Stereotyping: how to do it wrong

[selestial_owg]

First a bit of news. The website is up, but the blog still needs a bit of tweaking (and I still need an image from one of my artist friends). What that means is my posting here on LJ is probably close to done since I'll be moving to the PRT blog instead.  However, I'm still here today, and that's what really matters, right?   So on to the post:

This

Comments

Preaching to the choir

[ldydisney]

I couldn't agree more...

A well-placed f-bomb can be a beautiful thing. If you're dropping them constantly they lose their power and punch. Then what are you left with saying when the character is in a pinch?

"Oh squirrel nuts that hammer caused me pain when it hit my thumb!" LOL

Fun blog! :)

Lisa

Re: Preaching to the choir

[k_macfarlane]

Squirrel nuts works well, but I've heard Grape Nuts have a bigger crunch. :P

Re: Preaching to the choir

[ldydisney]

Ha! Grape nuts are pretty crunchy... LOL

Lisa

Re: Preaching to the choir

[k_macfarlane]

Yeah, but probably don't taste any better than squirrel nuts. :P

NO! I will not try them to find out! Go ask Mickey. ;) I do not like Green Eggs and Ham...

Grape nuts just lacks bravado

[riltle]

I think the moral of the story is correct. Obviously, being the significant other i would say that it is easy to understand that we read a lot of the same stuff. this being said cursing for the sake of cursing is stupid and leads away from the story presented. Now in the case of Jay it's funny and is meant to be that way (at least from a slacker point of view). I think that Jay is the verbal component and Silent Bob is the definite enforcer. Essentially, two bodies one brain. If I run into any character in a book that reads more profanity than substance it just makes me think they are a wannabe dork. A little profanity and negligence can go a long way, use it to your writing advantage!

[falcatatimes]

Im like you, I don't mind profanity but it has to be in a certain place, if the book is constantly full swearing, the punch of a seriously bad part is pretty mundane and oft ignored.

Each character has thier own voice but its dependent upon what your trying to do with each that allows their voice to come on through. I have a character in mine thats a Raven. Now because the Police can get latent image prints from the eyes of the characters he eats them from a Mafia type guy who's fallen a long way. What suddenly appeared in the text "That's a spicy Meatballs." Can I get away with it? I'm not sure but sometimes these things just jump out at you. Does it lessen the impact of the text, probably not as it adds a little levity after a close run chase sequence.

Swearing is the same, it has its place but the serious four letter words have to be kept in reserve, after all you don't want your star players knackered before halftime. (Usual blog http://falcatatimes.blogspot.com

[selestial_owg]

I think you can get away with the line ;-)

At this point I'm wondering if the author's other (adult) books are the same way. Unless I want to rip my hair out by the time I'm done, I might have to check. Because you're right, everything has its place.

[dbreynolds]

I agree about Betsy. But, I don't think MJD writes her as a bad-ass, regardless of her swearing. She's definitely a prom queen, self-obssessed whiner.

Consistent with that, I don't think authors use foul language with the intent of making their character seem like a bad-ass. I think it's a matter of context. Some people use the F word in particular as a normal part of their conversation. I just had dinner with a friend from grad school -- we're both well educated professionals and we definitely use the F word, as well as other so-called foul language as a matter of course. It's no big deal.

And in my writing, my characters frequently swear, but it's just the way they and their friends talk. It's not notable and it's not intended to be notable, or to say anything about them except that they're contemporary young(ish) adults.

[selestial_owg]

I don't think this author necessarily thought the swearing would make her character a badass, but it reads like she figures it cussing is something a badass would do. And I don't mind it at all if it fits. In this particular case, the F-bomb isn't the big offender (the book is YA), rather goddamn. Again, the word doesn't bother me, but she has the character using it all the time for no apparent reason, and more often than not it rings false.

Kendra (the MC in my first book) used 'fuck' a lot. It was just a part of the way she talked, but I made a point of not putting it in unless I felt she wouldn't say a line without using it. (And Kendra was by no means a bad-ass, she was more Betsy than badass)..

I think the last thing you said was key - that it's not notable. That's how it should be. In this particular instance though, I notice it almost every time and it's driving me batty :P

So what was the name of the book?

[fuscalupa]

You don't say what book/character you're using for your example? I've felt that way before with one character I can think of, but it was only in the first book. The cursing came across as forced and out of character. In the second book it came across a realistic, and that had all to do with what happened in the first book.

Re: So what was the name of the book?

[selestial_owg]

Yeah, I thought pointing fingers in public would be a bit unprofessional, hence no names ;-)