Swearing in Fiction

We have a new Pope! Leo XIV! I thought the process would take longer, but I’m glad that it’s been taken care of.

There has been a bit of red in my eye since last weekend. That’s a bit troubling, but it’s not affecting my vision or anything, so I suspect it will probably go away soon enough.

I finished season three of the newest Jurassic Park cartoon, so I need to find something new on Netflix. I am reading Ithaca by Claire North, which I am surprisingly fond of thus far?

Swearing in Fiction

When FOX canceled the police sitcom Brooklyn 99, the hit comedy was rescued by NBC. Someone involved in production gleefully noted that NBC, unlike FOX, allowed for beeped-out swearing in their television programming. In the very first episode of the new season on the new network, it uses this, and it happens again and again throughout its run.

I don’t know that I like it. It doesn’t ruin the series, or anything, the show is still incredibly funny. I just think that if the show could go years without this feature, I don’t think it needs it now. It’s a bit jarring that suddenly, all of the characters are more comfortable using stronger language than they have before. It’s not overwhelming, to be sure–it’s generally a once-an-episode type of thing.

All in all, it’s a minor quibble. However, it does make me think about how a lot of writers seem to think that swearing is a good substitute for humor, or a way to prove that you’re a Serious, Adult Story instead of something juvenile. And that doesn’t always work. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: swearing in a story isn’t bad, but it isn’t necessary either, and way too many people think (in both fiction and reality) that the only way to make a strong point is to say naughty words. Well, no, that’s not true.

I complained about this in the sporkings of Iron Druid–which I really ought to find a way to bring back, by the way. In that, the swearing isn’t to make a point, it’s because Kevin Hearne thinks that people swear by default all the time, and it’s just how modern people talk. Maybe it’s because he’s pulling this information off of high school students, having been an English teacher before being an author. Maybe it’s because he’s a huge fan of American Gods, in which the characters also swear often, missing that the main character is an ex-convict hanging out with criminals and con men desperately fighting in a secret war. It also clashes with how Hearne desperately wants his protagonist to come across as a clever immortal who has seen it all, but he talks like a potty-mouthed frat guy. It doesn’t work. Hearne can make the guy quote Shakespeare all he wants, he still doesn’t sound intelligent.

I thought about adding a bit about Castlevania here, but I don’t know what I’d say other than… I mean, it’s deliberately written to make memes, I think. Straightforward criticism might be missing the point.

Compare this to another book character, Avasarala, in The Expanse by James S. Corey. I tend to refer to her as “the angry Indian grandmother”, because she’s an elderly Indian woman working in the UN that swears a lot. And it doesn’t clash–it’s jarring, but it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to come across as a weird thing, but it makes sense for the character, because she’s a very cynical politician who doesn’t have time for a lot of people’s nonsense. She’s also a fun contrast to Holden, a more idealistic character that was introduced as a viewpoint protagonist in the previous book. Avasarala’s introduction proves to the reader that they’re in for something very different.

It’s actually pretty amazing when Avasarala isn’t swearing.

A good strategy is also to have a character who doesn’t often swear, or who doesn’t do it at all. One of my favorite examples is Michael Carpenter in Dresden Files. As a devoutly religious man, he doesn’t say curse words, and he tries to encourage this habit in Harry Dresden. It doesn’t work. The idea that this openly religious family man and righteous hero would use swear words is unthinkable. Except, in one of the short stories, one of his daughters is kidnapped and held hostage by a madman, he starts losing his cool. When Harry tries to calm him down, Michael snaps, “That son of a b**** took my daughter,” to Harry’s shock. This is a great story moment that shows you what’s spelled out at the end by Uriel: Michael is a good man, but if you really want to get to him, you threaten his family. Michael almost loses control entirely by the end, too.

Dialogue that’s a part of character! That displays consistent character development and growth! That’s what it’s about! Dialogue should develop characters as well as convey information, and swearing is part of that.

If you’re including it just because… well, give me a better reason! Yes, there are some people who think it’s great to just say bad words in public. But if you’re writing characters, you have to think about why they would do that, and what it says about the character. It’s not bad to use them, but use these things for a purpose, and I’d certainly recommend not throwing them in there randomly if you’ve not been consistently using them before.

Anyway, here’s your Moment of Zen.

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