I have been told to find my 'writing voice'.
I have been angry for most of my life, about what happened to me as a teenager. I am also definitely working class and I must admit I swear a lot. I have got a labourers language. I very rarely swear at people, my swearing generally follows something going wrong. I swear in my inner voice. I often swear to illustrate a point. "What the f' do they know?"
I have been told that I should edit out the swear words in my writing, or only use it in dialogue. I did a Times interview by phone in 2005 about my teenage experience,. the lady doing the interview said at the end "You do swear a lot don't you?"
I answered "Yes, because I am f'ing angry about what f'ing happened to me."
Isn't this my voice? or must I tone it down in the writing and only illustrate my language in dialogue?
In certain circumstances swearing may not be appropriate. Swearing doesn't bother me because, although I've been around it, they are just words.
We as people, chose how we behave. Any experience will affect us, sometimes the worst experience make us stronger and more determined because we know we've got through worse.
The beauty of books and reading is that there's less censorship.
Some people deem swearing as a lazy way to explain something, others see it as a powerful statement, or just the way a character speaks, or the author. Quentin Taranteno might not have had the same impact if they'd shouted "any of you willies move, and I'll kill of you: even the dad's who think I can't see you."
I disagree with those who advise you to edit OUT your swearing. They probably would have advised DH Lawrence to leave the sex out of his novels.
But toning it down is another matter. Not saying you SHOULD do so, but if ALL your stories have a swear word or 2 every sentence, some readers might find it boring.
On the other hand, it might become your trademark: your voice, as you put it. Do you remember when the Derek And Clive recordings came out? Maybe before your time. They were slammed by some critics as "scraping the bottom of the barrel; utter filth". Others praised them for being groundbreaking. You pays yer money and you makes yer choice.
Trouble with TOO many swear words is that readers might find it funny: might consider your anger as humour.