Why Your Story SUCKS | Writer's rants & discussions

Should Authors Use The N-Word In Their Stories?

Well, this is the rant that might actually get me canceled, but it's a very old, and taboo writing discussion that always comes up every now and then in spaces. And I've thought about it a lot so I'm here to toss my opinion atop the pile.

I also tend to keep my more political opinions to myself because I don't feel like arguing with 15-year-olds who think they understand the world and know everything because they read social media. Even I know that I am by no means that educated in politics, life, society, and what would work best. Which is another reason I don't spew shit all day.

So, the N-word, both versions of it. Should authors, non-black authors, in particular, be allowed to use it in their stories? (Or just racial slurs in general but I'm mostly focusing on white and black people since that's the biggest discussion.)

My answer to this as a mixed black and Asian person, and as someone who has been called the hard-R one directly to my face by a white person I lived with and who has also been made fun of for my Asian eye shape by a white person as well: yes, they should be allowed to.

Woohoo here comes the woke Karens baby!

Why is that my answer? Cause context is key.

In my story, one of my characters who isn't from Earth unintentionally on occasion says racist things she has picked up from different things and has to be corrected for it. Similarly, she also struggles with other things like spelling and understanding human stuff in general. It was a thing I wanted to write in for her for a while because I think it makes sense for someone not from any culture here to not understand that there are things you can't say.

If you hear or see something somewhere, you have no idea it's wrong until someone teaches you that. Plus that's also my sense of humor.

But, I held off for the longest because I knew that readers, especially on these types of platforms, would just start screaming the second they see something controversial.

I saw an author who said the color brown was boring/dull. And everyone in the comments took that as the author saying brown as in brown people and began saying she's racist and that they "def get racist vibes from it". All without ever considering the context it was used in.

Granted her phrasing was poor and could have been better, but thinking brown is dull and boring doesn't mean you hate brown people. I hate the color yellow and think it's ugly, does that mean I think Asian skin tones are ugly? I also think most rap music is trashy. Obviously that means I don't like black people, right?

A lot of people nowadays do not understand the difference between a story and its author. Often times people forget that what a character says/does/thinks in a book does not always reflect the author's beliefs. It can. But it usually doesn't.

I have a line in my book where my demon character uses smoke magic to kill an entire room of people and she makes the joke, "Nazi Germany ain't got shit on me.". And I remember somebody I was doing a R4R with got very offended by this line and told me I was making light of the holocaust and its victims, and how I shouldn't make light of serious topics.

I had to explain to this person (who was an adult by the way) that jokes don't reflect opinion and that dark humor is... a thing. My demon character making that joke does not mean I roll on the floor laughing because I think the holocaust was amusing and lighthearted.

But, the thing I never understood is in movies white actors say racist things yet nobody bats an eye or pounds the cancel alarm, why? Because it's just a movie script line, they know the actor and movie writers aren't actually racist. Nobody's calling the white movie writer who wrote those racial slurs racist.

Why is that treated differently for books? Are books really that different from film? In this regard, they're not that different. Both are written, the difference is one gets turned into visuals and the other doesn't. 

BUT, I do believe there are some cases authors shouldn't use it, such as if they're using it to write stereotypical black characters in a mocking manner or using it excessively/doing it just because. I personally don't have an issue with it being used, but I still think it should be used with some caution. The author should keep in mind why they're using it to begin with and if it actually fits the scenario.

Don't take it as a free N-word pass and use it just to be edgy or for shock value. If you do this then I assume you just want to rage bait people for attention like a 12-year-old boy playing Fortnite on X-Box.

Although, due to the amount of backlash an author would get these days for using it, I can't say it'd even be worth it. Even if used responsibly, it'd still turn off many readers and somebody is going to get mad.

This is slightly off-topic but still relevant, the amount of white writers I see who are timid to write minorities because they're afraid of getting the smallest thing wrong and being "canceled" for it, is sad to me. I once had a white friend ask me for advice on how to write a black character, in a modern set book in America, because they didn't want to get anything wrong and offend anyone.

Unless you're writing a character in a specific cultural setting, there's no reason to walk on eggshells writing a character of another race. I wish people would stop acting like writing a minority is a delicate, graceful art form that requires caution and precision otherwise you're racist.

Write the bitch like a normal person no? They're not special and different from everyone else. And if you get something wrong, make the needed adjustments and move on even if you offend someone. Mistakes are bound to happen, you live and learn and that doesn't mean you're racist or whatever.

Anyway.

If you disagree with racial slurs being used, that's fine. That type of thing isn't for everyone and I can understand how it'd make one uncomfortable. Though try to remember the context it is used in and remember that just because a character is a certain way, it does not mean the author is that way too.

And also, if you disagree, don't go throwing a tantrum in my comments (If you do anyway, expect to be laughed at between me and my friends). If you get upset over opposing opinions on the internet, you are too immature to be talking about stuff like this period.

The world will never be a mirror no matter how much you try to polish it to your perfection.