Young Writers Society

Is it alright, do you think, to have a character use a racial slur when speaking? Is alright to use a racial slur in your writing at all? I have a character - not so nice - who calls another charcater of another race a not so nice name. Could this be published? Please help!

-Kylan

Sure, why not?

Fiction represents life. Life contains racial slurs. You do the maths.

Twain did it.

As long as it makes sense. If your character uses them in a modern day public school as just basic speech, maybe not. But if it's more than forty years ago, it would be more and more relevant to the setting to put them in.

You're not calling someone that name. It's part of literature. A sad part but a part all the same.

It's not illegal to use it in writing.

If it's neccesary, use it. It's not unappropriate to use anything in writing. And censoring your writing doesn't make more publishable, that doesn't seem to make sense.


MM

Writing needs to be true to life sometimes. Every book has something in it that reflects our society. If a character is going to use racial slur than he's going to use racial slur. A publisher won't do anything about that.

Alainna
xxxx

Jack said it; fiction exposes life as it is, the good and the bad. That's part of the bad, just as someone being greedy, manipulative, or cruel is. A good writer never shies away from the greedy, manipulative, cruel characters; so why shy away from racial slurs?

Um... *cough* what's the definition of a racial slur? Like calling someone a lying arab; that kind of thing?

If you really feel bad about it, you could always have another character reprimand him or something. But I agree with what everyone seems to be saying: if you think it's something that character would say in that situation, use it. Just don't do it unnecessarily.

I agree with everyone else. It doesn't really matter, as long as it contributes to the character/setting/etc. Using slurs randomly, that don't contribute to your story, will look out of place, as well as sound bad. If you're not happy about using the actual word, then maybe you could just say he said a 'bad word' (using, of course, a more imaginative phrase than that), without using the actual word.

Thanks guys! You're all right...Just making sure...

-Kylan