Barbara Neville's Blog - Posts Tagged "westerns"
Dare we say shit?
This is copy of the blog on my Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/barbaraneville
I read a few opinions the other day about cursing vs. clean and wholesome books. The lead was that cursing was okay. But, it turns out that there are rules. Like you can say Hell as long as you are talking about the Hell. You can't say 'The hell with it' or 'Hell, yeah'. The writer's opinion was that (I'm paraphrasing here): why curse at all, since only some people can read cursing books, but everyone can read books with no cursing?
Okay, stop the presses. For me, a book with no cursing, and especially one with no cursing, sex or violence: no thanks.
Even taking out the swear words alone, the whole timbre of the book changes. It has to be one hell of a book to keep my interest. Add cursing and a good book becomes great. There might even be hope for a mediocre book, maybe.
In my opinion: Swear words, by the very nature of their being taboo in polite society, add a rebellious dimension to any book. And color. Why we call it colorful language. You can't express things quite as well with censorship. But, hey, maybe that's just me.
Let me add a note here: Different strokes for different folks. My idea of a great book may well be your idea of badass fire starter. We all have different tastes. If you do like cursing, sex, and action; I write it all. Once again it's:
https://www.patreon.com/barbaraneville
Write on!
https://www.patreon.com/barbaraneville
I read a few opinions the other day about cursing vs. clean and wholesome books. The lead was that cursing was okay. But, it turns out that there are rules. Like you can say Hell as long as you are talking about the Hell. You can't say 'The hell with it' or 'Hell, yeah'. The writer's opinion was that (I'm paraphrasing here): why curse at all, since only some people can read cursing books, but everyone can read books with no cursing?
Okay, stop the presses. For me, a book with no cursing, and especially one with no cursing, sex or violence: no thanks.
Even taking out the swear words alone, the whole timbre of the book changes. It has to be one hell of a book to keep my interest. Add cursing and a good book becomes great. There might even be hope for a mediocre book, maybe.
In my opinion: Swear words, by the very nature of their being taboo in polite society, add a rebellious dimension to any book. And color. Why we call it colorful language. You can't express things quite as well with censorship. But, hey, maybe that's just me.
Let me add a note here: Different strokes for different folks. My idea of a great book may well be your idea of badass fire starter. We all have different tastes. If you do like cursing, sex, and action; I write it all. Once again it's:
https://www.patreon.com/barbaraneville
Write on!
