How much profane language is too much for a book? This question is specifically directed at a book intended for older teenagers and burgeoning adults. I suppose that there is a difference between each reader, and there is certainly a difference between what is publicly acceptable and what is more in tune with the more potty-mouthed young adults we’ve all undoubtedly met. 

Therein lies the problem though.

I’ve written a short novel about some teens and in order to capture the language and style of the characters I have included what could be consider a lot of offensive words. Yet, when I think about books like The Hunger Games, or Divergent, or Jasper Jones, I’m acutely aware that there is swearing, but very little. Jasper Jones has the most of those mentioned but even that pales in comparison to what I’ve done and it’s a much longer book. 

Do my characters swear too much? 

Is it unrealistic to think that teens swear as much as I think they do?

I certainly remember swearing more than my characters do.

I can remember entire conversations that were made up of little more that the f-bomb with various inflections and gestures to shape its meaning into something I probably thought had value.

The real question of this post is whether or not it is ’acceptable’ in a book. The teens depicted in modern film and tv are all delightfully shy about saying anything offensive – probably because of ratings and the misguided belief that reality is accurately reflected in the content we consume. Any book where a character’s life is threatened and they mutter a perfectly refined “damn”, or an impeccably abusive “liar”, rings a little untrue to me. 

Why are we so afraid of written profanity?

Is it because the adults in our lives are concerned about the fraying of the moral fabric that binds society together? Is it the belief that if we acknowledge swearing in our media we will ratify it in the eyes of the youth? That we will justify their use of such language when we turn our noses up at it? 

Sure, not everyone swears. And I bet that even less do so ’like a trooper’. I just find it difficult to reconcile the events surrounding the characters in most teen dystopias and their sparklingly clean vocabulary. Maybe I’m displaying my inner potty mouth. It’s true that one can express their thoughts quite effectively without swearing. However, when we create characters and have them depicted on screen, shouldn’t we acknowledge their realism through the words they use? 

Perhaps that’s the point though. Maybe we’re meant to picture novels and films as representations of a better reality (even when it’s being destroyed by an apocalyptic cataclysm of one sort or another). Are we meant to look at all this media as demonstrative of the brave face and careful sophistication we should endeavour to employ in the face of ridiculous hardship?

I don’t think a character has to swear in order to be ’tough’. And I think I’ve done a reasonable job of highlighting that profanity in my work is rarely about being offensive and more about the casual language that we employ in unprofessional situations. 

If Katniss Everdeen were real she would swear like a trooper. She’s not nobility. She hasn’t studied etiquette or finishing classes. She’s a commoner with a miner for a father, a rough boy for a best friend and a chip on her shoulder regarding the world. She would swear like a trooper even though we like to pretend she’s a good role model because she doesn’t.