: 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

@Kaufman555

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Richard, your question popped to the top of the queue following your edit and it immediately raised a caution flag for me.

I think you have far more potential for problems with your treatment of your transgender character than you have with the word cunt. Madelaine Dickie won the TAG Hungerford award in Australia for TROPPO and they didn’t have a problem with her using cunt (though she uses it sparingly).

Please set me straight if you are part of a transgender community and know anyone even vaguely similar to your character, but I don’t know a single transgender woman who would call herself by a male name, refer to herself with a male pronoun, or be okay with anyone else referring to her by a male pronoun. Would you be okay if everyone you met insisted on calling you ‘her’ because it made them feel more comfortable?? This character disgraces the transgender plight by trivialising her own gender. And I’d say you’re opening yourself up to a world of grief writing obtusely about men and women who are fighting tooth and nail to be recognised and respected for the true gender they were born as.

I am a straight, middle-aged, married woman but I find it offensive, so it isn’t only the LGBTQ+ community that you need to worry about. It raises far more alarm bells for me than cunt does.

There’s a reason that ‘write what you know’ has become an adage, because writing about things you know little or nothing about, particularly subjects that target an already massively maligned community can leave you in a mess of hot water.

I say this a lot: it really depends on why you are writing this and who you are writing it for. If it’s just for yourself, you can write what you like, who gives a crap? But if you intend to submit this, I would say that agents and publishers won’t touch it with a barge pole if it has the potential to embarrass them.

Using derogatory terms like tranny and the N word are okay if used cautiously and if you as the author distance yourself from the character using them by bringing in other players who make it clear that that character is a pretty despicable human being. Look at American History X, it’s one of the most confronting and challenging films ever made.

If I wanted to write a transgender character, the first thing I would do is talk to as many transgender women as I possibly could and ask them about the shit they put up with on a daily basis. You can inform your novel and your readers of transgender issues (by other characters calling her by the wrong pronoun, for example) but if she denies her own sexuality, plight and prejudices through your misrepresentation, the shit is going to fall straight on your doorstep. The reader won’t believe this character, they’ll just think the author is ignorant and prejudiced. I’m not saying don’t create this character — do — as you say, writing should make one question society. But do it with your eyes wide open.

Having said all that, I think your premise is excellent and so interesting. It had me completely engaged and I think it has real potential to be a saleable novel that will be snapped up. So don’t ruin your chances by landing yourself in hot water for the sake of being edgy. Tread carefully and you could have one hell of a novel on your hands, it’s really exciting.

Good luck!

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