Language in fiction!*!*…
This blog discusses strong language but I will try to
refrain from swearing during it. I must confess I live in the modern world. It
is a world where my acquaintances use swear words frequently. The opening scene
from Four Weddings and a Funeral springs to mind. Yes, sometimes my life is
like that. Sometimes I even do it myself. I am not averse to swearing, in its
place, and believe it is a legitimate form of expression. Feel free to argue
against me if you wish – it is all opinion.
Anyway, the point of the blog is that recently I’ve read
some genre novels that employ strong (and when I say strong I mean very strong
– what some would see as highly objectionable) language throughout to increase
tension, expression, aid visual description and generally drive an impact. It
works. It is effective. It makes these characters feel real, increases empathy,
but more than that it gives them human flaws. And flaws are a large part of the
human makeup. It seems the more flawed the character, the more engaging they
are to the reader.
My novel is in first draft stage and so far in the writing I
have not employed any overly strong language, but having seen the positive
impact it can have from recent reads, such as George RR Martin, Joe
Abercrombie, Sam Sykes et al, I certainly won’t be ruling out the possibility,
and when I know my characters a little better I may just need the odd spewing of
language to really put the message across. To be decided.
Elloise Hopkins.
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