Sex and Language Does Not A Story Make

I saw a quick interview with Jerry Seinfeld this weekend and he was talking about language use in comedy. It got me thinking about authors and what many think they need to do to make the story sell. There seems to be a belief that adding language that would make a sailor blush, or sex scenes that are borderline X-Rated make the story great.

This is far from the truth.

What makes a story great are the basic elements of great characters, great conflict and great storytelling. End of story.

Now, does this mean that leaving those elements out make the story better? That too is far from the truth. It still comes down to those characters, conflict and storytelling elements.

I think the thing to remember is that we add things to our novels because the novel "NEEDS" it. I remember I was working with some high school kids on basic fiction writing and one student asked if it was OK to put swear words in the story. My comment to them, like it has always been is "add it if the story needs it."

I then give them an example of when we might use swear words. Have you ever hit that point in your

elbow that is supposed to be "funny?" Does using the word "OUCH" really fit the situation? Here is another one for you people with kids. Getting up in the middle of the night to check on your kid and stepping on a Lego. Again, does "Ouch" work?

Probably not.

When you think about adding elements to your story, always ask yourself if it is truly necessary to the story. You can make amazingly hot romances without the graphic sex. You can make gritty characters without the "F-Bomb." It just takes great storytelling.