Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [profanity]

questions about the correct use of crude, offensive, and/or blasphemous terms in one's writing.

questions about the correct and/or appropriate use of crude, offensive, and/or blasphemous terms in one's writing. Profanity can involve words about sex, violence, religion, race, body fluids, waste matter, intelligence, heritage, parentage, or any real or fictional taboo. Questions can be about existing or conlang words.

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Using fake swear words without them seeming out of place to the reader

This is not a question about slang, but about swearing and word creation. I have a character who uses swear words, and this is part of his voice. I do not use real swear words. I want the sense of those words in the story. But not the words. Other…
SFWriter
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How much swearing is TOO much? (And how much is not enough?)

I've noticed that some of the most successful writers refrain from using profanity, such as Stephanie Meyer and Norman Mailer. Are readers turned off by swearing in books? More importantly, is it wrong to use profanity? Is it bad writing? Should I…
Ethan
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How to write cleanly even if my character uses expletive language?

I'm writing a story that I'd like younger readers to pick up. I and they know and understand that some situations are far better expressed with one f-word than a thousand milder ones. I'm keeping my narrative clean, but when I write the dialogue, I…
iamtowrite
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Using profanity

I'm working on a war novel (sci-fi). My initial plan was for my MC to start out with a very clean language, almost comically clean, and as the plot progresses and the situation gets more FUBAR, his language would get more colourful. Other characters…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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Swearing in a book, within a context. Too offensive?

I am currently writing a science fiction novel. The characters are almost uniformly pirates and/or miners in the asteroid belt. Having worked in the mining industry, and grown up around mining towns in Western Australia, I am quite well versed in…
Smoj
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Swearing - Censor, allude, or include?

I was reading this thread, but it didn't quite the answer a question I had about creative writing and whether profanity should be used or not, in a way that is best for creative storytelling. Here's what I mean: James swore under his breath, his…
Singular1ty
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Crossing the line from Middle-Grade to Young-Adult

I would like to followup on this excellent question which outlined differences among works for children, middle-grade, and young-adult. What are some clear differences in theme/story between children's, middle grade, and young adult fantasy? I am…
Cyn
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Would publishers accept a title which includes the F-word?

I have a title for a novel, however, it would lose its zeitgeist if I couldn't include the F-word. I can't go in to details without giving away the title. Would this limit the potential audience significantly? or would publishers simply refuse to…
Pixelomo
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Can I use "fuck" as a non-vulgar verb in a fantasy/steampunk world?

I've been sending my fourth-ish novel through the my writing group. It is about a trio of teenagers running away from some mercenaries. One of them (Maris) is a girl who has only had a year of formal education but grew up on a crowded lumber mill.…
dmoonfire
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Could I use strong language?

I know that some books contain strong languages that aren't appropriate in stories but in the end, I think my book needs them for extra violent highlights that would do well for the villains. I aim for an audience level of middle grade and up, so I…
Artemis Silver
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Explicit language in YA fiction

I'm writing a YA novel where most of the characters are in their teens or early 20's. One of my characters has some "colorful" language in certain situations, (e.g. she twists her ankle, hears some shocking news, etc.) So far, because she only uses…
Bridgebot101
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I'm writing a book

I recently quit my job and now I'm bored at home with nothing to do. So, I decided to write a book. There is an phone app I can upload it on... I want the main character to be a woman in her 20s. What I'm going for is that she is the sole child of a…
A.E
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In-universe swear, curses, similies and sayings, how to make them less cringeworthy

Hold Your Hippogriffs: A (more often than not) cringeworthy version of a saying (though can be invented on the spot), that is prone to cause Fatal Death in most readers. But it sounds fun, who wouldn't want to say "You have as much chance as Flower…
Mephistopheles
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If I use symbols like '@#$^^' would this be able to replace the need for me to write out the curse word in the story?

In my earlier question Could I use strong language?, I was wondering if I could use strong language in my mid-grade book. This time I wanted to ask if someone could tell me is it okay for me to use symbols to replace the curse words so that the…
Artemis Silver
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