On Swearing ....

I'm reading The Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.  The actual review is coming later as I’m currently only 45% through the book.  Suffice to say that I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

However, the author is using (or the publisher made him) use that standard ploy of replacing swear words with substitution words so reader knows the characters are swearing without using profane language. In this case, the word 'hell' is substituted with 'pit'. A lot. I think, the only swear word in the first 40% of the book used is 'pit'. Pit, pit, pit.

Now, I’m sure there’s a Catch-22 for publishers where some readers will scream about any swear words and how it ruins a book while others think it’s awkward not to use them when they seem to fit naturally into a conversation.  Then, what is the proper level and when is it in context?  And, many publishers seem to take the conservative, corporate way out and go for zero swearing.

The entire thing ratchets up many notches when the book in question is YA or a tween book – then many think that all curse words, like all alcohol, drug use or sexuality, is inappropriate for the delicate sensitivities of young, innocent readers.  That opinion seems to hold true regardless how the person spoke or behaved as a young person themselves.

Personally, I think that casual swearing can be a crutch and can be a sign of poor writing skills.  I also think more often it can be very appropriate with certain types of characters and circumstances.   I think the fear of swearing is a fear that if x people complain about it, that must mean that 100x more people must feel the same way – regardless of the demographics of the book’s target audience.  It’s financial based fear.   And, since most people who don’t mind the swearing also won’t complain that it’s not there, then it’s a sort of win/win.

To be honest, I don’t even mind substitutions, when they’re smart.  When a science fiction characters says, “Galaxy!” or “Space!” as an expletive, that’s stupid.  But taking the time to create something that fits into the context of the fictional universe can actually be clever.  Case in point, Battlestar Galactica’s use of “Frak!” was fantastic.

In the case of The Promise of Blood, the only reason I even noticed it was McClellan used it over and over and over at least once a page.  It’s too much.  It went from clever to tedious quickly.