Authors Electric

Authos Electric Debbie Bennett It’s interesting to see how polarised people become over swearing in fiction – authors and readers alike. In books or on television, in stories, films and dramas. There’s the camp which advocates against swearing of any kind: on the grounds that it isn’t necessary, may offend people and rips a hole in the moral fabric of society. Then there’s the opposing camp, north versus south, which believes in freedom of speech, in allowing characters in books and on screen to be themselves and if people don’t like it, well they are free to switch off their device and/or close the book. There are always two sides to every coin (there are two sides to most things – except, of course, to a Mobius strip …). Why swear unnecessarily when writing, when you know you risk alienating some of your readers? Having said that, dear reader, swearing is as old as the hills – it’s not some new device intended to corrupt the youth of today. Our medieval ancestors were...