As the author of a cozy mystery series, I have to keep my books clean for my target audience. Therefore, no f-bombs and words of that sort. Yes, there are some characters who would use that language, but it’s quite simple to write, “An expletive burst from his lips as he realized that his trusted partner had cheated on him.” or “She pretended not to hear the stream of profanity that he muttered as he tried to find a way out of their predicament.”
The only words I’ve used are “damn” and “hell” because it just doesn’t ring true when the cop gets shot for him to say, “Darn, that hurt like heck!” But any other words my fictional cop might use are kept “off screen” (as well as any sex and gratuitous violence.)
The only words I’ve used are “damn” and “hell” because it just doesn’t ring true when the cop gets shot for him to say, “Darn, that hurt like heck!” But any other words my fictional cop might use are kept “off screen” (as well as any sex and gratuitous violence.)