My characters rub off on me. This is both good and bad. Good because I develop interests in a wide range of topics that I otherwise would have zero interest in. Like surfing or vintage cars. There are times, though, when this isn't so good.
In the Work In Progress (WIP), my hero swears. A lot. One of his favorite phrases is F**k that, but he loves the F word in general. He doesn't limit himself either. There is much profanity.
So here I am at my day job, and since I've moved to Atlanta, I've tried to cull all swearing from my work vocabulary because I think there are some people who'd clutch their pearls figuratively speaking, of course. I'm not talking extreme language like the F word--I've never used that at work, at least not out loud. :-) But in Minneapolis, swearing was a little more accepted and I did do some of that.
I'm talking to my former boss's boss who is now promoted to the next level. He said something right on the money and what came out of my mouth? "No shit." sigh. I meant to say no kidding, really I did. I'm totally blaming my hero from the WIP for that slip.
Showing posts with label swearing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swearing. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The F Word
Today on Twitter (you can find me at http://twitter.com/Patti_OShea) there was a brief exchange about using the F word in our books. I've used the word more and more the longer I've written, but in all honesty, my heroes use the word. Every single one of them.
In my first book, Ravyn's Flight, I covered up the word by using "he cursed" or some similar phrase. I thought I couldn't use the word at the publisher I was targeting and I didn't want to blow my chances by using it.
In my second book, The Power of Two, I still thought I wasn't allowed to drop the F word, but Jake used it all the time. All the time! I managed that by having him refuse to use that word in front of the heroine and her thinking that was sweet. That book is littered with "fu--" throughout. :-)
And then I found out I could use the F word at my first publisher! Bliss! I know, weird thing to be overjoyed about, but like I said--my heroes swear. I tried to not use it too often in Through a Crimson Veil, Eternal Nights, or my story in Shards of Crimson, but I did use it. And loved not having to censor myself or my men.
When I sold to Tor, I knew my characters could swear more and both Deke from In the Midnight Hour and Creed from In Twilight's Shadow used the F word a lot. It was so great! Oh, I tried not to overuse it, but I didn't have to really do any censoring.
And then I got to Logan and Shona's story. (I still don't know what the title is, BTW.) And I thought, wow, my guys swear a lot. I wonder if I can still write a book without using the F word? If I was going to try, now would be the time. Logan is so much less likely to swear than my other guys, so as an experiment, I tried to write the entire book without using that one little four-letter word.
How did I do, you ask? Very well, thank you. :-) The word only appears once and my hero doesn't say it, a lowlife criminal does. I call that a rousing success. Of course, I owe that victory largely to Logan, but hey, I did prove I could still write without that word.
With that proven, I can move on to the next story. Kel, Logan's brother, uses the F word. I'll be using it, too. :-) And it's still blissful to have the freedom to use it. :-)
In my first book, Ravyn's Flight, I covered up the word by using "he cursed" or some similar phrase. I thought I couldn't use the word at the publisher I was targeting and I didn't want to blow my chances by using it.
In my second book, The Power of Two, I still thought I wasn't allowed to drop the F word, but Jake used it all the time. All the time! I managed that by having him refuse to use that word in front of the heroine and her thinking that was sweet. That book is littered with "fu--" throughout. :-)
And then I found out I could use the F word at my first publisher! Bliss! I know, weird thing to be overjoyed about, but like I said--my heroes swear. I tried to not use it too often in Through a Crimson Veil, Eternal Nights, or my story in Shards of Crimson, but I did use it. And loved not having to censor myself or my men.
When I sold to Tor, I knew my characters could swear more and both Deke from In the Midnight Hour and Creed from In Twilight's Shadow used the F word a lot. It was so great! Oh, I tried not to overuse it, but I didn't have to really do any censoring.
And then I got to Logan and Shona's story. (I still don't know what the title is, BTW.) And I thought, wow, my guys swear a lot. I wonder if I can still write a book without using the F word? If I was going to try, now would be the time. Logan is so much less likely to swear than my other guys, so as an experiment, I tried to write the entire book without using that one little four-letter word.
How did I do, you ask? Very well, thank you. :-) The word only appears once and my hero doesn't say it, a lowlife criminal does. I call that a rousing success. Of course, I owe that victory largely to Logan, but hey, I did prove I could still write without that word.
With that proven, I can move on to the next story. Kel, Logan's brother, uses the F word. I'll be using it, too. :-) And it's still blissful to have the freedom to use it. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)