Tag Archives: proofreading

In which the Author proofreads a Swiss script…

typewriter-chapter-one_zpsa4ccbbb3.jpg~originalI’ve just finished proofreading and copy-editing another script written in English by a non-native speaker, this time a theatrical piece by a Swiss playwright. The original text was in French, and there is always a difficulty in

translating idiomatic dialogue from one language to another. If you translated ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’ word for word into French, for example, it would be absolutely meaningless to a Francophone. (The equivalent French idiom is ‘It’s raining spear-points’.) So there were some knotty issues with understanding what the author wanted to say originally, viewing the English translation, and then fine-tuning those phrases into acceptable vernacular English,

but a peek at the original French text helped work things out.

I should also say that, despite the author being a native Francophone, the proofread of the English script

uncovered fewer mistakes of spelling, grammar and punctuation than I see in the average script written by a native English speaker.  Go, as the Americans are wont to say, figure.

This job is the latest in a line of proofreading / copy-editing jobs I’ve been doing for European scriptwriters, with

recent examples stretching from France and Scandinavia to Hungary. Which is, of course, most excellent.

In which the Author enjoys proofreading a fellow scriptwriter’s work…

I’ve just copy-edited and proofread the synopsis for a movie written by a fellow screenwriter. He’s French, and

writes excellent English, but not being a native speaker there are all clearly all kinds of possible traps for the

unwary (for example, written French is typically both longer and more elaborate than written English, and so

sentences in translation can have multiple clauses and last as long as a paragraph, thereby trying the patience of contemporary Anglophone readers).

After a thorough overhaul and extensive proofreading the logline and synopsis are now both suitable for waving in

front of English-speakers in the film industry. Good luck, fellah.

This was the first time I’ve proofed and edited someone else’s work destined for the movie screen (as distinct from books, scripts for corporate videos, business documents etc.) and a fascinating process it was too.

It occurs to me that there may be other screenwriters and filmmakers writing in English but for whom the language is not their mother tongue. If you are in this position and would like an experienced copy-editor / proofreader /

writer to check that everything reads well in English, please get in touch. My rates are, as they say, reasonable.

The story is on Stage 32 and The Dispatch. Stage 32