Help about translation

[RioWriter]

Hello
I am an author of a dozen stories and novels. I want to publish it but I am not a native English speaker so my stories probably have a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. is there any good soul who can do a little correction and proofreading on my stories so we can publish them? No need to be professional, we are just amateurs who like to write and read sex stories.

 

[StillStunned]

You might want to add some detail here. How much text, for instance. If you want "a dozen stories and novels" reviewed, that's a huge amount of time and work. As a professional editor working with clients whose first language isn't English, I usually count on about 1000 words an hour.

If you've translated the stories from your own language into English using a machine translation tool (DeepL or Google Translate, for instance), this drops to about 500 words an hour. If you have, and you want to help your future editor, go through your text by yourself, word by word and line by line, to make sure that the text actually says what you want it to say. MT is notorious for being inconsistent and incomplete. You can do a lot by checking for those mistakes.

Also, more generally, you should specify what categories/kinks you're writing. People might be turned off by some kinks, but they might appeal to other.

Good luck!

 

[RioWriter]

You might want to add some detail here. How much text, for instance. If you want "a dozen stories and novels" reviewed, that's a huge amount of time and work. As a professional editor working with clients whose first language isn't English, I usually count on about 1000 words an hour.

If you've translated the stories from your own language into English using a machine translation tool (DeepL or Google Translate, for instance), this drops to about 500 words an hour. If you have, and you want to help your future editor, go through your text by yourself, word by word and line by line, to make sure that the text actually says what you want it to say. MT is notorious for being inconsistent and incomplete. You can do a lot by checking for those mistakes.

Also, more generally, you should specify what categories/kinks you're writing. People might be turned off by some kinks, but they might appeal to other.

Good luck!

First of all, thanks for the answer.

I'm going word by word through the translated text in Google translator, which is not perfect, as is my knowledge of English. In my opinion, the texts look comprehensible, but native speakers will certainly find many mistakes when formulating sentences.

I have stories of various genres, from love and soft erotic to crime pornography, hardcore and taboo incest topics.

I would like to publish one at a time, one to two short stories a month and a longer novella at the end.

Do you think I should start posting the stories as they are or wait for a way to proofread them?

 

[StillStunned]

That's really impossible to say, without knowing the quality of the translation. You could try submitting one. If the quality is terrible, Laurel will send it back, or otherwise you'll find out from your readers' feedback.

In my experience, besides the translation errors, MT is generally grammatically correct, but soulless. That might get your story rejected for being AI-generated. if and when you submit a story, add a note to the editor (Laurel) that it's a translation from your language.

 

[RioWriter]

Ok, I will try to publish one story. We will see how is going.

 

[RioWriter]

Here is just a few paragraphs. I want to know is translation is good enough to publish a story.

...As soon as we got to the room where there was a large double bed and only one old wardrobe and a chair by the door, Christa sat on the bed and Joseph told her to take off her clothes. First, she took off her shirt and then her bra. My cock started to rise, and then she got up and took off her skirt. She turned around so that we could clearly see her tight butt, and then she took off her panties. To be honest, it was my first time to see a fully waxed pussy live...

Thanks for feedback

 

[StillStunned]

I don't usually do any volunteer editing, but here are a couple of pointers:

...The room was bare except for an old wardrobe, a chair by the door, and a large double bedAs soon as we got to the room where there was a large double bed and only one old wardrobe and a chair by the door,. Christa sat down on the bed and Joseph told her to take off her clothes. First, she took off her shirt. Her bra followed and then her bra. My cock started to grow even before she rose, and then she got up and took off her skirt. She turned Turning around to give us a clear view of so that we could clearly see her tight butt, and then she took off her panties. To be honest, It was my first time to seeing a fully waxed pussy live...

The spelling and grammar is alright, but there's little variation in the prose. The first sentence is too long. English has a rhythm to it that other languages don't have (Romance languages in particular - they work with meter). That's why a straightforward translation often falls flat. The description of the furniture seems superfluous. I've changed that first sentence to create atmosphere, and put the bed at the end because that creates more flow for the events that follow.

You have three sentences in a row with "then", and in more general terms there's a lot of "this happened, then that, then that." Try slowing down. When Joseph tells Christa to take off her clothes, it's a perfect moment to add some tension. How about this?

Christa sat down on the bed, facing us. Is she as nervous as I am? I wondered. My breath was shallow, and my heart was pounding in my chest. Christa seemed calm enough, though.

"Take off your clothes." Joseph was firm, in control.

She looked at him for a moment, eyes large and solemn, then reached down to pull her shirt over her head and toss it aside. My eyes followed the movement, then flicked back, fixing on the soft flesh above her bra. My throat was dry.

See what I mean? Don't forget to describe the narrator's thoughts and feelings. That's what draws your reader in. It helps to build up the tension as well and draws out the moment. When something happens, the reader will have shared the narrator's anticipation, so it will feel much more rewarding.

I realise you only asked for input on spelling and grammar, but hopefully these pointers will be useful as well. But don't feel obliged to change if you don't want to: your style is your own, and no-one should tell you it's wrong.

 

[RioWriter]

About the writing style, I know what needs to be improved, more or less At the beginning of the story, I focus more on the prose and art, but when the action gets closer, I want to simplify things, all the more so as I simultaneously create illustrated versions in PowerPoint format. But yes, you guessed it.
You also understood that writing technique is another topic, but you see formulating sentences is the biggest problem.

Since this is a short story of 7 pages, can you tell me how long it takes to fix the text like you did?

 

[StillStunned]

What's that, about 2500 words? I'd say anywhere between 2 and 4 hours.

 

[RioWriter]

I really don't want to be boring, but I would like to ask you if you would like to watch one of my short stories. Just look without any action, tell me how long it would take proofreading with full adaptation?

 

[StillStunned]

Sorry, like I mentioned above, I don't do volunteer editing here. It's my day job, for 50-60 hours a week.

And whatever estimate I give, if you find an editor they'll probably have their own very strong ideas about how long it will take and will resent you trying to tell you how much (or how little) work it is.

Let them decide for themselves. Just be prepared for it to be much longer than you expect, or else much longer than they expect.

Good luck!

 

[RioWriter]

Sorry, like I mentioned above, I don't do volunteer editing here. It's my day job, for 50-60 hours a week.

And whatever estimate I give, if you find an editor they'll probably have their own very strong ideas about how long it will take and will resent you trying to tell you how much (or how little) work it is.

Let them decide for themselves. Just be prepared for it to be much longer than you expect, or else much longer than they expect.

Good luck!

Ok, I understand.

Thank you for advices