Plant Questions #1: Swearing Or Nah?

[migxmeg]

In real life I swear all the time, which I only notice when children are around and am trying to keep it clean.

Whenever (pretty tame so far) cursing came up in our historical romance comic, we had a long discussion about whether it's worth it/necessary for dialogue that fits the scene. Not sure how my writer is planning to handle it in our fantasy comic, which will contain more mature content in general. But wouldn't put it past him to make up curses as he's already been making up some other words.

[UrMom]

Depends on the genre, age rating and characters. Personally I'm more bothered by serious dramas or romances with occasional violence to have the comical !$#@! censorship, it messes up the mood the creator is trying show, it'd be better to just not have profanity all together if you're going to use that route. Though for comical stuff like the Mr. Frog clip it fits, so I have no problem with it.

Admittedly I'm a little bias myself, my mom has a bit of a sailors mouth so I grew up around it and now have a worse sailors mouth than she does. Whoever told me profanity was bad never had a good reason for being against it so I never took the whole controversy seriously. When it comes to stories I use it depending on character specifically since all my stuff is mature, I have a sliding scale on how much a character will be known to swear based on personality and life experience. As an example out of my two MCs one doesn't cuss at all because under their layers of issues I see them as a "good boy" type, and rather optimistic and naïve. While the other has been through a lot of bs, they're salty, short-tempered, tired and stressed out so they have the worst mouth. When they're taking up a scene almost every page will have profanity, because that's just how they talk.

[ar-ninetysix]

Yeah, but nah.

I was in a weird spot growing up. Middle school and high school, I'd cuss all I want. But me and my family started attending church right before middle school so- like, ok, yeah, church says not to use it, but I still wanted to cuss when hanging out with friends so I felt like.. eh, I can compromise. Somewhere along the line I sorta established these rules in my head for when it's alright to use such language, good heavens.

In church, nope. With friends, sure. With family, nope. With distant family, maybe. Online with strangers, maybe. For music or anything else creative, nope.

Nowadays, I make an active effort to not cuss around anyone in the slightest, and I'll even apologize if I slip up. But I still do it in my head. I just don't feel the need to say stuff like that out loud anymore. The big exception to this now though, is for creative stuff. Profanity just has this super expressive nature that can be used for impact, regardless of the fact that, yeah... I could use other words and be more creative with my word choice, but like.. just dropping a singular f-bomb has its own poetic flair, you know?

[NickRowler]

Honestly I think people are way too pearl clutching when it comes to swearing. I understand not having kids hear the sexual based ones, but words like damn, hell, and ass, it's not like people are going to die if they hear them. Honestly there is a lot worse things in the world than hearing a mild curse. It's weird that we are OK with kids consuming a lot of violent media but hearing the word "shit" is some how too much for them.

I have cursing in my series because preteens, teens, and adults curse. I do censor some of the harder swears but it is obvious which ones they are. I believe that not all kids media needs to be designed for 4 year olds, and that preteens and teens can handle swearing.

[bronte448]

My main character passively censors swears when he's nearby - which is good, because Error especially has a sailor mouth. Censored words are in neon, usually hot pink unless that's a character's default color, like Lust. Oh, and he never swears himself, so don't even ask.
EXAMPLE:

[AlydaB]

Profanity just has this super expressive nature that can be used for impact, regardless of the fact that, yeah... I could use other words and be more creative with my word choice, but like.. just dropping a singular f-bomb has its own poetic flair, you know?

That's true. And a nice thing about having a habit of not cussing much is that when I do, it immediately grabs everyone's attention and has a much more explosive impact haha

For me, it's not so much the words themselves as the way they're used. From a writer's perspective, profanity can be powerful.

[powerplantanimations]

PERFECT EXAMPLE LMAO. It's like okay, so when a person sees a swear word in their head they're like "fu --" oop. Can't say that. But these symbols stuff just slips out in the brain. Also when little children read it they're like "what does this mean?" so you're having your cake and eating it too :v

Btw fun fact:
The voice actor was actually going "tststssss" in the booth as Mr. Frog.

[TheLemmaLlama]

I don't tend to swear or write swears, but not because I have anything against it morally, it just ... doesn't come naturally to me? Like if I'm truly frustrated, I tend towards incoherent screaming, and I also find it amusing to say stuff like 'fudge' or 'holy carp' in lieu of their more swearish counterparts.

I also never censor swears with symbols. It either ruins the mood of the scene or if it doesn't, @#^(Q$ isn't as amusing as divine fish anyways

[powerplantanimations]

@Stargazer31 That's another great idea because you're worldbuilding and you're able to foreshadow characters or significant events.

@AlydaB I won't lie excessive swearing can get really old for me as well. I remember watching Peacemaker/The Suicide Squad... or Kick-Ass... or anything made by Mark Millar or James Gunn "OKAY! WE GET IT!" (Saying this as someone who loves James Gunn's work)!". That being said, Boondocks and Quentin Tarantino films will forever be the masters of using swear words properly lmao.

@UrMom I dunno. For me, the only characters who swear are the ones trying to act tough. Whenever I have a serious scene, obviously #@$% would be too silly, but that's why I like using that as an opportunity to just try to challenge myself to make the scene as tense as possible to the point where it's scarier to use no swear words than to use swear words. I would always remember this thing where soldiers would swear a lot when they play around. They'll be like "GET YOUR %$@%ing gun!". But when things are serious, they drop the swears to show how urgent they are. "GET YOUR GUN" I also feel like when a person is in a tense situation it's just frightening to see them not swearing. I dunno. That's my family has a completely different philosophy with swearing. I do have a similar swear gauge, although for me it's for the amount of innuendos I drop for each character lol.

@TheLemmaLlama I guess it just boils down to personal experience lmao. I swear when I get mad and I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE it. I also swear in online chats, but if you meet me, I'll just try to stay away from it and try to make my humor as clean as possible. I also try to stay away from toilet humor. Too gross for me in real life, but too easy online. Not really a pearl clutching thing, but more of a "I gag whenever someone makes a toilet joke, WHY?". That said, I will have characters making toilet jokes since... I mean c'mon... if certain villains AND heroes in my stories find murder, racism, misogyny, funny then I think I'm going overboard with me banning toilet humor. (There's going to be this one character. OH MY GOD I'm going to hate writing their jokes).

[TheLemmaLlama]

online chats

That reminds me, swear filters in some communities are hilarious :'D You get gems such as:

• gently carress
• poo poo
• flummery
• pillion
• snap crackle pop
• child born out of wedlock
• prithee transport thyself to tarnation

To the point I use them in other online spaces and even in real life (idk if I actually done the latter but I totally would :D)

[powerplantanimations]

I need some swear filters. Someone ranting would probably realize how stupid they're acting lmao.

[goatbat]

I don't swear too often, but I've grown used to it over the years. I definitely used to get squicked out, but after going online more & getting a lot more guy friends in college . . . well, I've certainly gotten accustomed to it, lol. I just have trouble with switching my conversations to fit the setting, so IRL I've tried to tone down using the f-bomb nearly completely as I don't want to get in trouble for unprofessional language in the workplace, and that'd probably be the most awkward to let slip around a colleague.

I decided to keep some swearing in my comic since it fits my protagnonist's character & helps to distinguish her dialogue from other main cast. But, I decided to go by Breaking Bad rules, so I won't let her let off an F-bomb unless there's an actually serious dramatic beat. So it's just more mild, PG-13 ish swearing.

I am pretty okay with censored swears though- I still do love the Spongebob dolphin bit lmao.

[Awesomeness_Studios]

Fun fact: I was actually almost seriously considering allowing swearing in my comic. I even asked it in a poll, but most people ended up saying no

As I talked with others individually, it seems people find my comic to be too nice to have swear words. To quote someone, "there is literally no reason for you to have profanity in your comic." So yeah it seems I won't be doing it anytime soon if it leaves a bad taste in people's mouths.

[UrMom]

Pff some characters are like that, yeah. Mostly I've seen character swearing to sound "cool", but I guess that could translate to the same thing. Especially for those 80's teen movies where tough and cool were seen as synonymous. It's so alien because irl I've never experienced that? Like, profanity was just a normal part of communication, no one ever tried to do it to be cool... but then again I grew up around adults, so I can't give an opinion on what other kids did. For me disillusioned, cynical people who've seen some of the worst are more likely to use colorful language than sheltered suburb folks. You won't find many drug addicts or survivors of war who talk prudishly.

I get you. Actually I kinda do the same thing with the profane character. Sometimes they'll still cuss, but the more serious a situation is the less they'll do it. Kinda reflects real life, doesn't it? Profanity is normally for more casual talk, especially around people you know and who know you. Most folks don't do it in serious situations, in front of supervisors/people with some kind of power that can get offended by it or in front of acquaintances they want to get to know. Some do, but it's not super common. I agree it can have quite the impact when a normally profane character stops cussing, like "Wow, they're not messing around anymore!" I don't know about you but it kinda brings me back to that stern, short tone an adult had when I got in trouble as a kid.

[BLTX]

I've never really been one to swear in real life, and frankly, I find excessive swearing with no purpose (and sometimes purpose) EXTREMELY annoying. THAT being said. I've found myself using it pretty often in my comic series. Mostly because curse words serve as a really good way of getting a feeling a cross. Even with minor swears, saying "dang it" rather then the alternative just doesn't have as much oomph. In that sense, it makes swears a very useful tool, and one I'll absolutely use if need be.

However, as someone who hates excessive swearing, I made a rule for myself to never FORCE any sort of "bad word" in. I'm not gonna look a sentence and go, "I'm gonna include the F word here, because why the F not!" I only use it when I really wanna get a feeling across, or if makes more sense for the character. Other times I use them if I think it just adds more to a joke. Which, I guess you could consider unnecessary swearing depending on how you look at it, but personally, I say it's always worth getting a bigger laugh, even for someone who doesn't like to force in curse words. Also, I think some jokes are actually funnier when they ARE censored in some way.

[smokesalty]

I will absolutely include swearing if it makes sense for the characters. My stories tend to be more mature so I really doubt anyone cares if the characters cuss from time to time Plus, it's fun to write especially since I swear all the time irl.

However, I think it's important to remember that if something like cussing is overdone, it can lose it's impact and become juvenile.

But for my story, none of the important moments are a character going "fuck you!" or anything like that, so I'm really not bothered by having a bunch of swearing. Some characters swear a little, some a ton and some not at all. It can add to the voice as well.

I do still tone it down a little if I notice sentences become repetitive and annoying, but for the most part I just add it because I want to and I can.

[MeltingCORE]

I don't mind swearing as long as it isn't out of place. Real world swearing in a fantasy or sci-fi story that takes place on another world often makes the author look like they don't know what they're doing. Or that they can't write dialog. (Same with mashing together pieces of culture they don't truly understand, inconsistent locations, etc.) Everything is about consistency! If it's a story set on Earth, then it makes far more sense.

As for me, no my characters don't cuss. My series is set on several other planets with strange, advanced aliens. It would be silly for the tone of my specific story.

[NickRowler]

Like, profanity was just a normal part of communication, no one ever tried to do it to be cool... but then again I grew up around adults, so I can't give an opinion on what other kids did.

I wonder if this is a generational thing. I am in the tail end of the latchkey kids, so by the time I was in middle school, most kids were swearing. I didn't swear much as a teen which was seen as weird to my peers but I was sort of normal for kids media from the 80s and 90s to slip in a damn or ass. Heck, my parents were letting me watch the Simpsons when I was 6. And I knew several of my peers who started watching South Park starting in elementary school. I also was given a poetry book as a kid which included This Be The Verse.

Nowadays, with much more helicopter and snowplow parents and YouTube sort of trying to "clean things up", I think there is this weird movement to have everything be less edgy.

Parents complained about the word "pissed" being in Pets 2 which honestly I didn't even notice until I read a review later online.

[TroyVSTheWorld]

I'm a huge fan of censoring profanities for the comedic value. Just turning it into a simply F@#$ can be funny enough, or you could take a page from Beetle Bailey and use symbolism, which gets convoluted itself in syndication:

TBH I think if you have a creative way of censoring your characters, you can emphasize the characters who say these kind of things, or rather, emphasize the creative censorship. Like that Beetle Bailey comic above? The creative censorship is basically cannon to the comic strip.

[sushy00]

I usually censor it because some people are very sensitve to it.