Swearing In Writing
/Note: Yes, mature language ahead.
There’s people out there who don’t understand why Oathsworn has a guideline of no swearing.
Well, it’s kind of why none of the Oathsworn have laser guns. It’s just not that world.
It’s not to be PC, kiddie safe or whatever phrase you want to use. This is a game where people get horribly killed on a fairly regular basis, peasants lie dying in the gutter, and tribes of cannibals roam the woods. This is a creative decision, not a marketing one.
Some people feel the world isn’t “grimdark” without cursing. A lot of people for some reason feel that this is a decision based in marketing. It’s not. When I heard that some swearing from our world got edited in to the writing, I dropped everything and contacted Jamie immediately.
It wasn’t right.
I do NOT shy away from cursing in my writing. When it’s necessary.
In OUR world.
Here’s a snip from my upcoming novel First To Fall. In the real world (I have to specify that as the novels have a large fantasy world component as well). Val gets offended the way someone refers to Mini, his wife, and snaps:
“Jokes. Fine.” he spits. “Fuck yous. Fine. Call me dickhead a thousand times. Fine. If I bring up me and Mini and our personal life, it’s my place to do so. I talk about us. My place. Not yours. Not yours. Back. The fuck. Off.”
In the real world, we get it, we know how angry Val is. Yes, the words and the swears convey it. And now you understand, it has nothing to do with me offending sensibilities or anything like that. These curses make sense to the character. If you read Happy Birthday, Daniel DeHaft, that novella is sprinkled with swears. Because it makes sense. It takes place in this world and someone is in a dire situation. They curse.
In Oathsworn, there really shouldn’t be cursing. Let me tell you why this is an extremely important rule to me and why it makes it more grimdark. This is character and world building. This is not about who gets offended. It's why it works. To me.
World. Building. Not this world. We need to pick it up and remove it. The roots of their lives are different. When things get polite, they greet with “Pot's Peace”. That's not of this world. Why would they then swear in this world?
If you listen to the Tarren’s Table podcasts, or read those threads either here or on BoardGameGeek, you will notice that he has certain speech quirks. They are not of this world. He says “Am I joking” and “Am I not telling the truth” as an emphasis after some jokes. These are stilted lines, where today we say “AmIRight”. I can’t picture anyone in modern times saying a quip and following with “Am I not telling the truth”.
Just like Tarren will not say “Fuck, yeah,” in a response. It is not that character. It is not that world.
There's a line in one of the playthroughs of chapter one out there. I won't get too spoilery, and not an exact quote, but it's something along the lines of:
If you find that whoreson, I wouldn't mind if you killed him.
Whew. That's kind of... gritty. There's a weight there.
OR
If you find that asshole, I wouldn't mind if you killed him.
That's kind of... Brooklyn? It's lazy.
OR
If you find that motherfucker, I wouldn't mind if you killed him.
That's Sam Jackson. The moment we can get him on-board, I will edit that line. But you see what happened? It became Sam Jackson. Another character.
As soon as I hear a swear like that, I'm struck with two things. 1) That's unimaginative. 2) I just defined that character as someone people know in the real world.
Whoreson. It's a swear from another time. It's not something you hear everyday. I am not plucking you up with a word thrown around in schoolyards.
I am standing by this not as a marketing person looking to sell 5 more.
I am standing by this as an artist.
For emphasis to those who only understand a certain vernacular: There is not fucking swearing in Oathsworn.
I do not expect everyone to share my vision. That wouldn't be art. It's OK to not agree. But to think we watered it down is simply wrong. I'm just asking you look at it from where I'm standing.
