7 Tips by Estonian Writer Kai Aareleid, author of Burning Cities (Peter Owen Publishers, 2018)
Kai Aareleid
Be a reader before you become a writer, they say. True: nothing can teach us better than good or bad examples. Translators are reputable among the most sharp-eyed readers. If it wasn’t for the translators, many a living author who is lucky enough to be translated might never become aware of his/her unintentional follies or inconsistencies. While readers can, or even should, trust the author, a translator’s first and foremost attribute has to be mistrust. Don’t trust anything or anybody – not yourself, not the author. Doubt and check and ask, if possible – that’s a translator’s motto.
“My translators are my best critics /---/ translation undresses a literary work, shows it in its true nakedness /---/ Translation tells the better truth. Unveils all masks.” – I. B. Singer certainly knew what he was talking about.
I can say without hesitation that more than anything else, two roles in my life have shaped me as a writer: being a translator and being a mother. The list is long, but here are the most important things those careers have taught me about writing.
Respect. Never underestimate the audience. If something doesn’t make sense to you, it probably won’t make sense to anyone else either. Try selling a child an idea that is not clear to you, or try translating obscure into obscure – it just won’t work. Make sure that you know what you talk about – it’s usually easier than becoming a perfect actor.
Patience. In so many ways, being a parent is a masterclass in patience. First you wait for it to happen, then you wait 9 months, and then you need all the patience there is to raise a child. It’s the same with translating. In fact, a thick book can well take you 9 months do deliver, and it always starts with day one and usually won’t end with the birth of the book. You have to pass every day and every page and sometimes you will hate yourself and the author. Well, welcome to writing. Writing a novel is like delivering triplets. You can hate yourself for having taken on the job, but there is nobody else to blame, since this time, the writer is also you. So calm down and be patient.
Finding allies. Friends, colleagues, family. Most probably you will not solve it alone, whether it be parenting, or locating a quote, or receiving honest feedback or spurring. You need allies. Talk to people.
Reading aloud. Read to children so they learn to savour the language and have an experience of the act of reading. Read aloud any text, be it translation or original – and you’ll know what to fix. After all, oral storytelling is our common heritage. Never mind if you are considered a crazy mutterer.
Double-checking everything. Mothers know what I talk about, it’s a long list. The best advice I received as a translator was that you even check “and”, “yes” and “no” from a dictionary, because you never know. Therefore, as an author, don’t be lazy: it’s not the editor’s task to sweep your pages. If you save him the effort of minor corrections, he might come up with some brilliant ideas that make your work better.
Dosage: less is more. When translating, you look at the text so closely that all the seams and stitches and all the unnecessary filling is bare to see. Backspace & delete are a writer’s best friends, learn that from the authors you translate.
Listening. Pays off every single time. Some things make sense only in retrospect, so prick up your ears and pay attention.
Kai Aareleid is an Estonian novelist, poet, performer and translator. She is the author of Burning Cities (translated by Adam Cullen, Peter Owen Publishers, 2018). Her translations into Estonian have included works by Bruce Chatwin, David Mamet, Javier Marías, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Roberto Bolaño, Isabel Allende and Jorge Luis Borges.