: Re: Should you avoid offensive hyperbole? I am writing a first person narrative with a character that is very similar to myself. As such I feel like the narrator should speak and think in language

@Courtney562

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I would say no, not really, you don't have to avoid offensive hyperbole just for its own sake. But there is a risk of losing audience and therefore you might be trying to think of ways to minimize this risk.

Your last sentence touched on the key thing here: suspension of disbelief.

One of the main goals for a good story is to help the reader gain suspension of disbelief. In other words, the story should be believable, or as believable as possible. (This also applies to weird fantasy novels with elfs or unicorns by trying to make the plot believable, e.g., the characters behave believably.)

Let's say the main character is a biker gang guy. If this guy is always talking in perfect grammar and never says anything offensive, it would not be believable. I would in fact lose interest in the book because of this. Another example could be kids, angry kids, drunk college kids (any college kids?), anyone in general who's very angry, anyone who just experienced something awful like the death of his best friend right in front of his eyes, etc.

On the other hand, a pastor who talks that way all the time would not be very believable either.

Keep in mind that first impressions are very important. If the book starts out this way, I would also introduce a good (believable) reason right away. Only if it were kids or young guys could it perhaps be left on its own, and in which case, your target audience should be people in the same age group.

Edit: I forgot one thing. The main character who talks this way could be a fierce believer in free speech, and lets everyone know. Maybe also he is an anarchist or patriot or something else entirely. But again, you risk putting off a bunch of your audience because such things are more offensive than normal. It is another option, though.

Another option: Make this a gritty novel. At the beginning, show some nasty side of big city life. This will paint a context of a dystopia or harsh world in which much vulgar language is more acceptable.

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