To Swear or Not To Swear

     I missed a lot of updates because blah blah blah life happens, nobody cares, let's move on.  Hopefully I'll be able to make that up to you all, so here's an "I'm sorry" article that ends with almost everyone already in the right!  Excellent job, you beautiful readers and writers, jolly good form!

     So, should you swear in your book?  Should you not swear?

     The answer is yes.

     We live in a world in which cursing is the norm--whether you yourself swear or not, you know people who do, and many of the people who don't typically condone swearing will swear from time to time--when their kid gets themselves arrested, when they stub their toe, when they mindlessly repeat whatever their parents just said without thinking.  And it sells!  People care less and less about vulgar language these days; my generation (and those before and after mine, naturally) is casting aside the stigma as the words lose their power, and we'll probably be seeing brand new curse words coming in to take their place in the future.  People swear, and that's realistic.

     But if you aren't comfortable with cursing?  Don't curse.  There's still a large population that dislikes vulgarity, and unless the dialogue is written poorly, no one who does swear is going to care that the F-bomb hasn't been dropped.  They probably won't even notice!

     So ultimately, it's up to you!  Find what you're comfortable with and stick to it.

     If you're torn up about it, though, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Your Characters.     If you're on the fence, this might be the most important question of all.  What kind of person is your character?  Are they rough, tough, tumble?  Crass?  Do they delight in offending others?  Or are they sweet, demure, easily embarrassed or overprotected?  Or somewhere in between?  Maybe the latter fits Clarissa to a T--but she loves watching the look on others' faces when they hear a high-voiced little darling call her teacher a cunt.  Or perhaps the former more accurately describes Thomas--but his mother died when he was young, and since she never cared for foul language, he pays homage to her by trying not to cuss.  At the end of the day, who your character is will best determine whether they'll swear.  Try to analyze each of your characters closely and determine the best lingual choice for each.  When in doubt, let the characters talk it out.                                                                                                     
2. Your Audience.     This is one I personally pay less attention to, but if you're writing for a specific audience it could be important to consider.  I mean, nine times out of ten you wouldn't write a picture book where every fifth word was fuck (although the exception is a masterpiece), and a devout elderly Christian probably wouldn't care for something like Stephen King's Firestarter (true story--I borrowed the book from the library a couple years ago only to find that someone had run through every curse word with black sharpie).  If you're writing for an intended audience, you might want to analyze what that audience wants and make your decisions based on that.                                             
3. Levels and Balance.     There are levels to cursing.  You have things like My Little Pony, without a curse word in sight, or books like Harry Potter, where only one curse word was ever really used.  Then there's Stephen King, sowing and reaping casual cusses as far as the eye can see, and Homestuck, where nothing would be the same if it weren't for Andrew Hussie's famed flagrancy.  My Little Pony and similar shows find ways around swearing that seem organic and realistic for the age group appealed to; same thing with Harry Potter.  None of the dialogue seems tacky or unintentionally hilarious/infuriating, and the one use of obscenities is, without a doubt, grand.  

                My mother and I listened to The Deathly Hollows on CD a few months after the book came out, and when Molly finally cut loose at the end and cried, "Get away from my daughter, you bitch!" it had us standing and cheering.  It was a superb use of powerful language, made all the more powerful by its absence in the rest of the story.  If Molly had been known to curse like a sailor, the line would have fallen a little flat due to common exposure--you probably don't go outside and ogle every tree you see, because trees are pretty commonplace in this world.  It's the same for cursing--most people don't jump when a teenager swears, but when a seven-year-old tells someone to go fuck themselves, holding about their person all the vicious malice they're capable of, it can take a few minutes for the words to settle in.  Exposure causes expectation.  Keep that in mind.

                At these levels, it's a delicate balancing act for people who are typically exposed to cursing.  For those who aren't--well, I've never really been one of those kids, but for nine or ten years I WAS a kid who didn't believe in cursing.  For myself, at least.  And it was easier then to write for children than it is now.  Growing up is tough on your sensibilities, kids, I don't recommend it.

                At the more "vulgar" level, the balancing act shifts to retaining intelligence and coherence without sacrificing realism.  People swear; people swear a lot, some more than others.  Some people (Second Selectman Rennie in Under The Dome) use substitutes for actual curse words while others (Doc Scratch in Homestuck) curse almost not at all, and others still (Karkat Vantas) don't seem capable of speaking without spewing forth a volcano of molten obscenities.  King does an excellent job with his character development, and typically doesn't swear in narration unless it's attached to the thoughts of said characters.  Hussie, on the other hand, swears whenever the fuck he feels like in his narration--the intelligence in his work is demonstrated instead through advanced lingual skill and the plot itself.

                Whether you curse or not, it's about balance.  Do you think it's easier to avoid cursing and preserve intelligence, or to curse and preserve intelligence?  Either way, that's what you're aiming for; preserving intelligence and coherence.  Think it over, look at a few different styles of writing, and try to figure out which option you think is best for you.  Not for anyone else; just you.  It's your story, after all.


     Like I said, in the end, whatever you choose, if it's right for you, it's the right decision.
   
     Justification for not cursing:  It's not realistic, it doesn't fit the characters, it doesn't fit the story.
 
     Justification for cursing:  It's realistic, it fits the characters, it fits the story.

     Just one request, though, from the depths of my heart--please, whatever you do, don't demonize cursing or the people who curse.  No, it's not a large population, less than ten percent of the roughly 2.4% of children with Tourette's have it, but children and adults with coprolalia can't control that they curse, and the looks and whispers and insults garnered because people so highly associate swearing with uneducated, uncouth heathens can be overwhelming.  I might get into that in another post, but just remember that while swearing is sometimes a choice or indicative of lesser mental capacities--sometimes it's just a product of genetics or society.

     TL;DR:  Do what works for you.

Holiday Building and a Bulk of Holiday History

     Happy Independence Day everyone!  In honor of the holiday (and due to unforeseen time-vacuums), I postponed my Thursday post for today.  What to talk about?  Holidays, of course!

     In any fantasy or sci-fi world (or country, or time-frame, etc. etc.), there's a good chance you'll be starting from the bottom up.  At the very least, you'll likely not be playing with a world with a Christian/Jewish/Muslim God as the predominant deity, with Christmas in winter, Easter in Spring, Halloween in Fall, and a secular celebration of your nation's birth on July 4th.  Or maybe you are.  Whatever!

     Still, in fiction, carbon copies of these (albeit usually carefully photoshopped) are strangely widespread in worlds that are meant to share absolutely nothing with ours.  Even if your religions (and, unless well-explained (actual God-to-human communication, public burnings of nonbelievers, hive-minds, XYZ, ABC...) there should be at least a handful of religions scattered around your world.  The less centralized, the more there are apt to be--in a tribal society, there might be a different religion or sect to every village, while on a planet that has completely globalized, there may be one or two majority sects with a hundred or so lesser-known religions scattered across the globe) purposefully share marked similarities with real-world counterparts, there should be major differences in the holidays so that they more closely fit the layout of your world.

     Your secular holidays, meanwhile.... Honestly, if your secular holidays in a different world closely resembled modern-day America's (or whatever country you live in/take inspiration from), you might want to ask yourself why.  You may find yourself answering, "convenience" and realize that some changes are necessary.

     Here are some questions to help you build your holidays.  First, Religious:

 
     1.   What are the major religions in your world?  What is your viewpoint character's religion?

               Even if your viewpoint character worships Shamalk The Destroyer while the rest of the world is bowing down to The Most Holy of Rollers Garba-Kane, you can't pretend that only Shamalk matters.  This God/religion and everything associated with them will shape Viewpoint Character One and their family, but as we see in America, the dominant religion tends to hold sway with the government.  Atheists still get Christmas off, and while Jewish children can legally take time away from school to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, you won't see many polytheists running around without homework.

     Remember: the society at large is just as important as the individual household.

     2.   How much power does the dominant religion have in government?  

               If the dominant religion has little pull in government--maybe your society has an honest separation of church and state, or most politicians are atheist or something--then the likelihood that national holidays will be based on religious holidays are much more slim.

     3.   Who are your deities?

               Is there one?  Two?  Eighty-nine?  What are they associated with?  Are they equally important, or are there degrees of importance?  Are they mostly human, or incomprehensible?  Do they have a physical presence in the world?  What symbols are used to represent them?  Do these hold power, spiritual or physical?  What are their jobs?  What purpose do they serve in your world?  How do people relate to them?  Are they all equally important to individuals?  Does everyone know every God in the pantheon, or does each study one or a handful of Gods, going for total understanding of a few rather than an overview of many?

     4.   What is the history of the religion?  What are the myths that are associated with the religion and the Gods?  What has your religion appropriated from others?

               For Jews, the time of enslavement in Egypt and their freedom from its clutches inspired Passover;  Jesus not only set up the basis for Christianity, but provided the dates/inspiration for Christmas and Easter; in Islam, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael gave birth to Eid al-Adha.  History--and whether you believe in a God or not, history is what these things are--can be a major source of holiday joy.  Whether it was a great boon for the church or people at large, or a huge tragedy that people desire to recover from, history is a wonderful resource.

               If you know your world's history, you've already gotten up on the right side of the bed.

               Myths are also important.  These may come from history, or explain natural phenomenon, and holidays may come from them, or from the phenomena being explained.  Harvest and spring festivals are seen in nearly all cultures, and are often very closely tied to the Gods associated with such things.

               Along with history and mythology, appropriation can also add a lot to the religions of your holidays.  When the Christians were converting people around Europe (and beyond), they often found themselves incorporating things into their roster of symbols, holidays, and religious officials to make the new converts feel less like they were being attacked, more at home with the new if they could keep a little bit of the old.  A number of Christian Saints were actually pagan Gods that had been stripped of their deity but kept in circulation.  It's like patching a child's safety blanket into a quilt--the child is forced to "grow up," but they don't cry as long and the resident adult can eventually get back to sleep, feeling better about themselves even if they don't really deserve it.

              Christmas traditions are largely pulled from pagan religions--for instance, Jesus was born in March, scientists tend to agree, but we celebrate in December.  Why?  Because the pagans celebrated Yule in the winter, and it was convenient.  The evergreen, a symbol of eternity, was adopted by Christians as a symbol for Christ, since he (and all he stood for) was supposed to be immortal.  Thus the Christmas tree!  There was also a Norse answer to Jesus--I can't remember the specifics right now, I'm sorry, I may have to check my brother's tomes--and if I recall correctly, they held a candle ceremony for him in late December.  It made sense to just join the celebrations and let everyone feel good about themselves.

               Even if the heads of your religions are not appropriating from others, try to think about the relationship the Church of Shamalk has with Garba-Kane's Church, and with the churches of each religion.  This is also rooted in their history--how did they get along then, how do they get along now, and how might it affect their celebrations?  Maybe they have a mutual holiday--Midsummer, for lack of something more original--and Shamalk orders that idols of Garba-Kane be burned, but Garba-Kane asks that Shamalk's likeness be covered in flowers.  Remember that there are two sides to every story, and they don't always match.

     5.   Put it all together.

               Okay, so you've pulled together your religions, your character's religion, your government involvement, your history, myths, deities, and interactions. Now use it.  Ask yourself, what holidays would be realistic?  Where did they come from?  How are they celebrated?  Do different people celebrate in different ways?  Do they get work off?  Whether they celebrate or not?  Or do people just kind of nod and say, "yeah, happy Shamalk Day, now get back in the ditch, your break was over six minutes ago"?  Are there gatherings, or is it a private holiday?  Does family play an important part?  Friends?  Or is it mainly celebrated between strangers?  Think.  Write.  Play.


     Now come Secular Holidays (and also the ones that ride the line).  Don't worry, we've laid the groundwork, this one is shorter.


     1.   Analyze your religious holidays.  Are there any that might be subverted into a secular tradition?

               Halloween (my favorite holiday) is a wonderful example of a secular holiday born of religion.  Beautifully, it was taken from the Celts and originally had strong ties to harvest time--from secular to religious to religious to secular.

               In ancient times, the Celts believed that on Samhain, the day of the harvest and halfway between fall equinox and winter solstice, the veil between worlds was thinnest.  They would light candles to guide home wayward spirits, but, fearing the wrath of ghosts and Gods alike (also called the fae, in this case), they left out offerings of food and drink to appease them and ask protection for the winter.

              When the Christians converted the Celts, they adopted the holiday as "All Saints Eve," to celebrate the saints and the dead.  Candles were lit on graves, masses held, and traveling performers (often children) would go from door to door, singing religious songs and putting on short religious plays.  People would give out "Soul Cakes" to the kids as a reward, much as carolers were traditionally given treats come Christmas time.  Skip forward a few centuries and viola!  Children of all faiths going from house-to-house, costumes bared and yelling "TRICK-OR-TREAT" to collect candy from grinning neighbors and strangers.
             
               Your holidays could follow the same route--they might pass through several phases of religious-to-secular-and-back before finally settling on something that might not even be recognizable as analogous to its original version.  Maybe they only see one conversion.  Do all holidays make this switch, or only some?  Why?  What's the history there?  How much of that history do most people know?  For everyone who can spew out something similar to the above on command, how many people don't even realize there's a true purpose to the holiday?  To what extent does the government endorse the holiday?  What kinds of people celebrate it?  What kind of opposition does it see?  Why?

     2.   Again, examine your history.

               History, history, history.  God damn, history is important, and dude, if you don't like history I honestly am not sure why you're doing so much world building because that's where the fun of it is!  Everything is history!

               What wars has your country fought?  What victories have been won, what losses mourned?  Did it secede from another nation? Did it quell a rebellion?  Who is it proud of and want to commemorate?  What accomplishments have been made?  What issues have been solved, or still need solving?  What kind of economic system do your people have, and what holidays might it inspire (modern-day Valentines may technically have religious roots, but most people are more than willing to admit that it's mostly a way for candy stores to drum up business between the Christmas and Easter rushes)?

               What kind of celebrations are appropriate?  Why?  Do they set off bombs to celebrate victories of war?  Sing dirges to mourn the loss of a hero?  Punish themselves and drink away the pain of slavery?  Display symbols and colors to denote pride?  Put a cat in a barrel and beat it to death, then burn a witch at the stake?  It's up to you.


     *Big breath*  Okay, I'm done for now.  There's probably a whole ton of stuff I'm forgetting, but if I remember it later I'll post about it later.  I guess what you should take away from this list is, if you want to make holidays (and unless it's explained away by a society run by Jehovah's Witnesses or something, there will be holidays because, let's face it, humans get bored), is know your religions, know your history, and ask questions.
 
     If nothing else, you can sit down and ask yourself what would be really cool/funny/weird/creepy, but totally makes sense in context.  You are a writer.  If you can find a way to justify it, you need no other permission.  So go forth and do writerly things.  Like waste your entire Fourth of July listening to Under The Dome on audio book, writing a blog post about holidays, and reading articles about a guy watching Back To The Future.  Or something.

     Yeah.  Day well spent.

Character Development: Idiosyncrasies

     People are weird.
 
     We all do weird things now and then, with or without reason, and when you get to know someone well enough, repetitions of the behavioral pattern can result in head-shaking and laughter, maybe a few, "Oh, Donald"s thrown in (unless of course their name isn't Donald, but whose isn't, amirite?).  Humans have idiosyncrasies, and they add a new layer of depth to the people around us--they can be revealing or puzzling, amusing or disgusting, frustrating or embarrassing....

     We all have them, so why shouldn't our characters?

     As I see it, there are three main types of idiosyncrasies--Reasoned, Reasonable, and Weird.

1. Reasoned:  These are the types of traits that make complete sense once you know someone's history or inner self.  Maybe someone flinches when someone tries to touch them, and once you know that the character was abused, it makes perfect sense!  Or someone is boxed in by people on all sides and runs away to cower by themselves.  Maybe they have claustrophobia, or, if they're comfortable in tight spaces, they could have social anxiety.  Reasoned Idiosyncrasies just make sense--but not until you know the person. 
2. Reasonable:  Reasonable Idiosyncrasies make sense... kinda....  These are the idiosyncrasies that don't seem to have a root cause.  They just kind of exist, yet no one really questions it too much because the behavior is within our sphere of understanding.  Maybe the character collects rocks, not because they like geology, but because they just think rocks are pretty, or they laugh when they're nervous--a pretty common "nervous tic," at least in fiction.  Many nervous tics fall under this category.  You can't explain them, but you really don't have to.  They're just there.
3. Weird:  This is the interesting one.  These are the things people do that just make no sense whatsoever, things they might not be able to explain.  Sometimes it's situational--when the guy who hit Stephen King with his van told King that his leg was probably broken in five or six places, King's response was "I'm sorry."                                                                                                                           It doesn't make sense, but it's so human, something a number of us can imagine ourselves doing.  Show of hands, how many of you apologize to people on a daily basis for things you had no control over?  Things other people did to you?  ((You can't see them, but there are so many hands up right now, I promise, just trust me.))  And have you ever just gotten up in the middle of the night to sort through your bookshelf and rearrange everything by author?  I have.                                                           Other times, it's just a person being themselves.  Maybe they suck on their middle finger as opposed to their thumb, or they always feel like they have to have exactly the right pair of pants to wear, or the day will be horrible.  Maybe they always carry around a water bottle full of mud, and they might not be able to tell you why, just that they think it could come in handy, or they mutter ancient incantations under their breath instead of curse words, or they repeat every thirtieth word two times.                                                                                                                                                        Sometimes these things can overlap with the other two--the character could be recalling that mud helps draw out bee poison, or their parents were wizards, or they might have palilalia, or any number of things.  But weird is weird, and if no one can understand it, this might be the category it fits in best.

     If your character has at least one of each of these, they're on their way toward roundedness.  Multiples of some or all of these can flesh your character out further still.  Just make sure that your character doesn't become one big walking idiosyncrasy themselves.  If your character is too weird, they might not be taken seriously.

     On the other hand, if you're writing a comedy, go for it!  Try to find a balance that works with your story and characters.  Straight-laced heroes may only have one or two of each, where the less held-together heroes (or villains) might be riddled with them.  The more you have, the more potential for silliness, or for drama, depending on what kind of idiosyncrasies you use.

     Are there any idiosyncrasies you'd like to see more in fiction?  Any you'd like to see less?  Send it my way and I'll compile a list!