halloween (Oct. 28th-31st).
https://www.amazon.com/Nurse-Blood-Organ-Harvester-Book-ebook/dp/B01K8VOLCS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Rebecca Besser’s short story collection, Twisted Pathways of Murder & Death, will be free for Kindle on Oct. 31st & Nov. 1st for #AllHallowsRead!
Rebecca Besser’s short zombie western, Cursed Bounty, will also be free for Kindle on Oct. 31st & Nov. 1st for #AllHallowsRead!
https://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Bounty-Rebecca-Besser-ebook/dp/B00H89BGDG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
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Related Post – Check it Out!
If you liked this guest post by Becca Besser, check out this
other one she wrote called Sensitive Author Syndrome.
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BECCA BESSER has been published over 200 times in magazines, ezines, anthologies, literary journals (poetry & photography), nonfiction collections, and on blogs. Undead Drive-Thru, her first zombie novella, has been compared to the works of Stephen King and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. An anthology which Becca edited and has a short story in, Earth’s End, won the Turning Pages Book of the Year 2012 Reader’s Choice Award in the Scifi category. Becca has also edited nearly a dozen books as a professional editor, and she’s currently shopping her first full-length thriller/horror novel called Nurse Blood. Learn more at www.rebeccabesser.com and check out Becca’s blog at https://rebeccabesser.wordpress.com.
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MARK MALATESTA is a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark now helps authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals through his company 
MARK MALATESTA is a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark now helps authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals through his company 
Yep I agree if a character is (swear) inclined..then so be it…and characters should speak for themselves. Or the reader won’t believe in the story. The whole point in writing is to make the reader believe, see, touch and smell. They want to get involved with in the book and its protagonists So… they have to be real and believable.
Hi Catherine,
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While writing my first novel, I had great difficulty adding swear words to my character’s speaking parts. I don’t normally swear myself and using the ‘F’ word was almost impossible for me. However, as I spoke with a Christian friend of mine, he suggested that if the conversation or scene called for swearing, then go ahead and do so. If the interactions between my two main characters were actually happening, on the street, I speculate that swearing would occur.
Hi Chris, great response…
Have a great week!
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
http://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
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The only cuss words God forbid any one to say is his name in vain. I use profanity with some characters when encountered with a stressful situation, some are just foul mouthed because of there personality. I tried to make my characters as real as possible, to create the best story I can. And I also write for adults, not children.
Hi Richard, thank you for chiming in on this… and saying hello.
And I’m sorry for the long delay getting back to you. I’ve been very busy lately and, as a matter of fact, just hired someone new to help me stay on top of things.
Have a great week!
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
http://markmalatesta.com
The Bestselling Author
https://thebestsellingauthor.com
Literary Agent Undercover
https://literary-agents.com
Swearing for the sake of swearing is not going to improve the book, however, if a character is say, possessed then it would be unbelievable to have that character be polite or only use “nice” language. IMHO
I agree with her opinions on swearing while writing. It is the truth, when one is being descriptive, of a situation or a character.
I once criticised a Christian friend for having much cursing in her plays. This was long before I started writing. I now find myself in a dilemma, where my bad characters would naturally curse, and I’ve been challenged by that. But I agree, used moderately, you and the character can still main integrity and taste.
The thing is… You can’t control everyone or anything with your own beliefs. Sometimes you need to let the characters be themselves. Readers can usually tell when a writer holds back with their writing. It leads to the characters seeming…off or unnatural. That can take the reader out of the story and ruin the experience for them.
Well said! I write historical fiction and in my studies cussing depended on the era. It is necessary in a lot of cases and should be used.
Now I don’t know what high moral standards are, nor do I know what a “Christian” really is. As I understand the inquisition had those qualities in spades. Make the words fit the story is all I have to say, but again, well said.
Thank you. I commented on another person’s comment about swear words being different through history. It can be fun to look up what were swears centuries ago versus what are considered swears now.
I hope you’ll take the time to download Curse Bounty free today. It’s a zombie story set in the old west. A review from someone who knows history would be welcome.
I almost abandoned this piece when she said she was a Christian, thinking that here was another self-righteous person with a view of Christianity that misses Christ’s point (the important thing is how you treat your fellow man). I’m glad I kept reading, because she convincingly showed that we have to portray people as they are, not give an antiseptic image no one can relate to. My novel deals with hoodlums and prison convicts, and having them talk like choir boys would be disingenuous and dull.
I’m glad you didn’t stop reading!
There are a lot of characters, such as my thugs in Nurse Blood or your hoolums, in your story, that if they didn’t swear, would seem very fake.
Just because we write a character in a story, doesn’t make the writer that character. We aren’t the ones swearing, they are!
It’s all about making character real and believable. Stories fail miserably without realism.
Read the article– have been wondering. Read some comments. Lot of accomplished comments by some pretty damn smart folks. I’ll just follow my guts as the question arises.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope if helps you when your questions arise.
I hope you’ll consider downloading the free Kindle books I’m offering as well.
I was very rudely and aggressively cut off just now . . . not by a swear word but by the word quota machine!
questions: which came first . . . lol . . . the “type” or the “stereotype”?
what part does a writer play in general discourse?
what is the difference between “reinforcing” a stereotype and “distilling” a stereotype?
if we eradicate swears from discourse, does a new swear fill that “space”?
If yes, why?
are all moral frameworks equivalent?
I don’t know the answers . . . but i think
Yes, always question everything…it’s how we learn new things.
I try to write my characters as I would expect them to be if I would walk up to them on the street. In my novel, Nurse Blood, I have medical professionals and thugs working together to kidnap people and harvest organs. The medical professionals have a more refined manner and dialogue pattern, but they still swear when they’re angry or upset.
Write characters as if they were real people you would run across in life. 😉
I am religious and I swear a lot. I think the good Lord looks down on us and uses the “f” word to express his frustration at our stupidity. That being said I also use it often in my dialogue between characters as my stories are about gangsters and soldiers. One nasty comment I got on a review in my amazon sale page was that I use it too much so I now have put a “content advisory” disclaimer in the forward pages to warn readers and that they can return it for a refund if my writing is offensive.
In my opinion, people get offended too easily. I think they expect everyone to think the same way about swearing that they do, and life just doesn’t work that way.
Gangster and soldiers do swear.
I recently did an interview where I had to read a portion of something I’d written, but keep it PG-13. I picked up Nurse Blood and was like…nope, this won’t work. I don’t think anyone who lives rough or illegal refrains from sharing and that shows in my writing. Keep it real!
to cater to the preferences/foibles of a target audience with the aim of not alienating or offending . . . is to reduce the writer/reader experience to formulaic lullaby . . . to gimmickry.
expression/communication is complex, multi-faceted and the curse word [with its cultural relativism playing out across many sub-cultural spheres, dialectically] is part and parcel of that range.
what if we castrate expression?and what if your exception to the rule [the drug dealer who does not swear] is
As a retired journalist who has heard a lot of raw language in my 50-plus year career, I appreciated Becca’s comments. She seems to have an excellent grasp on human tendencies to use such colorful language. If writers are to be realistic, then they need to reflect the society in which they live (and maybe the societies that live in their creative minds and pages).
Thank you. 🙂 Like I commented on another person’s comment, I try to write my characters as if they were people I would come across in real life.
In Nurse Blood, I try really hard to show that my characters are human. Flawed and messy = 100% human. We all have our shortcomings and strengths. Some people are rougher than others and use coarser language. Word usage also sometimes breaks down into honesty and not following the rules of social norms.
Absolutely agree, unless you are writing for specific audience who are offended.Never intend to write for such an audience myself.
I guess if one were to write for such an audience it would be a choice. Pandering to make people comfortable has never be something I’ve aspired to.
But, I also understand that if I was writing for a Christian market my characters and dialogue wouldn’t be as harsh…unless I was writing someone who wasn’t Christian.
Children’s writing is a different ballgame too. Of course, you use bad words for children, like “stupid,” “butthead,” or “dork.” LOL
I limit swearing, so that when it occurs, it is effective because it is unexpected, surprising and tends to (in my case) add some levity. Over use of four letter words is a sign of a weak author – the same when used within actual conversation. I had used it sparingly in a military scene during WW II, until I was informed by old veterans, that foul language wasn’t that prevalent among soldiers then. Hollywood loves to use it, thinking this is the way everybody talks. They are so full of shit.
It’s good that you did research. You’ll find that over time swear words change according to culture. For instance, look up Shakespearian swears, or words that were consider swearing in the old west. They’re very different, but some of the words we use today came from them.
If you take a chance on my novel, Nurse Blood, you’d see that my characters don’t swear all the time, but when it’s necessary. There needs to be balance, but also realism. My aim is realism.
“In character” is imperative in fiction. However, the overuse of swear words is, in my opinion, lazy writing. A clever author can ascribe a truckload of character tics and off-color body language without going to the multi-task swear-word list. Compare a lady dressed for the evening in classic black with a string of pearls to the other in combat boots, a mini-skirt, sequined blouse, and a gold hoop through her nose. Surprise your readers. Which one, if any, swears? Which one is the killer?
How is it lazy when you’re painting your character as a real person for your reader? Real people swear. If you get too controlling or contrived with how you make your characters speak, they become snotty, off-putting, and less genuine.
Leaving something out that makes your character read more human only makes them stiff and wooden.
I guess if you’re readers like to live in a fantasy where everything is super controlled for their comfort… Leave out all swearing.
What we recognize in the United States as swearing, can be very crude and offending. If this is necessary to the story being told to the reader, I am sure they are very selective readers. There are adjectives and verbs that are considered within the swear word definition yet very acceptable in almost all society to simply emphasize a point. Hell, damn and God are the most common. As an author, you should be aware what your reading market will accept and stay within that parameter.
How is using “God” swearing? Consider these from my recent writings: … timing might have placed him in the path of a drunk driver or an overloaded truck: fish, garbage, or, God forbid… -OR- …I thumbed a ride in the middle of God’s country, sitting between two guys… OR _– especially since he was absent any type of exercise for God only knows how long… OR And what on God’s green earth was a Republican, anyway? (said by a 5 year old) OR – Why now, God? A spastic muscle recovery?
You can do that, and it’s good not to go overboard with repeating any word in your writing.
But I’ve never had anyone compliment me on making my characters boring or restrained, only for making them feel real.
I even have people become shocked while reading Nurse Blood because I wrote it in such a way they start rooting for the bad guys… You can make the most unlovable character loved if you know how to make them seem real. And real is sometimes uncomfortable, but always leaves an impact.
Your spot on and refers to the charactors you are portraying and what is swearing in one culture is non-starter in another, being Australian and dealing with British, American and Australian swear words differ completely, but unlike Hollywood movies which seem to delight in using the F word for shock purposes and has no relation to the character or story, yes I am in favour of using swear word in a script if is in charactor with the story and doesn’t become a way of taking away the plot.
It’s all about the speech patterns of your character(s), which can be as complicated as writing different accents for different characters (download the free Curse Bounty ebook for this example).
You my have a character that prefers one “swear” word over another. You could have an international plot that has swearing from different countries.
As I keep saying, it’s all about realism. Make your characters as real as you possibly can – it makes them real to the readers.
I must admit that sometimes a character must swear to get things across. I feel that using symbols (sh*t) can get the point across just as well rather than the actual spelling of the word.I would like others to comment on that so I would feel that I am doing and what I think is right for me. Thanks, Bob
I don’t think any publisher is going to allow you to put symbols into words like that, so if you want to be taken seriously, just write the words.
If an agent or editor doesn’t think the swearing should be there or if it’s too much, they’ll tell you.
Unless your writing for children, don’t insult your readers by treating them like children.
Also, but doing that you’re just adding more emphasis on the word my making it different.
I’m sick of censorship and the deconstruction of the First Amendment. There is a reason the founding Fathers not only included it, but put it first. There was danger in the Crown and aristocracy getting butt hurt over what was being said about them and permanently censoring the speaker. America has once again drifted into the trap of I can say whatever I want, but if you say it, then you are bad, evil, racist, (fill in whatever word you would like to use.) I hope Americans will grow up.
AMEN! I hope everyone will grow up and stop getting offended over EVERYTHING!
My story in Anything But Zombies (Atria Books) was entitled PC. The first line of the story was somewhere along the lines of: “Whatever happened to my right to have my own opinion and piss people off?” It’s a story about prejudice after the zombie apocalypse when they could restore zombies to humans.
And,I’m sure my book, Nurse Blood, will offend a few people… But I’ve never written for the faint of heart.