Alka Translations Monthly Status Report: December 2020

Good day, weebs and weebettes. Long time no write, it’s me, a log, back with a new update for you! Or rather, I’d love to have one, but we find ourselves with another slow-going month, but it is going nonetheless. Testing is going strong in the Nomiki route, Ao’s re-TL is on a good roll with a high probability of being done soon. Kamome, too, is chugging along in the meantime (I swear I’m working on it in my downtime). WE’RE ON OUR WAY!

Anyway, seeing as there’s noooot a whole lot to talk about this month (again) we figured we’d do a bit of a discussion on a major part of our process: EDITING! But Log, you aren’t an editor, I hear you say. Well you’d be correct. I’m bad at editing. But there’s more to it than just sending off the text and poof it’s done (usually, though this isn’t always the case). There’s a certain editor-translator relationship that I don’t often see talked about. So I’ll be doing just that while touching on the translator side of things.

I figure I should give a basic rundown of our process, huh? Because that can differ between groups! Essentially, once translation is done, the torch is passed to the editors, but the translators’ job isn’t done there. The editors read through the story, working their magic to make stuff read all good like (maybe they’ll go into detail on the process at some point, because I sure as hell can’t), while the translator remains open to questions and clarification. Just about any change that gets made goes through Saito or I, just to make sure things are reading as they should. Not to discount the editors’ roles, oh no, it’s their job to iron out your style and flow, so the aforementioned editor-translator relationship is by no means a servant-master one. But I’ll get to that!

As the translator, your primary responsibility is to translate, yes, but it’s also to translate clearly. Your editor is under no obligation to understand the language or it’s idiosyncrasies. It’s important to keep that in mind as you write, just in general. If they come to you asking to change a line, or you see a line that’s been heavily altered, it’s important to not get your panties in a bunch. They’re not out to sabotage your work. One of two things can be the cause of why a line might be changed: the editor simply misunderstood, or you wrote unclearly. Regardless of why, the solution is communication and the result will be a better work.

On that note, editor-phobia is a common occurrence for basically all writers, I feel. And full disclosure, it certainly is for me. Sometimes it feels like your work is being put on blast, it’s easy to get attached to your work and feel hurt when it’s altered. But! This is where humility comes in. Ultimately, all you and your editor want in the end is a nice product. Remember that while you communicate and discuss lines. You’re a team and it’s you guys versus the text, not your text versus the editor’s. Be open to ideas and your work will flourish.

So I’ve used “communicate” a few times now. And that’s because it’s the most important part of any relationship, and work ones are no different. While your editor will communicate with you and ask questions, you should be communicating with them. TL notes! Disclaimer: do not abuse these. I’m not talking “TL Note: keikaku means plan” here, I’m talking about leaving comments. If there’s a cultural or linguistic nuance important to the line, trivia that helps understanding of your train of thought, whatever, leave a comment! Unbeknownst to you guys, we use notes in our text files all the time. Sometimes to explain nuances, sometimes just for fun trivia, sometimes to scream.

If there’s one thing you take out of my little rant, let it be (mature) communication. This will make or break the editor-translator relationship. You’re the translator, the window through which people will view this work, whatever it may be. Be conscious of that, because we all have biases that will distort it, and that’s an important reason why editors exist. To help counteract that and pound things into shape a bit better.

Well that was my rant! I hope it was at least a little informative and sated your appetite for progress. Remember when we were pumpin’ stuff out like it was nothing? Good times. Life goes on and things change. Nonetheless, we deeply appreciate everyone’s patience. We’re doing everything we can to make it worth the wait and the best possible experience it can be.

Until next time!
-Log

P.S.
Yes, this post went through editing.