Swearing in Your Writing (Warning, Strong Language)

In my opinion you have to ask yourself "would this character really curse and swear?" and "why are they swearing right now?" before doing it. Swearing for the sake of swearing is dumb and people can usually tell when you're doing that, but if it makes sense and fits in with the personality you've developed for a character then it can be fine. I swear pretty casually to myself in real life (I grew up around it) but I try to watch it in writings or posts or in public unless there's a point to it or the swearing properly adds flavor to representing my feelings in some way that doesn't overshadow them, because I know it all can make posts and writings and people seem less than they could be.

Unless it's very relevant to a character or story I would limit serious cursing in general because if it's happening too often it's losing its fire anyway.

Generally how I feel about it.

 

I don't mind it too much as long as it makes sense and is a moderate amount of cursing. If the character every sentence is dropping f-bombs or such that is probably too much, even if it is what the character would do. Also, I think that the f-word is much more impactful so I say treat it like a PG-13 movie, you get one big use of it or maybe two, it is really powerful that way.

 

Well, I usually don't use the strongest words, as I feel no need to really use them. I don't really watch anything with that strong of a language. But I will use others if it fits the world and/or the character I plan to use it on. Sometimes I do forget, but I really try to keep a character in character.

 

I just use certain Pokémon names if I have swearing in my fanfic. Mainly 'Arceus' or 'Kartana'. I have seen others use 'Grimer'...and the anime-canon 'swear' is 'Rattata'...not sure about any others, though.

Here's an example for someone who is a bad buy or not liked: they are an 'Arceus Shaymin piece of Kartana!' Basically, SoB, or gosh darn piece of crap. (I don't want to fully cuss in regular English, even though that there is a warning of strong language on this threat).

A podcast that I listen to uses 'Bulbasaur' to cover/censor any cuss words that occur in the show.

 

To tell you the truth, I am autistic nnd I have certain, 'dislikes' one of them is swearing in Pokémon fics, other stories, sure hey I am adding Stewie Griffen to my DT/KH crossover so I can't say that I don't HATE swearing, but just not in Pokémon please. But anyways as always, SHIPPERS UNITE, SHIPPERS STAND TALL!!!

 

I just want to say...I LOVE your new catch phrase Chaos Master. Yes, ALL shipper must unite. Too long have we (figurative/royal 'we'. not literal/actual) torn each other apart and belittle each other for shipping different ships. So, yes...#ShippersUnite!

 

Glad you like it, and yes definitely #ShippersUnite

 

Another idea is making up your own swear words. I know that using Pokémon names is a good idea but one of my favorite used swear words a lot but it was never boring because they were really creatively profound. Don't copy the profanity copy the creativity.

 

i tend to swear a bit in my fan fics or writing if it's what i think the character would do. if i were writing it for school, i pretty much never add swear words (unless the teacher is lenient and says i can add small ones). i try not to add swear words very often unless i feel the timing is right or that the character i'm writing about would do it.

 

I never swear when I write. I try not to make characters that swear, but when I do, it is indirect and the word is not written. For example, 'Steven began to swear at his luck'. If a piece of writing has continuous swearing, I will not read it. I like to picture kids reading my work (even if it is PG +13), so I wouldn't expose them to such language.

I just find swearing to be something my eyes don't need to see.

 

I used to have a godly fear of swear words, and now I really don't care, but I do make important distinctions. I greatly dislike it when used as an aggression, directly from person to person, but as an adjective, quite casually and frequently. So to say this was a shitty day, just fine, but to call someone shitty to their face, never ok. I also agree with others though that I also hate an extreme and purposeful overuse of it. Basically I think the line of "too much" comes at the point where either a) that character would never have done that and/or b ) it starts to sound like someone has no other vocabulary to use.

That's what typically drives me up the wall, it's not that those guys being loud in the library are hurting me with those words, but it sounds like they are cavemen who don't really seem to have any other words to use. Of course most people just assume I'm being a delicate and hysterical woman about it, but I just find it really irritating hearing them use the same word over and over, like a tick. I feel the same about people who click their fingers over and over.

*Also there are still one or two swears that I even now feel like are too inappropriate for any use except inside my head when I've stubbed my toe haha consider your audience most of all, if you write about anything remotely relating to children I personally advise for your own sake to leave any and all omitted, because kids can be at hugely differing levels of experience and meaning with those words. Anything obviously 18+ like a game of thrones discussion is open game imo

 

The characters I write talk based on their age, mental health, mindset, feelings and personality.

 

Law of diminishing returns on swearing for me. Regardless of the persona of the character, overdoing it isn't as impactful. I have characters that get mad, but swearing is reserved for the moments that show extreme emotions (anger, frustration, pain) so when it does happen, it means something is clearly wrong or someone is in trouble.

 

I would say to have cursing, as long as it isn't overused (unless that is the point), or if it unnecessary. If there is cursing just to have cursing, I find it quite distasteful. There is only one scenario I can think of that would work nicely with these would be if the character that is cursing over does it, and that is a part of their character, because of their past. I can only see that as a nice way of easing it in, or if it used in realistic terms of speech. But just remember, that this is just my opinion.

 

I usually don't use swears in my writing unless somebody saying anything milder wouldn't have have the same effect than if they were swearing. I think this is called a 'Precision F Strike'. Also, if a character is the kind of person to use profanity I would. Other than that, I tend not to.

 

I agree with this, because my character has A.D.H.D, Asperger's Syndrome, and PTSD, and she does swear sometimes. She does get worse as she gets older and when she has really bad days, but she does control herself when she's with her friends and family. Her life has been really screwed up, and yet she keeps a smile in the worst times, thanks to her form of autism. Even with PTSD, she still stands tall with courage. My character does have a happy personality too.

 

Depends on the character. Most of them don't curse very often (mostly because I don't do it very often myself). There are a few that are more... cavalier with their language, but a lot of it is either cut short or not written out.

 

For me, it depends on the story. For something lighthearted (like my JourneyFic or my personal works) I tend to not explicitly swear. Instead, I either use words to replace them (Arceus for God, Distortion for Hell, Shinx for sh*t) or just say, "she muttered a swear towards him under her breath." But I try not to do that for DSTM as it's the literal definition of kid friendly, so I just substitute words like stupid for f*cking and dang it for sh*t.

However, if the story is somewhat "needing" of swears, I do it. For my marching band AU fic, it's set in a high school, and being a high schooler myself, I've heard every swear in the book (I don't add on to the sailormouth fest, however). So it's only natural that some characters would swear in that setting. I also take characters into consideration. I have one character who swears a lot because he's very confused about his life and fears that his old parents will return to hurt him, so I think that it would be natural for him to swear because of his circumstances. If a character was raised as a gentleman, he's not gonna swear unless he's overwhelmed with emotions.

So it's really a combination of your fic's tone, setting, characters, and circumstances for me.

 

Personally, I don't like cussing and I try not to do it, my characters aren't me though. So yes, if I feel the situation calls for it, I will have them swear. I will never have them drop the f-bomb though.

On the subject of making up cuss words, I replace God with Arecus, Mee or another one of the region's legendaries. I feels it fits better. If I'm writing non Pokémon works, it'll be another detity or just swap it with another word entirely.