Hm. Well, so recently I was given the (great) advice to remove the more offensive swear words from my Poppy novels. Apparently, this will broaden my audience potential. Sure, I’m up for that. An occasional F-bomb from Poppy isn’t exactly necessary. (And so I have, removed them that is.) But the entire conversation made me wonder: why are these words so offensive that someone would refuse to read a story that contains one? Especially when readers know the story contains violence and criminals? Of course these people use the F-word.
This harkens back to my post of July 16 where I spoke about violence in this country. Is that it? Are we so conditioned to the violence that we don’t mind it, but swearing is still somehow taboo? Crushing someone’s skull is blasé, pass the ketchup please, but don’t utter a four-letter word?
As a writer, one who strives for realism, it feels to me that avoiding these words makes for fake dialogue. It feels like I’m sugar-coating the real issues, like I’m making some fairytale version of the truth.
What do you think?
