Is The Author The Most Important When Writing a Book?

Only called it clickbait because that is what it seem like when reading it, it is quite possible that you didn't intend it to be and that it connect just fine with the rest of your rant in your own mind.
It is just that I often find your threads to be rambling without really connecting the points you are trying to make, though I guess that in a sense would be another example of why editing is important. lol

 

I was not ranting. This is an informal forum.
You come off as troll.
I won't be reading(didn't exactly read the post above) or seeing your posts in the future.(The ignore list grows)
Peace!

 

Not that you will be reading this, but if you take attempts at constructive criticism as trolling then good luck to you.

 

LOL! He just rambling without coherent thought, I wondering if he can see any posts at the rate he's going at? LOL!

 

Not sure why Wujigege said that but I definitely disagree with that sentence. An a avid bookworm that can't read books other than English, I solemnly worship the existence of translators especially those fan translators who readily translate those good novels for us free leachers.
As NU is a place which showcase updates of translated novels, if the users are looking down on translators, they wouldn't be here in the first place. So I feel Wujigege words is an insult to the whole of NU community.

 

This is one area in which I agree with Wujigege. In translations, the voice of the translator plays as large (if not larger) voice than the author when it comes to the final text, especially when it comes to webnovels which are not edited; to do his absolute best, the translator has to play the role of both editor (to a certain extent) and translator. Other times, you have to do what Kenneth Liu (the translator for the Three-Body Problem) calls 'betrayal with integrity'; changing things so that they make sense in a completely different language and environment. Note - this is completely different from just 'betrayal', which would be omitting stuff you don't like, is too hard to translate, etc. I would describe the levels as - betrayal, integrity, betrayal with integrity. Often times, the 1st tries to pass itself as the 3rd, and inexperienced readers might buy it, but their fellow translators know what's up.

It's also true that in general, translators are viewed as 'lesser' than authors, with the 'height of translation' being adding nothing and taking nothing away. But this is by definition impossible. Language by its very nature embodies the culture which generated that language. Sometimes, to get the same feeling or meaning across, you do have to add or take away from the original text in some way, shape or form. Ken Liu also once said something to the effect that when your average reader reads translations, the author usually gets the praise for the strong parts while the translator gets the blame for the weak parts.

Anyhow, to summarize, I put it like this - in a translation, the characters and the plot 'belong' to the author. The text, however, 'belongs' to me. That's why translation is considered a derivative work, just like movies, anime, video games, etc. are; they are standalone works that have their own IP.

 

Although I still don't think that the Translators are more important than the Authors, I will not deny the importance of both. As an Author, you use your idea to write a story in one language while as a translator, you read said story and translate the idea from one language to another, which is hard, but not as hard as writing a scene yourself. ( There is some exception where plots and details are integrated deeply into the story that you have to guess what the Author intent to do. However, seeing the current state of webnovels, there shouldn't that much. )

Maybe I am wrong, as I have never translated any stories from one language to another, however, I have proofread some. So have it with a grain of salt.

 

I think using Editors is a comparison. Translators are like editors. That is why I added examples of editing.
Many editors are also authors themselves
Many translators are also authors.
You can tell the difference between a good translation and a average one based on the translator's skill as an author.
Many people confuse interpreting with translation.
It is very different.
Translating legal documents with stiff language is very different from translating novels. I think you get this as a proofreader.
A.I. already does interpreting pretty well.
Those headsets at international conferences are an example... at least I thought so until a bit of googling. It is still human interpreting lol
https://www.translationequipmenthq.com

 

Wuji's not going to see this, but that aint just human interpreting, it's the hardest type of interpreting there is - simultaneous conference interpreting. I do not have the skillset for that without a whoooole lot of prep work, and it commands an enormous premium; I've seen upwards of $500-$1000 a day (which ends up usually being 1-2 hours) for certain language pairings at UN-level workshops and conferences.

 

Hmm, I've fixed mixed up names before... These authors definitely need quality control. They do have editors tho... But the sort of editors that are responsible for who knows how many authors, until the author is big enough to deserve some more attention. They give them ideas with plot progression usually, which is why it tends to be so repetitive, predictable, and uninspired for so many novels...

 

I'll be honest with you, and I'm not just trying to be contradictory. I would've probably actually read the book if it was called Pansy. Scarlett O'Hara also sounds like a Mary Sue name to me and immediately puts me off for some strange reason. It's kinda aggressive sounding. Also like a femme fatale's name. While Pansy O'Hara sounds outdated and like an actual person's name. But this is only my unpopular opinion, since the book has done very well for itself regardless.

 

If you mean improving flow without changing the general plot, you might wanna check out Prince and my work on Black Iron's Glory. You might be surprised to see that our chapters don't exactly flow 1:1 with the raw text. I'm a staunch believer in adapting a story into another language rather than doing simple word substitution, but I can understand that not everyone would appreciate that kind of style.

 

Is there really any translators, excluding MTL, that translated things in its literal meaning, words by words?

 

I meant translating very stiff and literally, not necessarily word by word. I may have exaggerated a bit.

 

Well, ain't that just the newbie mistakes that would naturally disappear after a while? I think the first few chapters of Emperor's Domination also had the issue.

No hate for you, ImmortalEmperorBao ( What is his NUF name again? ), just an example. ( Btw, love your work! )

 

I am stocking up chapters of Black Iron Glory.
It's quite good.
I think it defeats the purpose if you need a language dictionary to read a translation.
Some leave out slangs and phrases in the original language.
It is so annoying