To What Extent Do You Tolerate The "F-Word" in Fiction?

I asked this question of my Facebook friends a few weeks ago, and a surprisingly lively conversation thread broke out — aided and abetted in no small part by my author friend Mary Guterson, who jumped in unexpectedly and got everybody's blood pressure rising. Mary's two novels, We Are All Fine Here and Gone To The Dogs, feature generally intelligent, well-educated women who drop f-bombs like kids drop candy wrappers.

But overall, in 46 responses, opinion was fairly split down the middle. Which just goes to show, I think, that there's no one right answer. Either your personal aesthetic and the perceived aesthetic of your target audience demands that you keep such language out — or that you keep it in.

A sampling of responses:

• Christy K., a 37-year-old Seattle author: "Any word repeated too often gets boring, especially if it seems forced or unnatural. It's not a moral thing. But if it's in character, let it fly."

• Jessica R., a Florida resident and former newspaper journalist in her early 30s: "My reality doesn't include prolific swearing. So I tend to choose books that don't include the language. It distracts me in the same way as writers write in regional language, making the story almost incomprehensible as you try to slog through the prose."

• Rabecca L., a Bellevue, Wash. wife and mother in her early 40s: "Big turnoff for me, whether in a book or in conversation. Occasional use is fine but frequent use is lazy and seems trashy."

• David H., mid-30s, computer tech in Portland, Ore.: "The F-bomb definitely has its usefulness in specific circumstances where nothing else will adequately do justice to the situation."

• R.J., a Maine author in her early 40s: "Reality is my guide. If the story is set where the people don't know or use a wide range of adjectives, then the characters shouldn't. It isn't lazy. It's accurate."

• Mary Guterson, 52, Los Angeles author: "My characters know a million adjectives. They just prefer the word fuck, as it works every single time."

• Janet R., Texas resident, late 30s: "Doesn't bother me in the least. The word can be used in many colorful ways. Overuse of it, or any repetitive word, does become dull and annoying, though. As if the character has a very limited vocab or a general lack of intelligence."

• Amber M., Montana resident, early 30s: "I agree that when an author is redundant by virtue of laziness or lack of talent that my interest wavers. However, if you wanna' see me get REALLY bored RE...ALLY fast, give me a book full of "characters" whose soul has been shaved away by a writer trying to protect his own delicate sensibilities or that of his readership."

• Donna M., Bremerton, Wash. resident, early 40s: "I have a fairly low tolerance for it in both literature and life."

So ... insta-poll for you readers: What's the takeaway from this sampling of people and responses?

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Jim Thomsen is a news editor at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Wash. He also is a partner in Proof Positive, a manuscript-editing and media-services business, and maintains Reading Kitsap, a blog about the local literary scene. He can be reached at desolationisland@gmail.com ... or found, almost 24/7, on Facebook.