December 20, 2010

"Dirty" words

I don't know if you're counting the "bad" words I've used here but if you are, you know the total is zero. I've also written three and a half books and I believe I used a "bad" word once, and only for comic effect.

The reason I don't use them is that there's no need -- plus they're not a good fit for my writing. Mind you, I could see writing something specific that required tons of "curse" words because it was intrinsic to the piece. But in the sorts of things I write, the need doesn't arise.

On the other hand, I put "dirty", "bad" and "curse" in quotes because there's absolutely nothing wrong with "dirty" words. In conversation it's sometimes appropriate and fun to speak this way. It's not a big deal.

Words are just words. They're fine and innocent. Note that I'm not talking about ethnic or sexual slurs here; just words that the stereotypical sailor might use. As for the others, that's a different post.

I don't use "dirty" words when I write and I suspect I never will. It's just the way it is.

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