The Reader's Shire - Book Reviews

Writing: Profanities in Publications.

Unfortunately, this is not a book review or a blog post about books. It's just a little something I want to change about my book reviews and something I would like to reflect on.

When I started writing, I mentioned something in my About Me which went along the lines of this:  

"Do keep in mind that I'll occasionally swear in my reviews. So, if that does not float on your boat, then I would suggest you to sail away."

Cue the long groan and distressed sigh. I feel a bit ashamed of writing this now. I was very stupid, annoying and delusional and I sincerely apologize for writing something so dreadfully useless. I can not believe that I thought using profanities in my rants would express my thoughts. I know a lot of people don't believe a rant is a rant if no swearing is being done but I have come to the conclusion that I don't need foul words to emphasise my opinions and beliefs. I can simply use powerful words and improve my vocabulary which I believe is a more sensible and better option.

Obviously, I am not degrading or calling myself superior to people who do curse when they are enthusiastic or frustrated. There are a lot of reviewers who firmly believe in freedom of speech and so do I! If swearing helps you convey your thoughts and feellings then great! However, I am sorry for sort of making it sound like people who were uncomfortable with foul language were not worthy of reading my reviews. I am starting to see that instead of improving my writing, obscenities never ceased to weaken it.

Again, quite a lot novels have characters swearing at least seven times on one page which sometimes, is very realistic if they are truck drivers, pirates or even 18 year old adolescents who are fed up with life. However, as a reviewer, as someone who only wants to share her reading experience, I have decided that I don't have to curse every time I'm in a rage or anytime I feel like I've made a valid point.

I've seriously wondered if using fictional swear words like "Frex" from the Across the Universe trilogy or the Wizarding swear words from the Harry Potter world and Ron Weasley's iconic curses or those many cuss words from the Maze Runner books or any insult from any damn book counts because I might or might not start using them. Hehe. People who haven't read those books: Enjoy figuring out where they come from, you raspberry plastic ticklebears.

I'm telling you, I'm normal. Haha, just kidding. I desperately need psychiatric help.

Anyway, I will not be deleting those sentences from my About Me, nor will I be tweaking my reviews, as I'm afraid I won't completely abandon swearing. However, I do plan to swear less, if at all, or just "be*p" them in my future writing pieces.

This blog post can also be found on my blog, Facebook and Tumblr. (Links in bio.)