Can We Talk About Swearing?

Can we talk about swearing?

You goddamn right we can! Here's the thing: I swear. A lot. If done right, a character swearing in a book or movie can make me giggle. Which means I do a shitty job of hiding my 5 year old mentality, but let's not talk about that.


Swearing in blogs: 

 If you follow a lot of blogs, you'll notice that some of them have a certain audience in mind. There are YA blogs that are generally aimed towards adults, and while I don't mind such blogs (they happen to be one of my favorites, actually), I guess they are more liberal in the kind of content they offer. My blog is sort of a cocktail. I write what comes to mind, without worrying about who'll read it. My audience is anyone who comes across this blog. But I still find my self thinking twice before swearing. In a way, I want to stay true to myself,but I have to put in mind not to offend anyone reading my post. It all depends on what I'm writing. If it's a book review, chances are, it will be clean. Except if it's a really negative review, then chances are, you'll stumble across a few jewels on the way. Discussion posts, however, is where I take liberty saying whatever I want. It was harder at first, but you get more and more comfortable with your blog, and words will go out unfiltered.

Swearing in books:

 Let's get one thing straight: A swearer like my self, does NOT mind bad language. We cherish it, really. So opening a book to find made-up swear words like frack, or crap really turns me off. Especially if the MC is standing in front of the barrel of a gun and all they manage to say is... crap. Really? REALLY?! I'd make use of all my cursing vocabulary if I am ever put in such a position.

I don't demand  bad language to enjoy a book, only a realistic dialogue. But I understand why an author might choose to omit somethings. YA is read by a large age group. And I do mean LARGE. The target audience starts with twelve years old, so there might be somethings to consider while writing a YA book. Not that a twelve year old is not acquainted with swear words (I know I was), but still.. it might not feel right. That said, I am NOT one for rating books.

The best solution, I think, is the kind of books that dance around. It's like, if you're old enough to know what that means, you're old enough to read about it. Here's an example from the top of my mind from Finnikin of The Rock:

“My mother, unlike yours, never exchanged sexual favors for a piece of silver," he said, addressing the first insult by banging the boy's head against the trunk of the tree. "And," he said with another resounding thump, "although I'm very familiar with that part of the female body, I take offense at being labeled one.” 

*Inner five year old giggles*

What about you? How swearish do you like your books and your blog?!