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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/22WTnBE:
Using foreign languages in your fiction.
I have feelings on this.
Much of it boils down to the fact that I am an absolutist when it comes to Point Of View ruling absolutely everything. Absolutely everything in your story is utterly and completely governed by whose point of view that section is from.
It may be necessary for words to be in a foreign language in your story. This happens. It’s important for setting, and can be crucial to plot. But what absolutely governs how this is implemented is character: namely, your POV character.
If the POV character understands the language, then the reader must also. Either you provide an in-line translation, or you figure out a clever way of doing this. (Do not use hovertext. Many of us read on mobile. You have not made a translation available to your readers if they cannot actually access it from their device. Don’t do this.)
Do not assume your readers can understand whatever second language you’re using. This is the Internet; your readers may not even understand the *first* language you’re using. Sprinkling in phrases you got off Google Translate to spice things up is all well and good but only if it’s to a purpose, only if it’s well-considered.
Conversely, if your POV character *doesn’t* understand the second language being used, do be aware, some of your readers may well. This can be a good exercise in suspense, letting the reader know more than the POV character. But be aware of it. Spanish isn’t a motherfucking secret code; this is the Internet.
And I mean. I guess like all rules this one isn’t hard and fast, but c’mon. Sprinkling a random collection of exotic foreign words into your story just for spice is just really fucking annoying most of the time. Make it serve a purpose, if you’re so married to it. But don’t set a story in, say, Russia, with all characters who speak Russian, and then go to Google Translate and look up how you say the word “love” in Russian, and then have everyone use that as an endearment for one another, when the rest of the story is in English even though it’s meant to be set in Russian. Like. C’mon. Don’t do that shit. Don’t use a language just for “flavor”. Especially if you don’t have any particular insight into the language in question.
Use it to enrich your setting. Use it to enrich your characterization. But it must be subordinate to POV. Don’t make your readers open a new window and Google the random word you’re using just because you thought it was a cute word. In a language both of the characters in the scene are supposed to be able to speak.
Using foreign languages in your fiction.
I have feelings on this.
Much of it boils down to the fact that I am an absolutist when it comes to Point Of View ruling absolutely everything. Absolutely everything in your story is utterly and completely governed by whose point of view that section is from.
It may be necessary for words to be in a foreign language in your story. This happens. It’s important for setting, and can be crucial to plot. But what absolutely governs how this is implemented is character: namely, your POV character.
If the POV character understands the language, then the reader must also. Either you provide an in-line translation, or you figure out a clever way of doing this. (Do not use hovertext. Many of us read on mobile. You have not made a translation available to your readers if they cannot actually access it from their device. Don’t do this.)
Do not assume your readers can understand whatever second language you’re using. This is the Internet; your readers may not even understand the *first* language you’re using. Sprinkling in phrases you got off Google Translate to spice things up is all well and good but only if it’s to a purpose, only if it’s well-considered.
Conversely, if your POV character *doesn’t* understand the second language being used, do be aware, some of your readers may well. This can be a good exercise in suspense, letting the reader know more than the POV character. But be aware of it. Spanish isn’t a motherfucking secret code; this is the Internet.
And I mean. I guess like all rules this one isn’t hard and fast, but c’mon. Sprinkling a random collection of exotic foreign words into your story just for spice is just really fucking annoying most of the time. Make it serve a purpose, if you’re so married to it. But don’t set a story in, say, Russia, with all characters who speak Russian, and then go to Google Translate and look up how you say the word “love” in Russian, and then have everyone use that as an endearment for one another, when the rest of the story is in English even though it’s meant to be set in Russian. Like. C’mon. Don’t do that shit. Don’t use a language just for “flavor”. Especially if you don’t have any particular insight into the language in question.
Use it to enrich your setting. Use it to enrich your characterization. But it must be subordinate to POV. Don’t make your readers open a new window and Google the random word you’re using just because you thought it was a cute word. In a language both of the characters in the scene are supposed to be able to speak.
