I have an unusual suggestion for how to bring reality to the world of you book: swear more.
That isn’t advice you’ll hear very often from a YA writer. But let’s face it, the rhythm of normal speech (for teens and adults) is sprinkled with the occasional curse word for emphasis. For most people, swearing is part of normal conversation within our closest relationships. And what are books about besides close relationships? A book devoid of any kind of swearing can feel sanitary, unreal.
Even so, I’ve found myself avoiding those words, even if they feel right, worried that at some point it may cause an agent, an editor, a parent, or even a teen to take offense or be turned off to my work.
But there’s a way to incorporate casually foul language in a way that can actually work to enhance the world of the book: create your own.
The most simple version of this I’ve seen is in Battlestar Galactica. The show’s writers faced a dilemma: how to accurately portray the profane world of a military crew without incurring the wrath of television censors? The show simply substituted “frak” for… well, you know. Simple? Yes. Hilarious? Often. But the word ensures that the show’s writers can keep the dialogue of their hardened pilots and mechanics appropriately gritty and is one of the most persistent reminders that the crew is not just a few dozen years in the future—they’re so removed from us that everything from their belief system to their swear words are different.
I’m reading The Twelve, the sequel to Justin Cronin’s The Passage. In Cronin’s post-apocalyptic vampire/zombie attack world, the word “flyer” is used to describe the post-humanoid creatures that the protagonists run from. It’s slang based on how the creatures can move—quickly, jumping high and far—and it makes sense that a colloquial term for the vampires would segue quickly to become an exclamation, an expression of frustration, anger, pain. The vampire creatures dictate every moment of the survivors’ lives. Using the term derisively gives Cronin’s characters the chance to exert some small control over the situation. It isn’t much, but it’s almost all they have.
A great YA example of this is of this in YA is Kierstin White’s Paranormalcy series where the the main character Evie uses the term “bleep” in place of swearing1. What could come across as cheesy, White uses to endearing humorous effect, showing off Evie’s goofy personality at the same time.
Though those examples are all from the world of science fiction and/or paranormal, I think this approach could work for contemporary writers, too. Briefly while drafting I planned to look up old-fashioned insults that are not commonly used for a character who is obsessed with historical documentaries2. Ultimately the character changed and it wasn’t necessary anymore, but those word choices would have shown a lot of her personality, and added some silly (if obscure) humor.
Down the road if you find yourself pausing where you might normally insert a swear word into normal conversation, think deeply about what your character would use in that situation. What represents frustration to them? To the people of their world? What is the most angering or insulting thing to that person or to their society? It’s a great way to think about the world your characters live in, and a good alternative if more run-of-the-mill profanity makes you nervous.
What do you think? Do you have any other examples of movies, books, or TV shows that use their own uniquely obscene language? Have you worried over using swear words in your books?
- White talks about her decision to do that here ↩
- And I know all you Whedon fans are hunting for your Loki .gifs now. I didn’t end up using any antiquated swear words in my WiP, but thanks to The Avengers I did get to use a certain olde English word in a winning bout of Scrabble. See if you can find it…! ↩
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
there are many substitute words for real curse words, I don’t think you have to necessarily stick to the hard stuff when there are so many choices. It also depends on your character, would they ‘hell’ or ‘heck’? I personally try to stay away from too much profanity, but it depends on the situation as well.
Great post! And yeah, I wrote my first two projects under the pretense of I can write a YA novel without swearing! And that all went to hell and a handbasket when I started writing from a guy’s POV.
Kidding. :) Sort of. But yes, I agree with you. I don’t hesitate as much anymore, but I do believe there can be too much cussing, ya know? Also, I LOVE Battlestar Galactica! I think I spent most of my teenage years saying Frak.
Jessica did a post on Awkward today over at YA Confidential and one of the characters makes up her own words (like bBat-shizat). One of the reasons I’m DVRing that show RIGHT NOW. :)
I don’t swear, and most of my friends don’t, either. I also tend to avoid books that have a lot of profanity, but it would have to be a LOT to get me to put the book down and I’d put it down sooner for something like excessively graphic violence or explicit sex. So swearing isn’t something that I’ve ever considered including in my books–it’s not that I consciously avoid it, it just doesn’t happen naturally since I’m not used to using/hearing it all the time.
But like Alison, that was before I used a male POV in my current project. He’s not a “potty mouth” by any means, but he’s one that might swear occasionally when he gets frustrated. I do sometimes find it difficult to phrase his dialog without using profanity, and I usually just satisfy it with something like “I swear” or “I mutter a curse under my breath”. It is fantasy, so I could make up words, but I feel like it might come off a bit awkward since I’m not a natural swearer. I figure the reader can use their imagination and then they don’t get distracted by my awkward attempts to sound tougher than I really am. ;)
I fugging love this ;) I like to see non-excessive cursing in YA novels, because I was (and still am) a bit of a pottymouth when I was in HS. Believe it or not, I blame marching band. It brings out the sailor mouth.
Like you, I think Kiersten White is an excellent example of the right way to creatively curse, as opposed to a certain teenage protagonist who constantly says, “Holy crow!” I also think An Abundance of Katherines is another good example, especially because it doesn’t immediately explain why Colin & Hassan always say “fug.”
Great examples! I think it’s hard to come up with your own profanity that doesn’t sound ridiculous, though it can still work. Like as much as I love BSG, I’m still not completely sold on “frak,” but I absolutely agree with the need for it and it does do what it’s supposed to do. It’s also just kind of hilarious too. The new profanity just has to make sense in the world.
I loved the swearing in Westerfeld’s Leviathan Trilogy. Barking spiders! :)
One of the things that impressed me about DIVERGENT was the lack of profanity–and there was certainly a lot of opportunity for profanity. I think it’s to Veronica’s credit that it didn’t occur to me until quite late into the novel how little there was. At least for me, the absence of profanity took nothing away from the mood or the characters. The bad guys were still very bad, and the good guys were good but with their own issues. Food for thought… :)
As you are well aware, I have a filthy pirate mouth, so swearing in a book makes characters seem more natural to me. I think using made up swear words, even in a contemporary book, can be fun and add extra depth and reality to a character. Part of being a teenager (at least for me) was communicating with your friends in ways that completely shut out adults. In middle school I remember passing notes to friends, and using coded words that only my friends knew. And pager code was phenominal until my parents learned it. Which was pretty devestating.
Also, my absolute favorite example of creative swearing is Firefly! I think a lot of the swear words are Chinese, but some might be made up too. “Goram” has been used in real life in my household. Fun fact – the guy who played Wash couldn’t get a grasp on the Chinese used in the script, so he just started speaking gibberish with a Chinese inflection. Awesome.