— Mark Paxson
Do you worry about whether your book has offensive content? I’m going to bring up a specific example, but I’m sure this could apply more broadly. (For instance, a friend from high school that I reconnected with a few years ago, read one of my stories and didn’t like it because of some foul language.)
No … my example today is the n word. Hopefully, I don’t need to spell it out for you because it truly is an offensive word and you should know what I’m referring to. A word I never want to say, but … I have written a couple of stories in which the characters have. Because it’s who they are. To me, the art of fiction, while fictional, also must reflect the reality of the human existence. Unfortunately, there remain among us many who are racists and who don’t hesitate to use that word, or other offensive words. So, a couple of my characters have, in ways that I think are appropriate to their character and are not egregious, used the n word.
In connection with a conversation I was having on Twitter about another topic, I asked whether me using the n word in my fiction made me a racist. The response I got was that the person I was talking to couldn’t answer that question since she is white. That I would have to ask that question of people who are more directly impacted by the word.
In response to that, I reached out to an African-American writer that I know and asked her the following:
Does the use of the n word in fiction bother you? In any instance, or as long as it fits the character and the context is it okay? Does it matter if the writer is white or African-American? Or is this something that doesn’t matter to you?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. While I believe that fiction is fiction, it also reflects reality. And humanity has a whole lot of ugliness. At the same time, I don’t want to be too offensive.
Here is her response. And I’ve removed certain details to ensure that her identity is unknown. Other than that, I’ve left it unedited, complete with the n word fully visible and there.
Hey Mark, I think that we cannot hide from these words, nor pretend that these characters don’t use them. I do have a serious problem with excessive usage. But sometimes I’m in the middle and think that it’s time to move on, with violence on their rise and people who they have proven themselves to be.
[Deleted] … for years I could not bring myself to go see “Showboat,” because of the opening song lyrics. “Niggers all work on the Mississippi, Niggers all work while the white man play.” I knew the story, but just couldn’t sit in the audience and listen to that word being used over and over. On the other hand, I also couldn’t handle the whole miscegenation part of the story.
“Showboat is one of the earliest musicals to focus on serious topics and occupies a very important place in the history of the musical.
Then, I pulled it together and went to see a production because I realized that it could be a teachable moment. A few years later, I’d heard that a production in the 60’s had changed the lyrics to, “colored folks work on the Mississippi…”Then several years later, “Negros all Work… and eventually, to honor the multi ethnic cast, “We all work here on the Mississippi…” That also seems to be absolutely ridiculous, the content is extremely important.
A recent production decided to create a high level, professional recording that included a prestigious African American choir, singing the ensemble numbers. They refused to sing the original words. I get it, I don’t think that I could sing them either. I think a lot of that comes from an individual’s experience with that word.
I have never been called that word to my face, though I do believe it would trigger me. But I know that my dad had to endure it countless times and he was always demeaned by its usage. It’s a complicated issue and I don’t think that I have a great solution. I might say something different tomorrow, especially if I think that the usage is gratuitous.
A funny solution that I once read in a short work of fiction told the story a group of homeboys who had a white boy who was a part of their crew. The hommies all called each other, “Nigger, but would not allow the white boy to join in, in what they called a term of familiarity and love. The white guy could not figure out how to get them to let him use it, so he adopted the term, “my zigger,” which they were all very comfortable with, and I thought was a clever way to make a point.
Once a friend asked me if she could call me “Nig.” I said no. She wouldn’t let it go. We are not friends today. Although there were several other issues.
Although not directly connected, I once received a call from a former clarinet teacher of mine. I had not spoken to this guy in over 20 years and he wanted to know if I thought OJ did it.
In short, I do believe that the intent and the context is so important.
I have a podcast that I started a year or two ago. I read one of my short stories, or an opening chapter, and throw it into the podcasting void for a handful of people to listen to. I haven’t done anything on it for months. There are a number of reasons for that. For instance, I stumble over words a couple of times in each episode and I haven’t learned how to edit those out. But one of the biggest reasons is that I want my next episode to be one of those stories in which the n word makes an appearance. I’m concerned about that, and it would require me to actually say the word out loud and put it out publicly, instead of writing it on the screen and quietly publishing the story amidst a collection of other stories.
I wonder what you think of this. It’s a cousin to the idea of trigger warnings, I believe. Are there offensive words you would consider forbidden in fiction that you either write or read? Or are you open to anything that is on the page? Should writers take into consideration whether the content of their stories will be offensive to some readers? Should readers be open-minded about these types of things?
I’ve decided at this point that I need to do this. I need to read the story and put it out on my podcast. Why? Because it’s real and I’d like it to generate a conversation about this stuff. I fundamentally believe that fiction must reflect human realities, including all of the ugliness.
Writers Supporting Writers 
We will never exhaust our ability to be offended.
Civilization will be paying the debt of slavery for at least another century. Until then, I’d err on the side of forbearance and refrain.
That said, I’d gladly write a fantasy/scifi story where there were derogatory terms applied with vehemence and bigotry — but those terms would be artificially constructed and only contextually “offensive”.
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I hear you.
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I’ve struggled with the same question. In a short story about a civil rights activist in 1963, I used the n-word in its entirety in the climactic scene of the story. The character who said it was a horrible racist. If I’d substituted another word, the whole point of the story would have been lost.
The novel I’m currently working on is set in 1967, and race plays a prominent place in one of the storylines. In the climactic scene, I had the character say “colored,” even though he would actually have said the n-word. In this instance, substituting a different word (albeit offensive in its own right) didn’t change the meaning of the storyline.
I’ll be very interested to hear others weigh in on this question.
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It is a struggle. I hate the word, but when a character I write would use it, I have no problem writing the word. Maybe I should just stay away from racist characters? Nah, I can’t do that, because some of my stories have racists. Not a lot, but occasionally and when they pop up in the story, I gotta be honest to who they are, how they think, and what they would say.
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In the case of the short story, I struggled with it, then had to remain true to the story. In the novel, I’ve gone the route of self-censorship.
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I really struggle with the idea of self-censorship. One of the current controversies is rights holders modernizing language in classics that have things that people may consider offensive today. Self-censorship seems like doing that to one’s own creation before it’s even out there. Understand that I’m not being critical of your choice. I get it. I’m just reluctant to do that.
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I really struggle with it as well.
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Which means your heart is in the right place. Anybody who says this is an east issue … hmmm.
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To me, it’s less about specific words than about general context. Harper Lee and H.P. Lovecraft both wrote books that used this word, but with very different intentions. Lee was attacking racial hatred, Lovecraft was endorsing it. That makes a big difference.
By the way, I’m currently reading a book that addresses this very topic in an interesting way. Hard to explain without spoiling the book, but the way the author deals with offensive language is via a character who says offensive things, but the narrator never quotes him directly; just says, “then he used a very insensitive term.”
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Email me the name of the book.
And I agree that, as my friend said in her response to me, it depends on intent and context.
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I used that word in The Friendship of Mortals, which I wrote in 2000-2001 and published in 2010. It’s used twice in one paragraph and makes sense in context, but isn’t absolutely necessary, If I were writing that novel today, I would choose a different word, but at the time I thoughtlessly stuck it in because it was what the minor character would have said. After a number of recent reviews for the book, I’ve been considering revising the published ebooks, but I suspect revising the print version would be more trouble than I want to take on right now.
Short answer: in today’s climate, don’t use that word. I like some of the work-arounds in previous comments.
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I remember when I read that part of “Friendship of Mortals” I was initially shocked at seeing the word. But then I also realized it was exactly the word they would have used then, and especially in a Lovecraft-inspired story, it felt authentic. I hate to say it, but any other word probably would have made it feel less so.
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That’s the problem with “softening” the language. As my friend noted regarding the musical, efforts to soften the language changed the impact of the musical’s message. There are, unfortunately, times when offensive language fits and is appropriate.
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At the time I assumed it was ok to use the word responsibly.
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I do not use too bad words, since I am writing for teens. I am not writing in English, so the slang is different, but some characters would really speak in slang. I am usually trying for the milder curse versions wherever possible, and sometimes only for „he cursed loudly”. However, sometimes the words choice makes the characterization too, and, sparringly, I use a stronger word if really required by the context. Of course, it is clear that I as author would never endorse such vocabulary, and there are only bad characters who say them.
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It’s an odd thing … when I first started writing and I heard writers talk about their characters taking the story in their own direction (or something like that), it thought that was odd because the writer has ultimate control. But now, thinking about this topic, I get what those writers were saying. Yes, the writer has ultimate control, but sometimes when you set up a particular character, he or she will do things you never expected. And you gotta go with it.
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When I started constructing my future history (In The Termite Queen and the series The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars), I wanted a word that was the equivalent of the N word (a word nobody utters without disgust and horror). I settled on “garbage” – the “G word.” To call somebody “a piece of garbage” is the ultimate insult; it says you are so low and loathesome that you aren’t even worthy to be recycled (in the 28th century nearly everything is recycled). I never have used the N word in my writings, but I don’t write about our own century.
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Yes. In stories where a new world is created, a writer can do this. I rarely write fantasy or sci-fi, and generally right stories that are based on modern-day America, with an occasional look back into the 20th century. So for me, it is somewhat inevitable.
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It is your choice. I wouldn’t use it, myself. If your readers don’t realize that the character is a racist, without using that word, you probably haven’t nailed the character. If they do realize it, they won’t miss what they don’t know they’re missing. There are plenty of non-racist nasty words one could use instead.
I think the word is acceptable in certain contexts in certain stories written 50- 60 or more years ago, if only to illustrate the common attitudes of the time, and to highlight the fact that there has been some, if far from enough, progress. But to use it today courts needless offense and controversy.
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I appreciate your thoughts, Chuck. But … in one of the stories, the character using it is a black man using it to describe how white people see him.
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I don’t have trouble separating a jerk of a character from the author, so offensive words are not an immediate reason for me to put a book down. If it’s gratuitous use, then yeah, that’s a turn off.
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Thank you for your reply. I think most readers would feel the same way.
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The intent behind use of a particular word is important, but some readers are offended before they realize that.
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Isn’t some fiction meant to offend? Or at least make the reader feel uncomfortable?
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Sure, but only in an “acceptable” way. It’s all about the zeitgeist.
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Agreed. I wouldn’t want to, in particular, use that word just for the sake of shock or offense.
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A most interesting post and your friends contribution of her view really added. In South Africa, black people use the n word among themselves but white people can’t use it. I don’t like that, especially in schools. If it is offensive then no one should use it. I wrote a book about the Second Anglo Boer War. I did not use the colonial language of the time in my dialogue. I didn’t deem it necessary as my book is written now for a modern audience. The focus is intended to be the storyline and history and including a controversial word did not seem to be necessary. I do read books written during colonial times and I sort of gloss over that sort of issue. I warn potential readers when I review such books that the content is colonial and could offend people.
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I also struggle with black people using the word among themselves, but I also get what they’re doing … they’re taking the negative power away from the word by doing so, but I still cringe any time I hear it’s use. Even if it is casually among African-Americans.
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😀❤️
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