Warning – this post contains expletives!

December 21, 2009 by Cressida Downing (Editorial Consultant)
Filed under: Writing Advice 

Cressida DowningHave you been following the recent fight for the Christmas number one? The ’surefire’ winner – Joe McElderry, winner of The X Factor – has been beaten by an internet campaign to get the anarchic (and expletive-filled) ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine to the top.

Despite being asked very nicely, the band couldn’t resist letting fly with their not-safe-for-radio version when they performed on BBC Radio 5 last week. The clue might be in the lyrics: ‘F*ck You, I won’t do what you tell me’…

But what does this have to do with writing? Well, two things really. One is that the public are not always catered for and rebellion can take surprising forms. The campaign to get ‘Killing in the Name’ (a song first released nearly 20 years ago) to number one was launched on Facebook, and the public responded online, downloading the track in their hundreds of thousands. It always pays to have an online presence.

The other is about the language. Do you swear in your writing (I assume most of you have sworn at some point whilst writing!) and is it advisable? The answer, as usual, is that it depends. Make sure that if your characters are swearing, they are doing it within the context of their time, place and general demeanour. If your main character is a man in his seventies living in Victorian London, he is unlikely to sound like something off an Eminem track.

But there is also a danger in not allowing your characters to swear. If your hero has just realised he’s lost £3m on the roll of the dice, he is unlikely to respond with ‘darn it all to heck’ or anything else quite so mild-mannered!

As for swearing in the narrative, even if this is in the context of a character’s voice, this is less advisable. You will alienate some readers immediately, and it’s probably not necessary.

It goes without saying that swearing in your covering letter is always a no. Unless you are a successful American rock band unexpectedly swept to a number one spot!

Good luck with your writing,

Cressida
(editorial consultant)

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Comments

6 Comments on Warning – this post contains expletives!

  1. Gavinh2009 on Dec 21, 2009 at 17:27pm

    2. Thanks for the information, I’ve always wondered about swearing. I myself don’t like swearing much so I don’t write swear words in my writing, but when something happens that would make them want to swear I’m always stuck, so it’s good to know about this.

  2. EdwardW on Dec 21, 2009 at 18:08pm

    3. As one of the many on this site who might remember the heyday of RATM and this track in particular, I think the instances of swearing are in totally in context with this and many other songs, although the sheer anger and frustration in the content and delivery of ‘clean’ lyrics can be as powerful as swearing in a lot of cases. Overall, I find that in writing, as in music, the occasions in which a swearword or two is most unexpected are the ones that often have the most impact.

  3. Jessica Blake on Dec 21, 2009 at 23:12pm

    4. Well… I don’t swear very much, especially not in my writing, but to tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking about the question of swearing for a while now and I agree with the post above.
    Characters must do what all real people do. If real people swear, have sex, eat, drink and go to the bathroom well then the fictional characters have to do it to. Swearing is important because it tells you what matters to the character, what is important enough to be able to curse the whole world. And also, considering that my story spans over 300 years, give or take a decade or two, I am still obligated to look up the way people used to speak, behave, dress and all else… so… yeah. Good post. Nice connection of the Rage Against the Machine with the writing. Thanks. :)

  4. hillbilly on Dec 22, 2009 at 13:12pm

    5. Oops. This explains why my novel about the 70 year old Victorian filthy-mouthed rock star isn’t grabbing the literary agents … I knew I must have been doing something wrong somewhere.

  5. M T McGuire on Jan 3, 2010 at 16:23pm

    6. Giggling at hillbilly’s comment there!

    I guess one of the few joys of writing something as unpublishable as comic fantasy is that my characters can blaspheme monstrously by using the name of their holy prophet without upsetting us – it’s Arnold. A huge cheat and very useful.

    Cheers

    M T McGuire

  6. Cressida Downing (Editorial Consultant) on Jan 4, 2010 at 10:12am

    7. M T McGuire – I saw Fantastic Mr Fox yesterday – and they had replaced all expletives with ‘cuss’. I am still giggling about ‘cluster cuss’…

    Cressida

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