Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about an essay from Poetry Unbound’s PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA, “What translation renders,” that published in September. He’s writing specifically about an actual translation of the Polish language poet Zuzanna Ginczanka, about whether a translation can ever really convey what the writer meant to see in their original language, but I’m going deeper.
Because when you write something, you are translating what you think, feel and experience for others to read. It’s a tough job. You must put into words on a static page all the feelings, emotions, revelations and insights that, let’s face it, can be hard to articulate.
I often tell my grown kids that relationships suffer almost entirely on the basis of bad communication. We think we’re saying what we mean, but the other person doesn’t get the message as we intend it. It’s hard. And no one is immune.
As a professional writer with decades of training and experience in communications, I believe that I communicate well. Until someone just doesn’t understand what I’m trying to convey.
This is translation, too. Translating from one language to another is an art. A literal craft. And as someone who loves to play with words, to mull over whether this verb or that one is the absolute best action word for a particular sentence, I admire anyone who can make a piece of writing accessible and still beautiful for that many more people.
In our own language, we must become translators. People who view the written word as our only and yet best way to connect with another. Take such care with the choosing of these words that we pay close attention to whether they are the best ones.
I’ve never been good at responding on the fly to someone’s quip or argument. I need to think on it, write a bit, choose my words carefully. Can you relate?
That’s because the words matter so very much.
These days, when so many are hurting and hungry to be seen, heard and understood, it is even more important to be deliberate with our words. When we write something, those words live on in perpetuity. Long beyond the time of their birth, long past the timeliness of their inspiration.
I want my words to have meaning beyond my lifetime - don’t you? All the more reason to choose them with care.
What Makes a Book Jewish?
I spoke yesterday at the Detroit Jewish Book Fair, and wow was it fun!! So many people in attendance, to hear about and engage with my first novel, WOMAN OF VALOR. Have you purchased your copy yet? If not, you can buy it here and here and here.
The most recent episode of my Make Meaning Podcast featured the leaders of the Detroit Jewish Book Fair along with the director of the Jewish Book Council. We chatted about Jewish books, Jewish authors, Jewish book fairs around the world and how we understand Jewish identity through the books being published and the people writing them. Give it a listen here.
Join Me!
We just had a fun and fruitful Writealong Saturday, which is my free monthly write-in-community offering. The next one will be December 3. Sign up here to get email reminders!
To tempt your writerly need to connect with a supportive community, here are the prompts from the November Writealong. I hope they inspire some lovely writing.
Prompt 1: it was fast, dry and difficult, but I made it anyway
Prompt 2: the leaves were like silk, but the air misted with worry
Prompt 3: I wish I had told her before she left…
And, applications are now open for my 2024 Writers Retreats! Details and how to apply here. We’ll be going back to Mackinac Island in September and hiking among the tallest trees in the Redwood forests of northern California in October.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Wishing you a wonderful week full of all the right words.
Love, Lynne