Should we Clean Up our Writing? By Jane Lynch

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

I’m writing a follow-up to the excellent blog piece by Brendan Conboy on 26th March: https://morethanwriters.blogspot.com/2026/03/are-you-offended-by-bad-language-by.html, but with a slightly different slant. Brendan writes about how he left a secular open-mic poetry event early because he found the language and attitudes offensive.

It’s normal for a Christian to have heightened sensibilities to the use of swear words or disrespectful attitudes. This comes from our upbringing, or in my case, learning about the faith and following the example of others. 

But what is the line that a Christian writer shouldn’t cross? Is it acceptable to include topics such as immorality, violence or explicit sex in our fictional writing? Or should we skirt around and allude to them? Some would argue that these things should not form part of a Christian writer’s story. And yet, they are a part of life. If we don’t include them because we are a ‘Christian writer’, we risk not telling the whole story. 

I recently read ‘Golden Hill’ by Francis Spufford. I loved it, but it’s not without some gritty scenes. The protagonist is a young man with a good heart who messes things up. The story includes graphic descriptions of his sexual endeavours and poor behaviour, and there is one particularly nasty character in jail who speaks in profanities. And yet, it’s a wonderful book with a redemptive ending, and its author is an unapologetic Christian. I found a wonderful interview with him in Premier Christian magazine:

 https://www.premierchristianity.com/interviews/francis-spufford-christianity-is-for-adults-like-me-who-mess-up-and-see-no-way-out/16543.article

He discusses how Christianity covers the entire human experience. We don’t always have to be well-behaved, because life is real and messy. Christian art doesn’t have to be contained in neat, acceptable little boxes or shy away from difficult subjects. 

I believe that the best writing reflects the human condition. I'm not drawn to reading the literary equivalent of a Hallmark movie. That will likely leave me frustrated and unsatisfied, because I prefer fiction that reflects life’s reality. We are real, and our lives don’t follow a clear and clean trajectory. We’ve all done, said or thought things that we feel ashamed of. 

I think that every writer and reader needs to make up their own mind about this. It depends on the story’s context and the writer’s skill. I don’t like reading or seeing gratuitous content or the lazy use of swear words when they are used to shock or thrill me,  but there are scenarios in which it serves the story to include certain unsavoury elements. Our motives should never be to dismay or offend.

As writers, it will serve us well if we bear in mind Paul’s words from Philippians 4:8:

‘Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.’

Jane lives on the south coast and loves to write when she is not busy working on the committee as ACW treasurer. She started blogging on the ‘Medium’ platform during the pandemic and has a backlog of material there. She is hoping to resume work on her first novel again soon. 

  Jane's Medium link