Swearing In Stories

I used to not have anything even lightly related to a swear word in anything I wrote, even though I felt sometimes that it needed it. And then I got to this one situation, not even a very important situation, when it just wouldn't move without a swear word.

Weird.

Keeping it mild works fine, I think, and swearing is useful for character development. Like when it's used as a contradiction.

I think that it should be limited to dialouge...and first person, I guess. With exceptions for things like the following:

She called them her *bleep* you shoes because they caused extreme pain when she kicked him.

See what I mean?

My opinion on swearing:

Mark Twain once said, "When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear."

Swearing has it place in society, and if we molly coddle people with our stories, we're just letting the censores win in the battle of destroying good literure for many reasons. But on is swearing. And just think of that.

Point is, don't assume to use a swear nowadays, if it so bothers you, find one that suits you're character. Like I get sent words of the day and I was sent:

jackanapes (JAK-uh-nayps) noun

An impertinent conceited person.

Just remember bad words never started out as bad words, use you're imagination and come up with new swears if you're picky about it.

I never write swear words in my writings, but it can really add voice and emotion to the characters as well as make them seem realistic. I hate books that use cursing in third person, but in dialog it's fine (as long as it's limited to d***, or maybe a**/jack*** if it takes place in the past). Also, you can give the same effect, but not actually write the word. EX: "The man walked off, cursing under his breath." I wouldn't advise you to write any swear words unless it's essential in order to properly portray the mood. As far as I know, not many people mind swear words though(as long as it isn't f***, or being used in an especially crude or vulgar manner). It's just a matter of opinion, though.

It all depends on my characters. If someone is an army general, I know there's gonna be a swear in every third sentence. If it's a devout maiden, then I leave it out.

I rarely swear in real life, and when I do it's when I am extremely frustrated at someone or something. I really try not to, because I have a younger sister and work around little kids. Besides, I was told that it's uncreative and vulgar.
In writing, I don't think it's as horrible, because if your MC has a foulmouth, or just swears a couple times, then that's fine.
On the other hand, stories where the MC or narration has a swear-word every other sentence, I just can't stand.
Personally, i've never written a story with a swear word becuase I am a little uncomfortable with writing it. I don't mind reading a story with a couple mild swear-words, because everyone slips up at one point or another, right?

I swear quite a lot irl =] but I'm a 17 year old from Liverpool where almost ever other word is the f-word (I'm not nearly as bad as that stereotype!) I wouldn't be against swearing in the narrative as long as it wasn't just meaningless and needless. In diaglogue there's no problem at all for me.

People do use swear words... so it'd be a bit unreal if no one ever said any bad words in stories. Even "he swore" or something would do ^_~ like she does in Harry Potter.

I dont see the problem in swearing but i think it can be over done- it has to be limited to the characters and the context its in! its so easy to just throw in a swear to shock people but its not really in line with the character thats saying it!
So overall swearings fine as longs as it makes sense to the story

Emphasis and character!
Of course swearing is good! It's actually excellent! It adds character and emphasis to your characters. What are you supposed to say? "The meanies were waiting down the street to beat me up?" Of course not! You label them as (insert your desired curse word here).

The fact is that words like 'darn', 'drat', 'butt', and 'turd' are about as strong as a five year old girl playing the strongman game at the fair.

Depending on style and context it can become a valuable asset. The problem is that, because of the negative connotations, swears often become pedantic when overused. I understand spiting someone for an overuse of swearing, but when it has point and meaning there is no grounds for saying no to it. I do believe that often it is needed, and although I swear alot in real life ((when someone tells me a good reason as to why they are offensive then I'll stop)) I don't do it much in my narration. I use it in certain situations in my poetry, but its pretty rare in my prose ((outside of dialogue)). Its a feel thing, I guess.

If you're using swear words, be mindful of the rhythm they create. Be mindful of repetition of any words, but especially swear words because they are very very obvious. Repetition weakens most words, unless you're paying close attention to the rhythm thing.

Read Peter Carey's "the true history of the kelly gang", not only is it incredible in its attention to sonics and rhythm, but it depicts a cursing rich environment using words like "adjectival" instead of, well, the actual curse word. Entertaining.

Swearing all depends on the character. If you've got a goody-two-shoes who swears in dialogue, how is she a goody-two-shoes? But if she's BEEN a goody-two-shoes all her life, and is now annoyed with it so she's starting to swear, that's different. If it's a verbal fight scene, yeah, swears should be use. And not just the F-bomb. Like, all of them. I can't post them, but not just the word sh*t.

It really depends on the situation. If it doesn't sound right, then I won't swear. If it does sound right, I will. It just depends on what the word choice calls for. ^_^

That makes sense.

Swearing in stories doesn't really bother me, as long as it's not used like every other word or something.

My normal conversation:

Hey [insert name here] Heard of that new video online? It *********** ******** ****** ROCKS!!!!!


That should tell my oppinion about the subject

I swear a lot in real life, so it's only natural some of it would fall into my particularly angsty/sadistic MCs.

I'm in the same boat as CoreMeltDown. From what I think, the normal person dosen't really care about swearing in private but tries not to do so in public. Since my MC, Blank, always wanted to be like the normal person, but is still concious about his reputation and appearence, he dosen't like to swear in front of people, which makes him swear less often when alone. I don't really think of these things conciously as I write, though, and it just seems awkward and out of character if I made Blank swear casually instead of bottling his anger and attempt something more graceful.

My second MC, though, is much more playful and unpredictable, so it feels okay for him to randomly swear at any time, whenever he wants to, not me. I've never really felt like my characters write my stories for me, but some things like swearing you just know the character would do or do not, and not you. If you're writing about a gang member in Los Angelus, and you hate swearing, making the star say stuff like 'dang, darn it, shoot' isn't going to cut it. If you're character is the average gangster, he's going to say sh*t, f*ck, and combination of today's modern curses. If he's a special gangster that actually detests swearing, thats fine, it's not like you have to stereotype the speech all mobsters, but then you have to question yourself if it's really your MC that dislikes searing, or if it's you that's comprmsing his character so you can feel more comfortable.