Resource So you want to be a web novel translator...? & other random thoughts from etvolare

With the announcement of WW's karma system, I was inspired to write something I'd wanted to for a very long time for all those who want to dip a toe into the scene: So you want to be a web novel translator

Warning: It's pretty damn long and I'd actually wanted to write about monetization in the scene first... lol.

Other write-ups for anyone who might be interested:

When to leave pinyin in a translation AKA Who is Ben, and why does he have a gong and a wang?

Chinese gay literature: what is danmei?

Review of Legends of Ogre Gate: Deathblade's original!

Picking at A Hero Born, the first volume of Legends of the Condor Heroes

I'm just kinda writing these whenever inspiration strikes me. Anything you guys want to read about? Sound off and let me know!

 

Wow that's long. I skimmed over it (mainly for the memes).

Yea, the truth is kind of sad. It's a lot of time and you barely get any money. Translators quit all the time because of how it doesn't meet their expectations or because it ends up being extremely unsustainable.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your articles they're quite funny but so true! Translating is so difficult, i sometimes think about trying but all the stories i really really like are the extra hard to translate ones.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I've never thought of leaving pinyin in translation in that way Anyway, It's brought me a new light to translation. Very refreshing reading!

 

Glad folks enjoyed! Please do let me know if you'd like to hear blather about any other topic. I rather enjoy taking a break from work and writing these.

Something I forgot to throw in last time: Flashes of Translation Brilliance.

 

reading and understanding one language doesn't mean you can fully translate it to your first language.

was thinking of translating before, i try to translate one of the web novel i know and compare it
to the guy that translate it here.
But those words that you cant find the English equivalent, and
the emotion that's expressed by character speech that lost in translation etc etc stopped me completely.

i think i can understand why urobuchi dont like how his works change into another form (fate zero)
since that feels like it turns into another work somehow
(not that i dont like the anime version of that one^^)

 

Very interesting to read blog post =)

Tiny nitpicky part for the monthly expenses. It's misleading to use the highest marginal tax rates. US and California have progressive tax rates, and there are deductions to lower the taxable income. It's also missing social security and medicare tax.

And well, one of the major benefits of translating is that you can do it anywhere. You can live in a first world country without living in SoCal , one of the highest cost of living areas in US.

P.S. When I compare your translations with the original raw text, your translations are significantly better. It's like the difference between eating at a Michelin-Starred restaurant vs eating at Olive Garden. But, I wonder if that's something that readers actually value. For example, this novel (https://www.novelupdates.com/series/banished-to-another-world/) is barely edited MTL, but it's ranked 101 on NU.)

 

Didn't get the last part of what you said but I recommend staying away from historical novels, cultivation and doing easy modern day stories.

 

there was a talk of making fate zero novel to anime, anf i think its kinoko nasu that says that urobuchi said his disagreement about it, with the above as reason at that time. idk what happen, as you already know the anime is created anyway so i think they managed to persuade him

 

Aye!! re. marginal tax rates. I fully admit that I just went with the highest income tax rate for simplicity's sake. And I totally did forget about SS and Medicare. It's been too long since I drew a paycheck in the States. Thank you for pointing them out, I added it in as a quick note!

Definitely re. being able to live anywhere. What appeals to one in their early twenties may not in their thirties, and family is such a huge factor as well. This is a semi-boring section that I left out, but maybe I should expand on more, in that it's super easy to move to a LCOL country when one's young and single, but harder to continue that decision when one's older and has a family.

Being close to friends and family and having that support network is huge, especially when one has a family and has to think about education for the kids. Often times, the LCOL country doesn't have the greatest education opportunities either (I live in Taiwan now, and man education systems here are blech). And if we're talking stateside, sadly, a lot of the jobs center around HCOL areas. I'm assuming future husbands/wives will want to work as well, and some people may just enjoy the music/food/culture/etc that HCOL areas offer. Plus, if all my (extended) family's in the Bay Area, New Jersey, or Boston.... welp, guess that's where I'm going to be.

Thank you for coming to my boring TED talk. XD