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@r-m-archer, @crazywriter

Oh, these are awesome topics! I’m excited…

Okay, so to begin, I’m going to add my own to cents to this argument. @crazywriter, I agree with what you’ve said so far. (some debate this makes lol)

I think that cussing in books by the worldly standard, i.e. by using known expletives that I will not name because I’m a Christian and we all know what they are anyway, is not helpful to the story.

I don’t enjoy reading cussing in books, but I’ll often skim over it if the book is fiction. I actually am going to look at another facet of this as Peter already brought up the first reason why I don’t support cursing, which is the Christian faith.

If you noticed above, I specifically said “fiction.” In books that occur in this world, things like cursing aren’t enjoyable to read, but their retraction from the book is minimal. However, cussing in fantasy, specifically high fantasy, in my opinion, is absolutely unacceptable, and here’s why I say this. (prepare yourselves for a really long rant. :D)

1) It happens in a different world. Okay, great, who cares? Well, here’s why. The point of creating another world is to show parallels between that world and this one, not make it identical to this one. Granted, there are many things that bleed over into fantasy, like the law of gravity and swords, but in my opinion, cussing should never be one of those. First of all, it’s usually understood that the people in the book are speaking a different language. Second of all, not even our whole world uses these typical words. If the characters are speaking a different language in a world entirely removed from ours, why would they be using expletives that come from the US? That’s just…. illogical, and it leads me to my second point which is that of…

2) Lack of creativity. Like I mentioned above, this is a different world, right? Which means that it’s the author’s job to make that world unique and fresh. They have the burden of creativity, and I see cussing as a direct violation of this responsibility. If you must have characters using expletives to express their feelings, at least make up your own already! I usually don’t have a problem with fantasy characters saying things like “dragon’s breath” and “blizzards” if they’re angry. Even though those are typically thought of as “expletives,” they are creative and they fit into the world from whence they come much better than bad language from our world. If, on the other hand, an author uses expletives from our world in dialogue taking place in a fantasy world entirely removed from ours, then there is nothing to be gained from using expletives. If any of that didn’t make sense, tell me because when I start ranting I stop being coherent! XD

3) It subtracts from the story. This is kind of going back to Peter’s point of detraction. If, especially in fantasy, a character is excessively using expletives, even fantasy ones, it distracts from the plot and the dialogue. Everything about the world is going to become tainted. Have you ever noticed how when you watch a movie or read a book with lots of language, that tends to be one of the main things you remember from the book or movie? I think you know what I mean. I’ve watched movies with lots of extremely off-color language, and that’s how I remember the shows. I don’t remember them by their plot or their characters, as should be the case, but by the content. That’s not appropriate, and the same thing occurs in books. If you want to write a compelling fantasy novel, you better pull back on the language. If you really want people to remember your plot and characters and beloved world that you spent half your life creating, you can’t accomplish that through violent and obscene content. It has to be created through skill.

4) It cheapens it. This is actually just a summary of my last point, but language cheapens everything about the book, whether it’s fantasy or not. When people don’t know where to send a plot or how to develop a character, they throw in content. That’s frankly very annoying, and I admire authors who write books with absolutely no content. This is one of the main reasons why I love The Lord of the Rings and The Wingfeather Saga. Both accomplish an epic saga without a bit of content. There’s nothing bad in either of them, and because of this, the story and the characters stick with you without a bunch of extra baggage, allowing you to contemplate the meaning within the book.

Wow. That rant got really long… I’m so sorry y’all and you deserve a medal if you read all that! 🙂