Cursing in narration

JonSwift · Aug 4, 2009

Is cursing in straight narration from a clinically detached third person perspective okay? I can't remember seeing a narrator use obscene language wtihout the character the narrator is describing actually using foul language. Or is this the narrator intruding a tad too much? In first person, I know it's okay if that's how the protag talks but what about third person?

thethinker42 · Aug 4, 2009

Even in third person, I'm still pretty well embedded in the character's head, so I narrate in his/her voice. If s/he curses a lot, then yes, it'll show up in the narration. Less than in dialogue, but it happens.

Fox The Cave · Aug 4, 2009

Yep, if i'm telling the story in third person limited and we're following the main character tightly, then his thoughts can seep into the narration, so curse words can show up.

JonSwift · Aug 4, 2009

Very good to know. Thanks all.

BigWords · Aug 4, 2009

If the narration takes a 'voice' (think of hard boiled detective stories) then there is a use for swearing in the narration. It doesn't fit every genre, though I have seen swearing used in SF narration.

danrow55 · Aug 4, 2009

It's your charactor development, so I totally agree with them - do it, if your charator calls for it.

JonSwift · Aug 4, 2009

I will curse my little heart out. LOL.

The Lonely One · Aug 4, 2009

Yeah I've used it when I'm paraphrasing something that represents the character through narration.

Like:

She would prove that she wasn't just another goddamn skirt in this big boy's business. She was, at this, better than them, and she would let it all hang out.

Similar to the phrasing I used in a recent short story.

jwallace · Aug 5, 2009

Cursing in Narration

I'm a fan of putting some added oomph into a story, hitting the reader upside the head with a few unexpected twists, and sometimes a nicely placed f-bomb is just the thing, especially when it comes from the narrative and not from a character's mouth.

I'm also a big fan of letting inanimate objects speak, so maybe I'm not the best judge on this one.

"Come closer," the refrigerator whispered. "You want a bite. You know you do."

But my all time favorite freakish print trick is one I can't remember the attribution for. Whoever wrote this was bloody genius--brace yourself:

"Hello," he lied.

Deep Woods Writer · Aug 6, 2009

Real language vs. correct prose

My 2 cents worth as I am in the 1st 1/3rd of my 1st book.

I have been writing a novel and it is the same genre as Clancy and Brown with the sole exception that I have known some of the characters in the real world. You want to figure out if them getting 'colorful' is acceptable or not, know your character. Write out a short bio from someone you know. How do they think and talk ? Unless your characters are living in a bubble of Puritianism or politically correct settings, let their characters drive the dialoge. The more real the dialoge, the more believalbe the character.

Cursing in narration

JonSwift

figuring it all out

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

Fox The Cave

I get cancer. I kill Jack.

JonSwift

figuring it all out

BigWords

Geekzilla

danrow55

JonSwift

figuring it all out

The Lonely One

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

jwallace

Deep Woods Writer