I know it's not the same thing, but as some here know, I translate graphic novels from French into English for a living. Anyhoo, one of my clients is now getting into the film biz, so I've also been working on screenplays, treatments, etc.
So: obviously, all my creative juices as a writer are involved when it comes to translating dialogue and action from French into English. I totally dig it. In some cases, the original text is not as great as I feel it could be, so I try to improve it in the translation. That's an inherent yet tricky part of translation work.
Anyway, I love the gig, nothing to complain about, but I was wondering: I know a lot of screenwriters in HW actually make their living polishing other people's work. In some industries, that's called editing.
If you're not rewriting the plot, coming up with new characters etc., and all you're doing (which admittedly is a lot) is "improving" the language, my question to people who do this, is this: do you feel like a writer?
So: obviously, all my creative juices as a writer are involved when it comes to translating dialogue and action from French into English. I totally dig it. In some cases, the original text is not as great as I feel it could be, so I try to improve it in the translation. That's an inherent yet tricky part of translation work.
Anyway, I love the gig, nothing to complain about, but I was wondering: I know a lot of screenwriters in HW actually make their living polishing other people's work. In some industries, that's called editing.
If you're not rewriting the plot, coming up with new characters etc., and all you're doing (which admittedly is a lot) is "improving" the language, my question to people who do this, is this: do you feel like a writer?
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