Goodreads Reviewers' Group discussion

Reviews are coming in for our newest scifi thriller. Some are five star and no mention of the profanity. Some reviewers are put off by it, and focus on it and give it two stars. I would love to hear the opinions/experiences from readers, and from other writers, of using profanity with such characters as: navy seals, Russian thugs, and a foul mouthed lawyer.

You will always get people who don't like profanity regardless of the context. I say fuck 'em. If it's true to the story then you have to disregard the critics. However, I do find a lot of swearing gratuitous, such as trying to prove certain characters are a hard ass by the amount of 'f' bombs they can drop. That shows lack of imagination by the author. Done artistically and in character, write the story as the characters want it written.

My characters use it all the time. Never really got anything too bad about it, in fact, my main character in my last book constantly swore because it was consistent with his character. But I am trying to cut back on that, just because I don't want to rely on that too much. I would think that your characters wouldn't be too far from their own norm by swearing. JMHO.

Swearing is okay I think if it is part of a character's identity - or a surprise (as in the nun I once took care of who swore a blue streak after her stroke...). I think it is lazy otherwise. Other words can be used and are more involving.

When I wrote my first book, I intentionally reduced or removed any profanity. I substituted sh** for crap and really toned down a lot of the language.

As a result, it felt neutered and unbelievable. If a criminal gets his hand chopped off, he's not going to say, "Oh crap!"

When I rewrote the first book to include stronger language, it then felt much more authentic and believable. The reactions felt genuine and the language fit the world.

There's a time and a place for profanity and knowing how uptight some readers can be, I generally avoid advertising or asking for book reviews from religious readers.

Thank you all so much for your comments. This is how Norman Mailer once handled profanity:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nak...

In a previous novel I added a thick accent to the dialog of a foul mouthed Russian hacker. Got no complaints about the profanity in that book.

Swearing it good! I don't use it much in my writing, but I don't mind reading books that have it in there. There are points where I become distracted by it if it's used too much, though. Sometimes, the gratuity is part of the joke of a character, but other times, when you can tell it's NOT part of a character gag, it takes me out of the story.

Profanity is an integral part of language! We hear it and/or use it often. I have no problem with its use unless, of course, it is directed towards me....LOL!

Things that make me skim through the rest of the novel:
1) Using profanity as a gimmick. It's not motivated otherwise.
2) Shock humor, dick jokes, because the author isn't funny, or has nothing funny to say otherwise.
3) Female characters who swear like guys because, surprise, the author is a guy.

If I see things like this, I skim the rest of the novel by reading from left to right diagonally down the page and review based on the basic plot of the story. What becomes clear is the author doesn't understand the difference between freedom of speech and telling a good story. In effect, the author doesn't care enough about the time I have to invest reading, so I return the favor.

I agree with your numbers 2 and 3 unless you're describing a character who is using that dialogue and you want the reader to understand what sort of person he/she is. As to your number 1, I'm not sure I understand your meaning.

What I meant was a gimmick: the author is using profanity to get a reaction out of the reader for the sake of a reaction, like an explosion for the sake of an explosion, that doesn't drive the plot, character, or conversation forward. When someone says: wouldn't it be neat to do a Harry Potter novel with lots of profanity? No, because it doesn't add or detract anything from the established narrative. I guess "special effect" is the movie equivalent. A special effects movie with no story is painful to sit through. I don't mind profanity, as long as it's motivated in the right places. Hope that helps...

Yes, it does...thank you. I needed to fully understand.

I am fine with profanity when it comes across as a natural reaction for the character in question. If it's just there for the sake of it, it gets a bit tedious.

I swear all the time myself, but I don't let my characters do it if it doesn't fit the story. I write contemporary romance, so it usually doesn't!