Fuck, I love those motherfucking negative reviews. Shit, they’re great because you can fucking learn so much. I especially fucking like reading negative reviews of books I think are the shit. One of my super fucking favorite fucking series is Kate Daniels. Ah, Kate and Curran, let me fucking imagine them fucking.So I was fucking reading a fucking negative review of Magic Bites where the reader fucking criticized all of the fucking cussing in the fucking book. What fucking cussing was she fucking talking about?
I’ll be fucking honest. I’ve got a bit of a fucking potty mouth. No, I’m not shitting you here, bitches. Now I fucking know when it’s appropriate to fucking cuss and when I should shut my fucking piehole. I don’t walk around cussing at old fucking ladies. I can damn well edit myself if I fucking want to.
This reviewer had other fucking issues with the first Kate book, but it was how she reacted to the fucking cussing that got me fucking thinking. I can’t even remember there being fucking cussing. I’m immune to that fucking shit. Yet I did start wondering about the fucking cussing in my fucking books. Was it all fucking necessary? Would it turn off my fucking readers? Could I fucking minimize or ax all of the fucking cussing without destroying my fucking story? Shit, I thought I fucking could.
Now I understand a fucking writer has a badass vision that they fucking want to see through. Sometimes a character is bound to fucking cuss. I’m writing a guy right now who uses cussing like fucking punctuation. Shit = comma. Fuck = period. Fucking shit = exclamation mark. The asshole can’t be fucking written fucking different because he’s an asshole and assholes like him fucking cuss the way I do in traffic.
Yet I did find other fucking characters who spouted shit when less fucked up things could be said. Hoyt in Desert Flower got the trimming in the fucking cussing department. He said shit too much. He still says shit, but less fucking so. I rewrote Vivi, his gal pal, so she didn’t fucking say fuck. Frigging seems less jarring to certain minds and means the same from a fucking character like her. It’s something a writer needs to fucking consider. Possibly fucking turning off readers vs. the writer’s fucking vision for the characters.
I’ve fucking written Christian fantasy. It’s not fucking impossible to eliminate cussing altogether. It’s simply a fucking choice a fucking writer makes to fucking change their vision. Many fucking writers never would put up with that shit, but this negative review gave me a fucking lot to fucking think about.
Sometimes it’s all about seeing things from a different fucking perspective. I fucking love Kate Daniels. I never fucking noticed the cussing. I think fucking reading another perspective hit me harder because of this. If I had fucking read the same fucking review, but about a piece of shit book, I wouldn’t have fucking cared.
As a fucking author, I must choose between my asscrackingly amazing artistic vision and the fucking needs of my customers. A writer can’t fucking please everyone, but if you’re someone wanting to fucking build a fan base and especially if you’re writing a fucking series, it’d be wise to consider if your fucking choices will fucking turn off your fucking audiences.
I doubt the fucking negative reviewer would have read more of the fucking Kate Daniels series even without all of the fucking cussing. She had other fucking problems that likely would have fucking bothered her for each book. Even if I didn’t have the same fucking visceral reaction as the fucking reviewer, I salute her for mentioning something which made me fucking think.
Now imagine if I wrote the above message without cuss words. Would it have changed the point all that much? Maybe, maybe not. Each writer must find a way to be true to their vision without alienating their potential readers.
Let’s finish with a fucking reminder. Negative reviews aren’t fucking written for fucking writers. Yet they are fucking written by fucking READERS, making their fucking opinions fucking goldmine.
Coming Soon: All aboard! Destinations – Whiteytown, Anglo City, and Caucasian Central
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