Four-letter words and fiction
Posted in On Writing by John Brown on August 3rd, 2009
Here’s Joseph Finder, a NY Times best-selling author, talking about how he studied his craft, why he uses outlines, and what he decided about four-letter words and why.
I had the same reaction when my daughter came to me wanting to read my stuff. I’ve never heard of Joseph Finder–there are soooo many authors these days. But I can tell you I’m going to pick up one of his books to see what he’s all about.
Tags: joseph finder, profanity
August 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Will someone show the last few minutes of that to Scott Lynch? I would love to read more of his books, but really am not interested in 20 f-bombs every page.
August 7th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Tell me about it. He’s totally bumped me out of the audience.
BTW, I’ve been listening to Finder. I think he was focusing on the f-word class of explitives. There are other milder obscentities in his stuff. Still, I think he’s right. The story is what matters. There are many ways to paint a person and make them believable that don’t require that. Although language is a fairly quick and powerful way to do it.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I found his book Killer Instinct some tiem ago and never saw anything elseby him. I enjoyed the book very much even though it’s not exactly the genre I typically prefer. I appreciate the comments rearding the expletives. I’ve wrestled with the same issue and pretty much come to the same conclusion as John.
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
Ooh, Killer Instinct is next on my list. We’ll see how it goes.