At the last few conferences I attended, people have been very interested in swear words in YA fiction. Now, a brilliant writer I know said to me, when I asked him for guidance on this issue: “A swear word is just another word. It has to be a choice, just like every other word in your manuscript.”
I completely agree. If you absolutely have to use a swear word in your manuscript, if there’s no other word it could be, then use it. You won’t get a squeamish look from me. (You may get an odd glance from a few people in my DFW Writers Conference audience, who apparently gasped when I dropped an f-bomb or two in response to this same question. What? The guy who dropped it first looked self-conscious, so I had to take some of the heat off of him!) You might also alienate yourself from certain libraries, school administrators, booksellers and editors who work for more clean-cut imprints and don’t publish content. There will be parents who are too scared of their kids growing up, who are in denial of the words and ideas that fly around every middle and high school in every town in every country, too.
The thing is, kids are really good at figuring out what’s a good fit for them and what isn’t. If they are reading a book that has swearing or action or other content that makes them uncomfortable, that they can’t handle, or that they don’t want to handle, most readers will skip that part or put the book down. Parents, librarians, administrators and booksellers shouldn’t always presume to know exactly what kind of book is scandalous to what kind of teen reader.
On a recent trip, I was getting really into a story, and dropped an f-bomb. Not loudly or rudely but, you know, sometimes I get carried away. The man in front of us, who was sitting with, no joke, a 17 or 18 year-old daughter, in a college sweatshirt, for Pete’s sake, turned around and hissed, “Can you please not say that? I’m traveling with a child!” He indicated his daughter with an angry nod of the head.
I can guarantee that his scowling teen was 500% more scandalized by being referred to as a “child” in public than she was by a word I said. Words only have power if you give it to them. (Of course, I shut my yap right after that. I may not have agreed with the guy but I’m not a jerk.)
Speaking of which, there are certain times when I don’t think swearing is necessary. If it’s every other word, that might be too much. If it’s peppered in to be hip or cool or edgy, then it will come across as forced. Some people circumvent the issue by creating their own colorful vocabulary that’s supposed to stand in for swearing. If the language is natural enough, this could work, but it mostly feels contrived to me. The important thing to remember is that nobody’s forcing you to do anything, it’s your manuscript. You can swear if you want to but, by the same token, if you don’t want to swear, you can write a clean manuscript and that’s just fine, too.
If, though, as mentioned above, the swear word is a conscious choice, a careful choice, then there’s no problem with it. An editor or agent can always let you know if something is too much or not right. And if you do publish a book with any kind of content — swearing, violence, drugs, drinking, sex — there will always be people who balk.
But you know what? Fuck ‘em.
Come on. I had to.
ETA: WOW! Clearly, this is a very passionate issue. Lest anybody here thought that swearing in books was settled, let them come and read the comments. The use of a swear word or an opinion about swearing, one way or another, has caused certain readers to lose their respect for me. It has caused other readers to gain it. This is powerful, powerful stuff.
My favorite part of keeping this blog and of teaching writers is ALWAYS how much I learn about my own subject matter in the process. In throwing up this post — and its intentionally cheeky last few lines — I’ve had so many new thoughts on the issue of swearing in YA. I’ve delved a lot deeper into this issue in my head. Watch out for another post about swearing in YA on Friday.
Lastly, as one reader pointed out, and to repeat the obvious, this is about swearing in YA fiction. The same rules do not apply for MG at ALL. (I would highly recommend NOT swearing in MG.) Thank you all for the food for thought!
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Tags: About Me, Writer Friends
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I don’t think profanity has a place in YA literature. The biggest excuse I hear to include profanity in writing is, “But my character would say that!” Yeah, but you don’t have to write down everything your character says. I think a lot of writers use profanity either out of habit or as a crutch. It’s the easy way to characterize or show emotion. If you’re a good author, I think you can manage to convey your truth without resorting to cursing. I think it holds true for adult literature, as well as YA, but I think it is especially important in YA. In choosing a YA book, you assume that you’re not going to be assaulted by offensive language. To me, if you find it in YA lit, it’s like a bait and switch. Not cool. Do you really think the Twilight and Hunger Games series would have been better if there were a few F-bombs sprinkled in?
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I do believe in authenticity. After reading the Newbery winner this year, with at least a couple dozen swear words, I was still comfortable letting my 10 yr old daughter read it. If it would’ve dropped the F-bomb, I would’ve thought twice about it at her age (but then I doubt it would’ve won the Newbery!)
But to me it seems that novels that have *excessive* curse words use them as a crutch (YA or Adult). Having your character say “Damn it!” is a lot easier than thinking up a better way for them to express how they’re feeling. A lot harder!
In THE HUNGER GAMES & CATCHING FIRE, Suzanne Collins used “hell” – in the location sense – only one time in each book. I noticed because her lack of curse words stood out to me from the beginning.
So I figured if SC can write two intense novels about KILLING and incredibly terrifying situations, and not curse, then I should take it as a challenge to also use better word choices to describe how my characters feel.
I’m certainly not turned off by curse words, but the excess of them often results in me feeling like the writing is rather weak – or as Mary said, the swearing comes across as forced.
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Great friggin’ post!
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This is a very informative discussion. Thanks for posting about this, Mary, and allowing us to voice our thoughts.
I don’t use the F-word or other foul language in my every day conversations. I don’t use it at all if I can help it. I admit to a damn or hell now and then when I get really angry (yes, that’s as far as my “really angry” speach goes), but as a general rule, I don’t like hearing foul language or reading it in fiction.
Does this mean I’ll stop reading if I come across a curse word or two in a book? No. Nor does it mean I can’t be friends with someone who uses offensive language.
Just because I don’t use it, doesn’t mean other people can’t. It’s not up to me to put words into other people’s mouths (real people, not characters) or take words away, for that matter.
I can’t even say I won’t ever use curse words when I write (I’ve been really angry when I write and may have cursed, but I’m referring more to writing it in the actual MS). I’d like to think I wouldn’t write a curse word, but I can’t be sure I won’t someday be writing a character who uses foul language.
That being said, I’m the first to admit I’m a prude with double standards when it comes to this issue. While I read fiction with curse words in it, I won’t pass them on to my teenage son for him to read. Nor do I give him books to read with too much sexual content.
I’m picky and tend to monitor what my children read, watch, and play. Why do I do this? I don’t even know. When it comes right down to it, teenaged son probably hears more foul language from his classmates than he’d find in the pages of some of the books I don’t pass on to him. Still, I don’t want to expose him to it more than necessary. And guess what? As a parent, that’s my right . . . but it’s not my right to tell anyone else what their children can read, watch, or play.
And by the same token, it is not my right to tell other writers what they should or shouldn’t put in their writing. If you choose to have curse words in your MS, that’s your business. I’ll probably even read it (if it’s not every other word), but don’t be offended if I don’t pass it on to my friends and family.
It’s not you, it’s me.
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because my own y/a novel is probably riddled with words that are considered swear words in other places. I’m Irish – words like crap, damn, hell, bloody, etc. are most definitely not curse words here. They have absolutely no impact or shock value. I’ve considered that using these words and mild Irish swear words might alienate some readers but I feel I have to remain true to the characters. I’ve never heard a teenager say heck so it is never going to appear in any of my dialogue, for example.
As a mother, I might not want my children to say fuck after every word but I know that they will curse and that there are plenty of worse things they could be doing too. I hate the idea of censoring writing so much that we can’t write about things that teenagers really do for fear of offending someone. I don’t think it is healthy to have so many taboo subjects, sex, drugs, underage drinking, swearing – not writing about it won’t make it stop happening.
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It’s all about context and character. Can you imagine CATCHER IN THE RYE without cursing?
The language was absolutely necessary to the character. It revealed something that America had been afraid to acknowledge up to that point—that being a teenager is painful, frightening, confusing, fraught with insecurity and angst—and in doing so, it changed the world for teenagers.
I think it just comes down to authenticity. If you do what’s right for the story, it will be right for the reader.
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I write for a younger age group–the worst my characters say is “Oh, poop.” I don’t have a problem with swearing in books or movies for YA and up. Sometimes a particular word is the only one that will do. But it should be used judiciously; it loses its impact if overused. I admire those who swear fluently–not a skill I possess! Great post, and how awesome to see such a civil discussion about a controversial topic!
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Ha! That is hilarious!I work at a high school and I cannot walk the hallways without hearing teens say fuck or any of its variations (fucker, motherfucker, fucking fucker, etc.) all flipping day long.
I hope I have not offended anyone with this post. Just a word right?
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Kathryn Roberts- i admire you for being bold enough to stand up for your opinion, even though it seemed like a minority here. Go girl. I love people that speak their mind. Especially when they do it creatively (not using the same swear words every one else does-ha.)
Mary- thanks for always facilitating real discussions and being fair to both sides. That’s admirable, too.
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Mary-
Thanks for your answer on suck in MG. Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. I guess I just have to say fooey to that!
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I’m not a fan of the saying “be true to the character.” I think on an issue like this it’s more important to be true to your audience. If I wrote, “Rachel was a typical teenager,” no one would have any idea what Rachel is like, because there is no typical teenager. Just because something is YA doesn’t mean it’s aimed at the same audience. There are kids that love to push the limits — who want books that are edgy and real. There are other kids that are sick of being bombarded by swear words everyday at school, and don’t want to read curse words. So as I writer, I know what kind of kids I want to appeal to — and the character’s language and actions naturally go in that direction. Like Mary said, kids find the books that are a good fit for them. There’s room in YA for all of us!
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I’m a self-confessed conservative Christian mum who also happens to be a writer. I don’t swear in real life, no matter how upset I get. I just never got into the habit when I was young and don’t feel the need to add particular words to my vocab now. When I stub my toe I say, “Ouch!” It works just as well for me. Am I aware that kids swear all the time? Of course I am. I was a middle-school teacher for many years and could come up with an alphabetised list if asked. Do I think it’s necessary? No, I don’t.
My issue with swearing is not that writers choose to swear in their work but that those of us who don’t are often branded as out-of-touch or old-fashioned or stranglers of free expression. Mary, you have tried to provide a balanced view of the situation but the comments clearly show that most people still feel like there is some sort of authenticity lacking in work that doesn’t include swearing.
As for the argument, “they’re only words,” to me that just doesn’t cut the mustard. Words are powerful, evocative and potentially damaging. Wars have been fought over words and hurts have been inflicted with words. If we didn’t think words were powerful, we wouldn’t be writers.
Because of my personal value system, I will be guiding the reading choices of my children. That doesn’t mean I will necessarily be banning books that I have issue with (although I might too – it will depend on content and their age), but rather we’ll be tackling those books together and exploring them through our family’s values and faith framework. I know that my children will probably swear as they get older at some time or another, however I make no apology for the fact it will never be acceptable in our home.
As a parent, I have the right to make choices on behalf of my children. Just as I make them eat their vegetables at dinner when they’d rather have chocolate, I will be making all sorts of decisions based on what I think is best for my kids in terms of TV programs, movies and books. As they get older, there will no doubt be some to-ing and fro-ing as they begin to navigate the world on their own and develop their own value system independent of our family’s. There is a time when I will have to let go, but believe me that’s a loooooong way away!
As a writer, I have exactly the same right. I get to choose how my characters talk and interact and because of the strong position in my own life on swearing, I sincerely doubt there will ever be swearing in one of my books. That doesn’t make me any less of a writer than someone who chooses to incorporate swearing into their work.
For me it really comes down to an old-fashioned piece of advice: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. That doesn’t mean that I pretend the dark side of life doesn’t exist, but that even when I’m addressing the dark side of humanity in my writing I do so from a position of hope and purity.
I make my own reading selections based on that premise so of course I’m going to be encouraging (and actively promoting) that my children do the same.
Thanks for opening up the discussion on this one, Mary. It really does come down to a case of, ‘Each to their own.’
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So funny! I love it! I (unfortunately) have to watch my mouth because I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old who repeat EVERYTHING.
My characters do swear, but only when the situation warrants it. And usually not f-bombs. Shit, Damn, Hell…those are their favorites.
Now for a serious question…who is Bongo?
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I think swearing does have a place in YA lit, b/c swearing most certainly has a place in YA life. Authenticity is key. Too much = forced. Some of your characters won’t swear b/c that’s not their MO, but if you’re writing a teen issues book about violence, sex, drugs, or rock n’ roll, no swearing is going to make your characters come off as juvenile and your reader won’t relate.
The best example of creating your own vocabulary, or avoiding swearing with style that I’ve read recently is in Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking series – it’s mostly internal monologue, and the character says “effing” all the time, then occasionally follows it up with (but I didn’t say “eff,” you know). It’s done often enough to get the point across, but not so much that it becomes tiring. Beautifully done. Not a swear word in the whole book, but it comes off gritty!
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Hehehe…great post, Mary. Especially the ending. My YA books have “minor” swearing where it’s needed, but it’s nice to see the stand you take on it. I’m right there with you!
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Wow – these are TEENS we’re writing about! My current MC is an 18yo boy and I can’t imagine writing this story from his POV without at least the occasional f-bomb. I critiqued some chapters at a conference once where the person had made every swear word into “****” which was SO distracting, and I thought, condescending to the reader.
FABULOUS topic as always, Mary!
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In the MS that I’m trying to get out there, the MC (a 17 year old girl) does swear. Most of the adults don’t, her best friend doesn’t, but the MC does everything but drop the f-bomb. I made this decision early on because when I was hearing this character’s voice in my head, it came with a lot of flip phrases like “You’re such a pain in my ass.” She’s raised in kind-of a commune where there are very strict rules that she just can’t break. It felt like her language would be a form of her rebellion.
And the adult characters don’t let her get away with it. When ever she does it in front of one of them, she’s always reprimanded.
If an agent or an editor told me that before they would touch my MS the language would have to come out, I would find a way to do that. But so far, in the comments I’ve gotten, the language hasn’t even been mentioned.
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Trackback from uberVU - social comments on April 22, 2010 at 7:45 am
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GREAAAT Post!
I absolutely agree with you. The point that I would like to make is the fact that I have read books where the author tries to “write around” swear words, without a doubt it weakend the MS’s flow. I also agree that it needs to fit the situation.
Readers in YA will not hold you above other authors just becuase you don’t say shit damn fuck blah blah, they will hold you above others if your MS has the right flow and is something that they can relate with.
My 2 pennies!
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I kind of take offense to the notion that “to be a teen means to swear”. I was a teen once. I did not swear. You can call me abnormal, though I’d believe you more if you just said I was in the minority. Most of my close friends didn’t swear, either, come to think of it. But we were friends with people who swore. It wasn’t an issue to any of us.
Today, I still very rarely swear. I must tell you, though, when I do, it is VERY powerful. Far more so than when my friends pepper their speech with it. Sure, to some people they are “only” words, and yes, each individual has to allow that power that they are given. But most individuals seem to assign a lot of power to swear words. Many are obviously offended by them. I can’t see where it’s right to tell them that their feelings are wrong.
I am not offended by (most) swear words (no one here has mentioned the one that really irritates me), but I am offended by the notion that a teen who does not swear is somehow not “real”. All teens breathe, eat, sleep, and are within the age range of 13 – 19. Beyond that – let’s just say there’s a world of people out there…
All that being said, I do have a YA character who swears. A lot. It’s just her. I realize she may be offensive and that I may be limiting my possible audience, but I think that’s just the way it should be. I want to tell her story, and I’m thankful that we (mostly) have the kind of society where I am free to choose the words to do just that.
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Amy – I completely agree that teens do not swear across the board. That’s why I think it’s important to use exactly that diversity to nail authenticity. If all your characters swear, it’s unrealistic. If none of them do, it’s unrealistic.
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Ha ha! Funny post. And very true about selecting the perfect words no matter what. If you use bad language simply as an attempt to sound cool or edgy, I think it can come across as fake. But if used properly, a bad word won’t stick out like a sore thumb (or maybe it will, if that’s the intention).
When I was in high school, wisenheimer that I was, I wrote a whole paper on the f-word. I got a B+ on it. I wish I still had the thing. What on earth did I write?
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Karen C,
I appreciate what you said about words being “powerful, evocative and potentially damaging.” It’s true that words are powerful and our use of them, for good or ill, have an impact on our readers. As authors, we make a choice about whether or not to put in a curse word or a sexual scene.
I understand the arguement for authenticity. I respect it and don’t think less of an author who writes a story with cursing in it. It’s the author’s choice.
I know some will say it’s not a choice if we wish to be true to the character, but the reality of it is, we DO have a choice.
If the character uses curse words and the author doesn’t like it, they can choose NOT to write that character’s story. Cursing character can find another author who doesn’t mind his/her foul mouth.
I’m just sayin’. =)
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Great post! I agree that repetitive and superfluous cursing is grating and offensive, but honestly, I think it’s sad people still refuse to read certain books because of an F bomb here or there. Let’s face it: most young adults will drop an F bomb when they’re distressed or extremely annoyed. Not all young adults, but a lot. I write older YA, and I’d never sacrifice the authenticity of a character or scene to appease parents or librarians. If I wanted characters with squeaky clean mouths, I’d read or write younger YA.
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I think you have to be true to your characters and if your own characters offend you, then write something else (like picture books). Many teens do swear – even if only occasionally – and teens are mainly the ones reading YA books. So if the MC only says “oh, gosh darn it” all the time, it won’t be authentic – part of the developmental process for children and teens is learning to use language more effectively. If they already speak like adults, it wouldn’t be real.
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You go girl! Just a word, and it’s one of my favorites.
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When I was a teen, I didn’t swear. My friends didn’t swear, either. So it’s inaccurate to say all teens swear.
Even though I don’t use swear words, I don’t have a problem reading them as long as every other word isn’t a swear word. That gets annoying. There are over 150,000 words in the English language, so I think you could find something else for your character to say!
Excellent post! The little f-word at the end made me laugh out loud!
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Karen C, I totally agree with you. I’m no prude, but I am the mother of three little boys and it’s my job to protect them. It’s true the world is a scary place a lot of the time so I choose to closely monitor what goes into their hearts and minds, whether it’s tv, books, movies, friends, etc. I know that teenagers use foul language and have sex and do drugs, but I wouldn’t want my kids to read books with loads of cursing and topics like that unless it shows the reality and consequences of those choices and even then, I’d have to read the book first. Just because it’s out there, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it or read about it.
Golly-dang it, there are so many AMAZING books without that stuff, I’m sure they could keep my kids busy reading for years and years. As a matter of fact, this discussion has caused me to head out to the library. I think I’ll go read some Beverly Cleary. :O)
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Pingback from Excellent Blogs « Three Crowns, One Life on April 22, 2010 at 5:42 pm
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What about characters who curse in other languages? Is that better because you don’t know what the curse word means or worse because it’s something you actually haven’t heard it before? And what about cursing in very harsh sounding languages? Like is cursing in Vietnamese worse than cursing in Spanish, even if the words basically mean the samething?
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Mary, you are my hero.
That is all.
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Pingback from Kidlit.com · Swear Words in YA Fiction 2.0 on April 23, 2010 at 7:25 am
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The only power the F-word has is the power we give it.
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In a conversation with my friend, Kelly Milner Halls about his book Whale Talk, Chris Crutcher said that if a character drops an “f-bomb” in the first chapter, it’s implied in the rest of the book, and so unnecessary to keep repeating it in the dialogue. I think that’s brilliant.
Write on, people.
Roxyanne
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I don’t agree with your notion that most YA readers will put a book down if they find it disturbing, particularly if it’s a good story. Kids just keep reading.
Also, you are not taking into consideration the context of “assigned reading,” where putting the book down is not generally an option. I can’t tell you the number of teachers who don’t take developmental/emotional maturity into consideration when assigning a book to read. (I’m a middle school teacher getting my master’s in Gifted Ed.)
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I can’t tell where everybody is from. I’m from the UK. I am 40K words through writing a YA book and I have, in one (very stressed) chapter only, words like “Bitch” and “Bastard”. My protagonist is a 14 year old girl. My target market is around that age, too. It was not until my wife commented about the use of these words, that i decided to get some professional advice (From writers, not a psychiatrist!).
I’m 63. I have two children, 6 nephews and nieces all who have gone through their teens and all who were accepted swearing as part of their culture (?) but are not naturals swearers themselves, although hitting the thumb with the hammer could elicit more than a “crikey” from them.
So, having said that. am I OK to use these words?
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Oh, crumbs, I made a typographical error “all who were accepted swearing as part of their culture ” should have been”all who accepted swearing as part of their culture”. Sorry
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Pingback from In the Blogosphere: 4/26-5/21 « Ricki Schultz on May 21, 2010 at 11:02 am
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Pingback from Monday before BEA Links « Bib-Laura-graphy on May 24, 2010 at 6:50 pm
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I’ve written four YA books. All of them have a few cuss words in them at appropriate, dramatic moments, but so far I’ve only had one protag who cusses casually.
With her, I took out the “shit” she said in panic on the second page and left in the more casual “damn” on the tenth page. After that she rarely cusses, but I felt like that one, well-placed word set the tone well for her character without throwing it in the reader’s face all the time.
As with most things, sometimes less is more.
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i think it is mad to believe that even the sweetest child does not use the odd swear word. They just have the sense not to use it around their parents! YA novels are not marketed at very young children , but as YA suggests,young adults. Thus, we should allow the reader to make up his /her own mind .Treat these readers with credability and with having a mind of their own by allowing them the right to chose the type of fiction they wish to read. So…what i am trying to say is , swearing should be ok in YA books and ,as we all know , characters have a way of making themselves heard , in the most appropriate ways !
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I think it depends on the book and the author. The words ‘fuck,’ ‘bullshit’ etc. have their connotations just like every other word. They are loaded. Are you going for that sort of emotional reaction? Then it accomplishes something.
I don’t like this concept wherein we classify some words as ‘bad’ and others as ‘good.’ They are all words. They are all subjective. It’s just semantics. Time and a place for everything, of course, but to suggest a story on teenage life is absolutely the wrong place is, I believe, misguided. And explanations to the contrary strike me as similar to the motivations people have to ban books. Clapping your hands on your ears doesn’t mean it’s not there.
But I’m not one to stigmatize any word. If it is the best word to use under the circumstances, if it invokes the exact mindset you wish to portray, use it.
That said, I’m not using explicit swearing in the YA I’m writing, but that’s because of my protagonist. She’s not the type to swear, so swearing gets alluded to but glossed over. If she were the type, you can bet it’d be there.
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I’m glad that you wrote this article. My YA novel, Wavering, has some cursing in the dialogue, because in order to accurately capture certain scenes that were pulled from a situation that happened to someone very close to me, I had to include it. Sometimes, life is gritty, and thus, your writing will be as well. Authors have to understand that they might offend groups of readers by using certain words, but that’s a choice we have to make. YA books aren’t meant for middle grade or younger readers. However, even sometimes they can have a worse mouth than me. Personally, I enjoy when the stories I read aren’t completely censored. What’s the fun in that?
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I recently read a manuscript where there was a lot of the swear word: “efwurd”. It was such a turn off. Either you use the damn word, or you don’t.
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I happen to be a teenager so I have a little more exposure to the real language used by teens. Especially when not being hounded by overprotective parents. I myself don’t swear to excess, but I’m the exception. Even I, who’s nicknamed “saint” in school, drop a curse word if I’m upset or wish to punctuate my point. I also suggest you stop comparing yourself to teens today. It’s a new world and generation. Curse words are losing their taboo status. It’s ridiculous to say that you can write around a word correctly. Honestly. You’re not being true to your character so why even bother to continue writing? You obviously don’t like the character you’re writing for. It messes the flow up and fractures the thought process of the reader. I, for one, am left for at least five paragraphs after that ruminating over the actual word that would authentically be there. As for you parents, I’m honestly sorry to say, but your kids are going to hear them anyway. It doesn’t matter how hard you strong arm them and monitor them. They ARE going to see it, hear it, and say it at some point. The point of growing up is being exposed to things and then learning how you want to implement that into your own life. By limiting you child’s world they aren’t going to be prepared when faced with it. My opinion is. Grow the flying monkeys up please. (see my point?) Cursing is a part of life and sure it’s going to turn off some readers, but if used correctly in most cases it will be read by without a thought. Have a little faith in your children and the way you’ve raised them or they will eventually start to resent you… So I restate my point. Grow the fuck up please…your children will thank you.
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