Hannah Whatley

@daeus: Cursing may seem to add a natural feeling to a character, but, in my opinion, it shouldn’t. “Bad words” are called bad words for a reason: they are often offensive. Just consider how some people feel about this. If you publish your book, you might sell more copies if people felt better about recommending it. I personally wouldn’t recommend…[Read more]

@dragon-snapper: I don’t think that quote is from Rogue One (which I am insanely excited about). It sounds like something that would fit, though.

@winter-rose: Love the new profile picture!
And yes, it was from Zootopia 🙂

@dragon-snapper Good point. Some of those other sins are really necessary to a plot, while swearings isn’t so much. I don’t think I’d say that swearing can never advance the plot though. My point isn’t to say that swearing is necessary (it isn’t) but that including it in a book is not the same as doing it yourself. So, let’s take the example of…[Read more]

@draggon-snapper Good point. Some of those other sins are really necessary to a plot, while swearings isn’t so much. I don’t think I’d say that swearing can never advance the plot though. My point isn’t to say that swearing is necessary (it isn’t) but that including it in a book is not the same as doing it yourself. So, let’s take the example of…[Read more]

Ehh… yeah. I’d say so 😛

@warrioroftherealm

Ok, so for the first one, basically I’m setting up the difference between my MC and this other character (I’ll call him character A). It’s very important that this group of other characters come view my MC as representing their interests and character A as being against them. The impression needs to be very strong so the…[Read more]

@Daeus hm, yeah. That’s a puzzler. I would probably not do that, for the sake of my conscience and because I wouldn’t want to get accustomed to having bad words on my lips, even if they aren’t mine.

@kate-flournoy True.

Now, here’s a related question I’ve struggled with. Is it ok to read curse words from a script? I’m thinking in a play particularly. The trick is, they’re not your own words, they’re the words of a non-existent character, but you’re speaking them out of your own mouth. I know I did a small study in theater during high school…[Read more]

@Daeus true. I guess I meant more that to acknowledge their existence by saying ‘he cursed’ is not the same as actually putting all the lurid details down on the page.

@warrioroftherealm For question one, I’ll answer for the two that I that I feel are important. The other’s I can probably whip up a replacement for. The first is from an antagonist, though not quite villain. He curses another man. It’s not at all necessary to make him appear bad, but it does play an important role as a foil and, more importantly,…[Read more]

@Daeus that’s a good idea about the content advisory.
I don’t quite agree with comparing curse words to romance or violence or any other more ‘normal’ sin, as their crime is not their existence, but spelling out their filthiness on the page. With ‘romance’ and violence, you can put as many or few details in as you like. With a curse word, it’s…[Read more]

Just so you guys all know, I actually was the first to say ‘bestistest.’ it wasn’t in this thread

@perfectfifths, No Claire is not my real name. (surprise, everyone! :P) I’d rather not say what my name is on a forum as open to the internet as this, but it starts with B (and I would be willing to tell you if you want.) We were in Perth from about, let’s see… 2004 – 2008 and then late 2009 – early 2010, then we set off to PNG as missionaries…[Read more]

This is one of the three biggest areas of caution when it comes to any form of entertainment, art, or media. And I think that’s because, as others have stated, God takes what comes out of the mouth very seriously.
But we question if when writing if it’s okay to show that “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that w…[Read more]

@jess I’m leaving now. I think you won’t be far behind. I have almost finished two edits on The Golden Conch. Super pleased.

@NatalieMarie
Welcome fellow Iowan! May I ask if your part of the eastern or western part of the state? (you don’t have to say 😉 ) I’m a western Iowan. 🙂
Anyway, super glad to have you here!

Thanks everyone for the great input.

I thought I’d start off by addressing the big point everyone had about not causing a more sensitive reader to stumble. I agree. Infact, I’ve got about 7,000 words worth of two articles on the subject that I’ll hopefully get published here as soon as I get around to the last revisions and submission. As I’ve…[Read more]