: Re: Are words like 'cunt' too provocative for use in the current fiction market? Let's face it, I like edgy writing that borders on inflammatory. I read less for entertainment than I do for expanding

@Holmes449

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I see nothing wrong with it; as long as you know it turns some readers off, and may get your book in the not-suitable-for-(work, kids, the devout religious).

IMO such words are a fact of life; we use them, particularly joking with friends, with lovers in the heat of sexual activity, and in extreme anger. If they are used in a plausible context, it increases the immersion and realism of the world.

Cursing is part of the human experience, as far as I am concerned. In fact, to me they can be necessary in writing, few things break my suspension of disbelief quicker (and cause me irritation for doing so) than watching a movie censored for TV to replace "fuck you" with "duck you", or "bitch with glitch" or whatever they are doing. It is so out of place it is jarring and ruins the tension, or payoff, or whatever was good about the scene.

And to me, the recent trend on cable to allow "fuck" and "shit" makes the shows better, the writer's know when they should be used and fit. It may be space opera, but if anybody thinks we won't be cursing up a storm in space they've got another think coming.

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