Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Using profanity

I think the answer to your question lies in the very problem you're having. You say you've created a character whose language is so clean it's almost comical, and you yourself feel awkward when yo...

posted 6y ago by GGx - Reinstate Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:12:43Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37171
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar GGx - Reinstate Monica Cellio‭ · 2019-12-08T09:12:43Z (almost 5 years ago)
I think the answer to your question lies in the very problem you're having.

You say you've created a character whose language is so clean it's almost comical, and you yourself feel awkward when you write profanity, so use that to your advantage.

Have the MC refuse to use profanity while the other character tease him for it. Then when something goes wrong, have those characters encourage him to swear, but he can't do it. Then, as things get even more FUBAR and he finally feels the need for profanity, make it deliberately awkward for him to do so, maybe even using it out of context. You'll find comedy there and warmth of character by exacerbating the problem you're having.

Have you ever seen Frankie and Johnny with Al Pacino (not a great movie, but it's sweet) where Cora tries to get Nedda to say the word 'copulate'? It's endearing and funny. This is the kind of interaction you could use with your MC.

With the other characters, their profanity will have to be natural and to that end, I would watch as many American movies as you can that score high on the profanity scale until you get a feel for what sounds natural. The Wire has insane amounts of profanity, you could start there!

Good luck!!

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-06-23T12:13:47Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 18