WIP Challenge check-in Day 18, Saturday

[sylvaine]

Greetings, fellow writers! How has your weekend been so far?

Poll #9580

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

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The writing has been going...

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really well
3 (23.1%)

okay
4 (30.8%)

not so great
2 (15.4%)

not at all
4 (30.8%)

Are you...

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writing?
7 (53.8%)

editing?
4 (30.8%)

researching?
3 (23.1%)

giving your muse a rest?
4 (30.8%)

Discussion question: What are your thoughts on using foreign languages in fic, for instance, for a character who's a non-native English speaker to slip back to their mothertongue occasionally?

Comments

[roane]

Well, I posted "The Short, Strange Life of Doctor John Watson" last night, and ostensibly today I need to focus on studying and housework. But apparently the idea-generating part of my brain is a giant hydra, because more ideas keep growing and attacking me.

I don't have an issue with foreign languages cropping up. I mean, I'm a Firefly fan, I'm used to non-translated foreign phrases. ;) If it's plot-related, I'd probably like a translation at some point, but it doesn't phase me as a general rule. I think it's realistic, especially for non-native English speaking characters.

[roane]

Oh! And I forgot to mention, I signed up for my first big bang this weekend, the timetraveler_bb over on LJ. The minimum's only 10K, so I'm not too worried about it. Now to pick which plot bunny to sacrifice to it... ;)

[crowdog66]

Congratulations on the posting! :) Excellent news!

[enemytosleep]

Nice! You got that drafted and up pretty quickly! Hope you can keep up with all the new ideas. :D

[roane]

Me too. I mean, this is fun and all, but my RL is going to start suffering here soon. ;)

[enemytosleep]

Well that's no good! LOL Since I'm sort of just existing on the couch today, I've spent a good deal of it writing, and I'm now almost done the exchange fic I've been working on. I'm trying not to think about the work pileup. D:

[0jack]

I like using foreign languages that way. I think with a light hand, you can keep all the meaning and add in a lot of atmosphere. There's a number of ways to make it obvious what the person speaking the other language is saying. It's also a good reminder to some of us in the West that not everything in the world is in English. :)

[meridian_rose]

These are excellent points and I agree wholeheartedly :D

[0jack]

Amusingly, I am writing some in German right now. It's pretty obvious what's being said, the speaker is freaking out because his friend's been gutted.

[meridian_rose]

I think using another language can also give more depth to a character - do they use their native tongue only when they're angry, or do they use it mostly for endearments, for example.

Also if you know phrases where there aren't a clear English equivalent, it would be a perfect time to use them :D

[enemytosleep]

Spent all last night being ill, so no new words. I'm nervous I'm going to fall behind given how many appointments I've had to reschedule yesterday and today (and possibly tomorrow, depending on whether I can keep food down today). T_T

I've done the foreign language thing in fic before. I think it's more fun for me then it is for the reader.

[roane]

Ohhhhh, you've got THAT bug. I've heard it's a nasty one. :(

[enemytosleep]

The good thing is I'll have dropped 20 lbs by the end of it? ^^; Yesterday I was laid out and had to force myself to move to take care of the animals. Today I can sit up comfortably, so I'm trying to make use of the time for writing since I don't know if I'll have time once I get back to work (and my partner is home now, so I don't have to drag myself anywhere to let them out for potty and such).

[crowdog66]

Wrote ~2430 words on, and posted, the second to last chapter of "Three and a Half Days" (Garak/Bashir, R). So it's been going excellently!

Star Trek fandom has the universal translator to fall back on, so native languages don't have to be an issue unless I want them to be. I will, however, use it if the story calls for it or it adds a bit of interest or mystery -- for example, in my short story "Gestation", where Garak lapses into an obscure dialect of Kardasi while having a nightmare. I once wrote an entire story devoted to "language porn" in which I created a Kardasi dialect and the speaking of it is a key plot point ("How Do You Say 'Seduction' in Kardasi?").

If the narrator is conversant in the language being spoken, however, I'll usually just note that "so and so is speaking Klingon" and transcribe the conversation in English. :)

[roane]

You are seriously my role model in terms of crazy word count. :)

[enemytosleep]

Mine too! It makes me want to try harder (I've started going for 500 a day instead of 200).

[linaewen]

I haven't actually written yet, but I'm doing research to get back into the flow of things, and that's definitely progress. I have some ideas swimming around in my head which will hopefully escape onto paper or a document on my computer before the end of the day.

I like using foreign languages if I can in my stories. I have some knowledge of several languages, one of which I use with some of my characters who are from another culture than my main characters. I think it makes things very authentic for there to be a mix of languages as well as cultures in a story. When reading, I like seeing foreign words, but if they are used a lot without some way of interpreting them (like translation in the footnotes or something), then it's not as enjoyable.

[enemytosleep]

Good luck!

[insignia]

I think today was decent. I'm still not making a whole lot of progress, but I've gone back to my main WIP and started sorting out some character motivations. Also wrote down another neat new idea for my second WIP, along with a snippet of dialogue. I think I'm on the right track.

[enemytosleep]

Sorting is good. I hope you can get some stuff penned down soon. :D

[luna_plath]

I haven't written much today, just a couple hundred words but this week has been productive as a whole.

Foreign languages can be useful in fic, but if the author doesn't speak/have a decent amount of familiarity with that language and they're just trying to throw some in there, it kind of bothers me. I only notice this in fics that are written in English with a French character, as French is the only other language I'm familiar with. Substituting words like "yes" "but" and other common words doesn't feel authentic to me, but incorporating expressions that aren't easily translatable to English can add so much depth. I guess it can add or detract from the writing, depending on how the addition is used.

[pinstripefedora]

Today I went back and revised some of what I wrote yesterday, which mainly consisted of fleshing out some bare bones dialogue and getting rid of and/or rewriting some weird internal monologues that didn't quite fit with what was going on. I also kind of had an epiphany as to how I could cut the length of this scene in half, but I'm not sure if I should do it or not. I tried making a list of all the pros and cons of either way, but the results were pretty even, and it seems like either way it's going to lose something. I don't know, I'll sleep on it.

As far as foreign language use in fic goes, my general rule is, "unless it's either a word that has no reasonable equivalent or it's part of somebody's characterization, leave it out." Part of this probably has to do with the fact that there have been writers in my fandom who have written large chunks of dialogue entirely in Japanese, sometimes without any translation aids whatsoever, for seemingly little reason at all other than because they can (one of the more memorably unpleasant offenders even went so far as to mock those who complained, saying it was their fault for not knowing enough Japanese). Now whenever I see unnecessary foreign language use I tend to make a >:( face purely out of reflex.