forum I don't curse, but I feel like my characters would.

Started January 06, 2019 by KR McDonald

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I know it isn't a big deal, but it is really concerning me since I don't feel like the book feels genuine enough without it. And I would really like some help on this issue.

Three possibilities:

• mention that they cursed without going into the detail of what they said.

  Example: The paper dragged along the tip of his thumb and cut a thin fine line. Jason swore and clutched at his finger. "Of all the things to happen today…" he muttered.

• Come up with custom swears that may mean something to the character but don't mean anything to us.

  Example: "What the Diddle is going on here?" Jason asked.
  His sister flinched and shook her head in disapproval. "I know you're upset, but there's no need for this kind of language," she scolded.

• Have them swear.

Options I don't recommend:

• Censoring yourself

  "F@&$ing s@#&!" Jason screamed.

• Using real world alternatives if you don't think the character would realistically use them.

  Jason wiped the blood off his blade. It wasn't easy, leading a crime syndicate in the richest and most corrupt city in the world, but he made do.
  The knife slipped and caught in his thumb as he stowed it in its hidden sheath. "Ah fudge," he snapped and brought it up to lick the blood off. "Just what I needed today, eh?"

Thank you for the ideas!

I feel you mate. I am a Christian dude so I had this huge struggle about this.
I eventually decided not to put my views over the character. Too much self projection is a very bad thing.
So I now have characters that I would seriously disagree with. (And not just the villains.)
And now I have characters that swear. My advice: To a certain extent you control who your characters are. Make sure they are not the kind of people to swear. That said, if you don't; don't sweat it. The world has people that swear and so should some book people. Also you can do the "he swore" thing as well. As well as censoring a little bit. For instance in my darkest book I use the F bomb once. Because it makes sense. Sometimes it is perfectly reasonable to swear. My dad once said when we watched Maze Runner, "Well if you're going to swear, that's the time to do it."
So, whatever choice you make, just be mindful.

This reminds me of a quote a saw a while back. I don't remember the exact wording, but it essentially said a good writer doesn't make characters, they make people.
Whatever your views are, make sure they don't bleed into the character so much it takes away from their personality. You and your characters aren't the same person, so if you think they would swear they probably would.
If you really don't want to write any swear words, then I would say just go with the "he swore" option. Censoring your words usually looks a little odd, unless you're writing a comic book.