Thursday, April 4, 2013

Damn It All to Hell!

So it is D-day on the A-Z Challenge and I want to talk about profanity in YA.  This is a topic that I've seen go round and round over the years, each writer I know eventually settling into their own comfort level when it comes to the use of four letter words in their manuscripts.  My take on it:

While edgy YA's has profanity; profanity alone does not make a book edgy.   

Let's be honest, spend ten minutes in the cafeteria of your local high school and you will realize that kids swear.  All. The. Time.  Now I have teenagers; do they swear in front of me?  Hell, no.  But if I stand at the top of the basement stairs and listen to them playing x-box live, I'll hear all the colorful ways to use their favorite f-word and then some.

So how does swearing while gaming relate back to to profanity in YA lit? Simple...use it when it is situationally appropriate. My teenagers don't swear in front of me, in front of their teachers, at Church, or any number of other public venues.  But they do swear when they are around their friends. When they angry or frustrated or overwhelmed. When their social filter is down and their emotions are so high that they forget to think before they speak.

So although my YA works aren't loaded down with the f-word, you will find it in there, because at the end of the day, you average teen swears.

14 comments:

  1. That's interesting, Trisha. Some people swear a lot, (not just YA) yet this is not really reflected in literature. Of course it is sometimes, depending on the author.
    But on the whole I think there is a lot of censorship about swearing. There's less swearing in literature than there is in real life.

    So is it something that YA is more open to?

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    1. Hmm that is a good question "Is language something YA is more open to?" Maybe...I mean I guess if you are trying to appeal to your average 17 year old teen, than your dialogue, your threads, your world building needs to be something they can relate to. I know I swear less now then I did when I was a teenager, probably because I have better control over my emotions...less hormones and all :)

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    2. *laughs* less hormones, thank goodness.

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  2. i sub in every type of hs class. yes they swear! and depending on their personality, some swear in front of the teacher. in writing, if the character is one who swears, then they swear, not much you can do about it!

    depends on the story. great thoughts on d day =)

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  3. I totally agree. If it isn't serving a very distinct purpose than it's probably pointless and can be cut. Just like any other word in a manuscript, if we can't account for it, CUT IT!

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    1. exactly... adding a swear for shock value alone turns me off, use it appropriately to highlight a character's anger and/or frustration and all is good!

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  4. There is very little cussing in any of my work, but I also build characters and write situations where very little cussing is required. Plus, now that I'm writing fantasy I get to be a lot more creative with my cussing...and it's kind of fun.

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    1. 16th century/ historical fantasy cussing is quite entertaining, Becky and must lead to some of the most interesting Google searches.

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  5. I don't buy it. I think being creative with language in literature can be more beneficial to our young people in the long run than repeating what they hear their peers speaking in the cafeteria. Just a thought.

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    1. Appreciate you thoughts. like I said, eventually every writer settles into their own comfort level where language is involved. Glad to see you have found yours :) Each genre -- literary fiction, Edgy YA, fantasy -- requires it own set of writing skills and it's own situationally appropriate use of dialogue.

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  6. I swear a lot. And I learned most of it from my mummy dearest. hehe. She and I are pretty terrible potty mouths! But I love swearing - it is a much healthier release than, say, beating people up.

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    1. I never thought of it in terms of that kind of release... but YES a thousand times over!

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