Profanity in writing

What do you guys think about using profanity in your writing? Do you feel it is a valid way to express emotion or is it a mere lack of vocabulary?

Haha... I agree.

Ouch.

That hurts, kind of.

But I also dont have a small vocabulary either.

it depends for me...if its a nonemotional poem that has a bunch of cuss words in it thats just stupid...i have a poem that has some beeped out words because thats what NEEDED to go in there because of emotion.

Hmmm.

I wrote that quickly, normally I would'nt make such a blatant mistake (except spelling, everyone knows I cant spell for crap).

That suprises me as well.

Profanity is part of life, if you are expressing that part of of life then fine. If you are profane for profanity's sake then it's not for me.

One exception: Derek and Clive, in which Cook and Moore expressed people's use of profanity by using profanity for profanity's sake.

True pioneers.

I'm not a very controlled poet. I'm not really much of a poet just whenever I feel something I write it down. To me profanity in an unemotional piece of poetry just feels fake. But the only poem I have on here now is under the profanity section because I was feeling extremely angry and thats how my poem came out. In anger and frustration. Basically I agree as long as you dont use profanity just because its profanity.

I was too lazy to read the follow up posts, so this was probably already said. I feel explicit words are good and bad. For example... If you show controlled vocab. in your writing and you end it with profanity, it can add power to the poem. If you use profanity just for the *uck of it. You lack vocab. or are immature, in my opinion. No offense meant.

I agree with Jason and a lot of the other poets who have posted on this thread.
None of my poems are in the explicit section and I rarely visit it, but I can imagine that some of the poems may be filled with swearing and cursing that doesn't need to be there. A couple of rude slang thrown into a poem can increase emotion, but it can also make it a bit tacky.

I hate to say it but I cannot stand profanity in a poem. Whenever I see a curse word it ruins the whole poem for me. There are other words to use to express so much more emotion. It's not that I am against curse words, I just don't think it should be a place in poetry.

Actually it's ass :o)

ass and arse are two different words.. They mean the same thing, but are different... Lol anyway..

I like to use profanity in poems, and I like reading poems with profanity. I think it brings out more emotion.

Hey man I got profanity in my poems and t isnt because i have a lack of vocabulary.

I think it doesnt matter your expressing your emotion and it doesnt matterGG

Melissa: I live in Australia and I spell it "ass", though others do spell it "arse".

If you write to let out feelings, and you are angry/upset, its okay to use profanity. I usually try to avoid it, but sometimes I still use it when I am really mad

For me, its to get anger out, all my frustration comes out when i write, if i use profanity in writing it takes it out so i dont say it aloud!

Hi everyone. I spell it "arse". Am I on a team?

Obviously I looked at this post because it had the word "profanity" in the title. I tend to think I enjoy the effect of profanity. Note that I say the effect of, and not overuse of, profanity. The overuse of profanity in a poem does not really ruin a poem; it just stops it from being a poem entirely.

While I can appreciate people saying swearing requires no imagination and demonstrates a lack of vocabulary, this is not always the case. For example, someone stated earlier in a post that you can use a variety of words to describe and convey anger: fury, vexation, inflame, etc. This is all very good and well if it goes along with the feel of your poem.

"You fill me with vexation."

"C#nt."

Difference? I'd say the latter demonstrates a more extreme sense of anger, loathesome frustration. And even if you despise the word, you know what I mean as well.

-paperdoll

well i think profanity in writing is ok, because I have wrote plenty of poems with profanity in it, It's just how I was feeling at the time sooooooo, its like when u have to scream to release anger, it goes the same way in my book when relating to poetry.

Profanity is one issue, but goodness, everyone should learn to use Spell Check once in a while on their poetry!

~ Hina :)

It depends on the poem. If it's a poem about anger, a little profanity might be okay (to express your feelings).

I think it gives u the feeling of letting you express yourself more. i use it in some of my pieces and i just like the way it fits into the poem.

It's used as an extremity of the expression of the emotion your conveying. Sometimes you just need the extra umph.

It doesnt sound that good swearing in poems