I understand that you can use round brackets in translation to make a note or explain something. But I really don't like it when authors use round brackets in original stories. I think you can and should include everything in the text as is. Either expand the piece that was inside of brackets or get rid of it. I understand that it is just another punctuation mark, but I can't stand it. I can't stop myself from thinking that round brackets = lazy writing. What do you all think about it?
"ען תיניר נתיסאר איקסוואר מתיהר"
(What is this language)
I wouldn't mind. But if it's used to cut short a description or give remarks then no no.
Ben held his 7ft raven black Odachi with both his hands, his face perfectly reflected on the blade, glinting under the scorching sun (imagine sephiroth sword, kinda like that ig)
hm yeah if they use it how translators do, as if quickly adding a bit of related lore, then yes. But i mainly just use them for comedy shit. Like if the character is bullshitting. The little girl exploded with righteous(? ) fury. "Lies, deception!" She exclaimed. "I'd never do such a thing!" Came the heavy assertion. But the hammer fell out of her nightgown, hitting the floorboards with a loud thud.
I find it funny when used like that. Because everyone and their mother knows you're a lying sack of shit, but you still try and pull the wool anyway. And if it actually succeeds just because the other party cant be assed to argue? Even better.
exactly. Its add that extra something.
Plus, that kid was tryna break some kneecaps. I'd be remiss if i didnt call her out on it. Fucking lolies think they can get away with anything just cuz they cute smh
There are ways to pull it off, but as a whole, most don't need it. I could go into detail on when and how, but eh, I don't feel like it right now. I got cleaning to do.
If we're talking strictly about narration, it's generally entirely unnecessary and breaks immersion. If we include things like written texts, translations, or unknown languages, it can be used to help concisely convey the meaning, but it can mostly be conveyed in a slightly roundabout way without sacrificing clarity or writing needlessly long explanations. An example of that would be "when Clara opened the book and looked at its contents, her eyebrows creased. As she read, her frown only deepened at the language she scarcely understood, and that roughly conveyed the message..."
There is though one way to use parentheses I know that can't really be substituded with anything else, and it's when we're dealing with some eldritch or inexplicable phenomena. I remember it was used in a story called Demonic Devourer, and here's a snippet of the relevant chapter:
Magic floods me. I thought I knew what it means to be overwhelmed (you still don’t). I thought I knew pain (you still don’t). I thought I knew power (you do now).
This is beyond anything I have ever experienced (of course it is). Every cell in my twisted, (perfect) demonic body bursts with power like nothing else. I can’t keep it in. Can’t hold onto it (let go). When I try, it grasps onto me instead (hold or held it is ultimately the same). The skill becomes the marionetter, reducing me to nothing but a puppet (you are no puppet we are one). I let the magic permeate me, become me. Or I become it. I can’t tell (neither and both).
I'm someone who (actively) uses 'em (to a varying degree of success). Mostly in situations where other characters actively need to (mis)understand something said to them. But that's the only case where I'm actively using them outside of written stuff.
I could also accept the characters thinking in parenthesis instead of thinking in cursive, but that's about it. (Using them for Author comments or 4th wall-breaking explanations instead of being the cool one and using footnotes or just adding a note at the end is just ((((really))) bad.
I understand that you can use round brackets in translation to make a note or explain something. But I really don't like it when authors use round brackets in original stories. I think you can and should include everything in the text as is. Either expand the piece that was inside of brackets or get rid of it. I understand that it is just another punctuation mark, but I can't stand it. I can't stop myself from thinking that round brackets = lazy writing. What do you all think about it?
Having read far too many translated novels myself, personally I like the use of parentheses, sometimes. If you use it to just say random details about the setting, as RepresentingEnvy said, is lazy.
I would agree that is very lazy. Instead, you can use other methods to reinforce the idea. Like a small amount of repetition throughout the novel that reinforces, and doesn't become repetitive.
Like saying someone (has a fiery personality). Instead of doing that in parenthesis, you can reinforce the idea by their actions, or simply repeat it later on in a different way would even be better.
However, there are two situations when I really like the use of them. The first is when it’s used to add comments about the story as seen in some (or at least some that I’ve read) on Re:Library. While yes, some are translated novels, the translators and editors are making comments on the story. Also, they use footnotes, but I’ve seen other translators do the same but with parentheses. I enjoy this to the point where you will find me putting my comments about things into my story, in the middle of the story. (And I have some friends editing so sometimes we have some funny conversations. Does it add to the writing? No. Is it funny? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Also yes.)
The second time Iike to see parentheses is to indicate the speaker. This doesn’t apply all the time though as I don’t what to read a novel where whoever is speaking is always put in parentheses after speaking. That’s bad, and in general, if the piece of writing is supposed to be formal don’t do this. The times I’ve found this nice are in translations of text in a specific webnovel style. I don’t know what the style is called, if it has a name, but it‘s the style that Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is written in.
Joe and Bob were in a weapon shop. Joe had lost his sword, so he thought to get a new one.
”Hey Bob, which sword should I get?”
”I don’t know. Go with whatever feels right.”
Joe picks out a nice looking longsword and gives it a few swings. The shopkeeper walks up.
”Found something ye like? If ye want it, bring it up front and I’ll give ya a price.”
”Just testing. We’ll swing by once we find something.”
”If ye need any help, feel free to ask.”
”Sure.”
”Thanks for the offer.”
Anyways, that’s the point. I tried to make it clear who was talking, but you can see that at the end it became difficult.
In novels like these, who is speaking can get a bit messy. In Japanese there are things like levels of formality and honorifics to tell things apart, but English doesn’t have that. Thus, I’ve found when translators put who is speaking in parentheses after the text since there is nothing around it, it’s helpful. (Although, there’s also the fact that sometimes I just don’t care who’s speaking.) This gas appeared on ScribbleHub too, as I’ve seen it in this story by Paytoechip. He only uses it when there aren’t clear speakers, but it’s nice nonetheles.
Going from my experience trying to write in the style, while I tried to make who was speaking clear through mannerisms and general clues in the text before the speaker, this gets a lot harder when you have three or more people speaking at the same time, especially if some of the characters are random side characters. Now, I’m not be the best at writing, so this could quite possibly just be a skill issue. I ended up using parentheses because I ran out of mannerisms for characters to speak unless I wanted every side character to start speaking in some weird, not normal English.
Anywats, that’s my two cents (or maybe a whole dollar).
Having read far too many translated novels myself, personally I like the use of parentheses, sometimes. If you use it to just say random details about the setting, as RepresentingEnvy said, is lazy.
However, there are two situations when I really like the use of them. The first is when it’s used to add comments about the story as seen in some (or at least some that I’ve read) on Re:Library. While yes, some are translated novels, the translators and editors are making comments on the story. Also, they use footnotes, but I’ve seen other translators do the same but with parentheses. I enjoy this to the point where you will find me putting my comments about things into my story, in the middle of the story. (And I have some friends editing so sometimes we have some funny conversations. Does it add to the writing? No. Is it funny? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Also yes.)
The second time Iike to see parentheses is to indicate the speaker. This doesn’t apply all the time though as I don’t what to read a novel where whoever is speaking is always put in parentheses after speaking. That’s bad, and in general, if the piece of writing is supposed to be formal don’t do this. The times I’ve found this nice are in translations of text in a specific webnovel style. I don’t know what the style is called, if it has a name, but it‘s the style that Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is written in.
Joe and Bob were in a weapon shop. Joe had lost his sword, so he thought to get a new one.
”Hey Bob, which sword should I get?”
”I don’t know. Go with whatever feels right.”
Joe picks out a nice looking longsword and gives it a few swings. The shopkeeper walks up.
”Found something ye like? If ye want it, bring it up front and I’ll give ya a price.”
”Just testing. We’ll swing by once we find something.”
”If ye need any help, feel free to ask.”
”Sure.”
”Thanks for the offer.”
Anyways, that’s the point. I tried to make it clear who was talking, but you can see that at the end it became difficult.
In novels like these, who is speaking can get a bit messy. In Japanese there are things like levels of formality and honorifics to tell things apart, but English doesn’t have that. Thus, I’ve found when translators put who is speaking in parentheses after the text since there is nothing around it, it’s helpful. (Although, there’s also the fact that sometimes I just don’t care who’s speaking.) This gas appeared on ScribbleHub too, as I’ve seen it in this story by Paytoechip. He only uses it when there aren’t clear speakers, but it’s nice nonetheles.
Going from my experience trying to write in the style, while I tried to make who was speaking clear through mannerisms and general clues in the text before the speaker, this gets a lot harder when you have three or more people speaking at the same time, especially if some of the characters are random side characters. Now, I’m not be the best at writing, so this could quite possibly just be a skill issue. I ended up using parentheses because I ran out of mannerisms for characters to speak unless I wanted every side character to start speaking in some weird, not normal English.
Anywats, that’s my two cents (or maybe a whole dollar).
I thank you for taking your time to write such a detailed response, but I couldn't see any reasons to use parentheses in your examples. To be more precise, I mentinoned that using parentheses as a translator is more than okay. Translators shouldn't change the text, so sometimes using parentheses is the only way to explain something.
Going from my experience trying to write in the style, while I tried to make who was speaking clear through mannerisms and general clues in the text before the speaker, this gets a lot harder when you have three or more people speaking at the same time, especially if some of the characters are random side characters. Now, I’m not be the best at writing, so this could quite possibly just be a skill issue. I ended up using parentheses because I ran out of mannerisms for characters to speak unless I wanted every side character to start speaking in some weird, not normal English.
This is actually the part I don't like in original novels. And I do think this is a skill issue. Instead of trying to find some kind of way to do it, you resort to an easy way out. I should mention that dialogue and action tags exist for a reason. By cleverly juggling who is talking, using both action and dialogue tags in right places, using personal addresses where needed, and making your character distinct before and after, you can achieve the same without the parentheses. This is why I think of parentheses as a lazy way. Compare what I mentioned you have to do without parentheses, and what you have to do with parentheses.
If we're talking strictly about narration, it's generally entirely unnecessary and breaks immersion. If we include things like written texts, translations, or unknown languages, it can be used to help concisely convey the meaning, but it can mostly be conveyed in a slightly roundabout way without sacrificing clarity or writing needlessly long explanations. An example of that would be "when Clara opened the book and looked at its contents, her eyebrows creased. As she read, her frown only deepened at the language she scarcely understood, and that roughly conveyed the message..."
There is though one way to use parentheses I know that can't really be substituded with anything else, and it's when we're dealing with some eldritch or inexplicable phenomena. I remember it was used in a story called Demonic Devourer, and here's a snippet of the relevant chapter:
Magic floods me. I thought I knew what it means to be overwhelmed (you still don’t). I thought I knew pain (you still don’t). I thought I knew power (you do now).
This is beyond anything I have ever experienced (of course it is). Every cell in my twisted, (perfect) demonic body bursts with power like nothing else. I can’t keep it in. Can’t hold onto it (let go). When I try, it grasps onto me instead (hold or held it is ultimately the same). The skill becomes the marionetter, reducing me to nothing but a puppet (you are no puppet we are one). I let the magic permeate me, become me. Or I become it. I can’t tell (neither and both).
I got cleaning to do.
