Notes from Abroad
Reading About Three Countries Taught Me to Research Any Industry
Before moving to different countries, the author read local literature to gain a deeper understanding of each culture. This approach enhanced their experiences in Thailand, Germany, and China, revealing insights beyond surface-level knowledge. The author emphasizes that thorough research while writing builds trust with clients and improves the quality of the work produced.
Reading Foreign Novels in English as a Copyeditor
When you read a translation, you notice the seams. A slightly unnatural phrase catches your eye. A sentence that feels too American for a Japanese novel makes you pause. A word choice that seems odd forces you to reread. As you’re reading, you’re watching someone work. That awareness is the core skill of copyediting.
What Translators Know About Tone That Most Copywriters Don't
A translator sits with a sentence in Korean, Japanese, or Italian and faces a hundred possible English versions. One is literal. One captures the rhythm. One preserves the emotional weight. The translator cannot have all three so a choice has to be made. Copywriting requires the same trade-offs.
James Joyce's Punctuation (and Lack Thereof)
James Joyce does things with punctuation that should not work. Long stretches of prose with no periods. Sentences that start without capitals. Dialogue that runs into narration without quotation marks. A copyeditor would have a heart attack. The writing works. The punctuation choices make it work.
The Catcher in the Rye and Why Customers Hate Fake Voices
I have a complicated relationship with The Catcher in the Rye. I read it at seventeen, the right age, and I found Holden Caulfield insufferable. I read it again at thirty, and I found him heartbreaking. But one thing has not changed across either reading. He is right about the phonies.
Fahrenheit 451 and the Value of What You Write
I first read Fahrenheit 451 as a teenager and understood it as a book about censorship. The government burned books. That was the horror. But I reread it recently while watching the internet fill with AI-generated listicles, formulaic content, and brands shouting into a void, and I realized I had missed the point.
Kurt Vonnegut's Asterisk on My Hand
I have a tattoo on my hand. It’s a small asterisk, the kind you might see at the bottom of a page pointing to a footnote. Most people don’t notice it. The ones who do usually ask if it is a star. I tell them it is a reminder.
Author Spotlight: Han Kang
So I’ve never done this before, spotlighting a single author’s work. There’s not often when I come across an author, I immediately need to rush through their whole bibliography. Also, if something like that happens, it’s not often that the author doesn’t seem to be read or even known by many readers.