Why I Don’t Use the F-Word in My Writing
You won’t find the word f**k in anything that I write. Why not? After all, it’s the way people talk these days, isn’t it? Virtually all podcasters use it liberally, since a podcast is not subject to FCC fines. Joe Rogan uses it a lot. Bill Maher can hardly get through a sentence without it. Stephen King is possibly the highest-selling living author in America today and he’s always used the word. Even Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer have picked up on the word.
I’ll admit, the word is versatile as hell. Or heck, if you prefer.
Think about it. The F-word can be a noun or a verb or an adjective or any other part of speech depending on how you use it. It’s by far the easiest word to substitute for another word or to inject anywhere in a sentence, or simply to use as a modifier. And it makes you sound so cool! (That was satire. Actually, it makes you appear to be trying to sound cool.)
So why don’t I use it?
For one thing, I like to be different. I like to prove that I can write a top-of-the -line political column without resorting to the sensationalism the word provides. I don’t think the Democrats’ little experiment with the word is working out so well. They’d be better off working on policy instead of language.
In fiction writing these days, the F-word is practically a requirement. It’s hard to pick up a good mystery these days without it. Again, it adds nothing to the story, unless you think everyone uses it, and so characters have to use it too.
I don’t use it because I can tell a good story without it. In my early fiction writing, back in the seventies, the thought of hard-core profanity and blasphemy never occurred to me as something to put into a story. In the current century, I never saw a need to sprinkle it in as Stephen King often does. None of the great classics of science fiction, romance, or mystery used it. The word is a more modern phenomenon as far as literary usage.
The question is: does use of the F-word make for a better story?
I think not. I think it detracts. It makes the characters seem sleazier, just as it makes Bill Maher and Sen. Schumer seem sleazier. Perhaps the villains in a mystery story should appear to be sleazy, but murder usually takes care of that.
In my trilogy, Stitches in Time, the first story, “A Stitch in Time,” was written in 1978. I never thought of using profanity at that time. When I wrote the sequel, “Rules of Ascension,” in 2007, the idea of downgrading the language to gutter talk still did not occur.
In fact, you’ll never see language much worse than a hell or a damn in my stories. My characters always use correct grammar and speak the King’s English, unless an accent is called for called for the in the storyline. In “Rules of Ascension,” the villain calls the ruler that’s he’s trying to murder a “bastard” for not dying soon enough. That’s as nasty as I’ve gotten.
And sex! I have written a sex scene or two.
There’s one in the story “The House on Jackson Lane,” in my collection Darker Secrets. There’s another one near the end of the short novel “Earth as It Is in Heaven,” which is the final story in Stitches in Time. I think both of these scenes are very sexy, but they are not porn. I can write porn, but why would I? Each of these scenes played a vital role in the storyline, and I wrote them to do just that; not to prove that I can write erotica.
Why not the F-word? It’s simply not necessary to tell a story.
You know, I think maybe it is for Stephen King. I’m sure it is. King seems to need that word to fall back on. Isaac Asimov, the writer that inspired me to write fiction, never used that word, and rarely, if ever, wrote a sex scene. He sold millions of books. But so did King, so it’s whatever you prefer.
I prefer a great story with twists and turns that keep you turning the page. At this point, Stitches in Time has gotten nothing but 4-and-5-star ratings and excellent reviews at Goodreads.com. Not one person has complained that my characters weren’t profane enough.
A good story is a good story with or without that word. If you purchase a copy of Stitches in Time, and pass it along to your mother, she will not have reason to question you about the trash you’re reading. My goal is for anyone who reads my books to say: That was a great story!
Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter. Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us. Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.
Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site. Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.
Yes, it is possible to read a good book that wouldn’t make your mother blush. If you use the Square Site address above to order, I can sign the book for you!
