Naruzeldamaster
Maester
Because of how cautious my parents are about the content I consume, I have to be extremely cautious of when and how I allow my characters swear. Which can be hard, even though I realize my characters aren't 'me' my parents are the 'what you write is a representation of your views' type and like I get it? But they often go way too far with their concerns.
For example, if one of my characters presents themselves as a 'potty mouth' I write them that way, BUT with the caveat that I personally control the situations they swear in. Even when in some scene drafts in my head they might swear up a storm, I trim it back until I feel 'comfortable' writing it. After all the character presented themselves as a drunken Scotsman vocabulary, gotta do it justice but at the same time I got principals.
One instance that I wrote a little while ago, was a leader of a group of bandits. In her 'sane' state, she swore a little bit, but after obtaining a cursed sword it amplified her negative personality traits, thus she swore more often and got a lot more bold/ruthless. Her reaction to having a limb cut off with dragon fire, instead of wailing like she was possessed was a simple 'fuck, double fuck, fuckity fuck fuck' which...personally an appropriate reaction to having a limb cut off and the wound cauterized in the process with extremely hot dragon fire. Her right hand minion covers her ears jokingly and goes 'Boss I realize you're in insane pain right now, but seriously, language much?' kind of hinting that this outburst was not normal even for her boss.
Also Regardless of what I'm writing, or what age rating (even M) I go out of my way to avoid using the swears that reference human beings (for example, the C word) because personally that's a step too far for me, even if I believe swears are a tool.
For example, if one of my characters presents themselves as a 'potty mouth' I write them that way, BUT with the caveat that I personally control the situations they swear in. Even when in some scene drafts in my head they might swear up a storm, I trim it back until I feel 'comfortable' writing it. After all the character presented themselves as a drunken Scotsman vocabulary, gotta do it justice but at the same time I got principals.
One instance that I wrote a little while ago, was a leader of a group of bandits. In her 'sane' state, she swore a little bit, but after obtaining a cursed sword it amplified her negative personality traits, thus she swore more often and got a lot more bold/ruthless. Her reaction to having a limb cut off with dragon fire, instead of wailing like she was possessed was a simple 'fuck, double fuck, fuckity fuck fuck' which...personally an appropriate reaction to having a limb cut off and the wound cauterized in the process with extremely hot dragon fire. Her right hand minion covers her ears jokingly and goes 'Boss I realize you're in insane pain right now, but seriously, language much?' kind of hinting that this outburst was not normal even for her boss.
Also Regardless of what I'm writing, or what age rating (even M) I go out of my way to avoid using the swears that reference human beings (for example, the C word) because personally that's a step too far for me, even if I believe swears are a tool.
Myth Weaver