My writer's block cracked open completely, and so.I've been writing a lot
of stuff: chapters to stories, little one shots, and essays and rants.like
this one here. I didn't know where to put it, whether on fanfiction or
fictionpress, so.it's here.
The use of Japanese words: a complete turnoff
Some essay by the one and only Akutatsu no kuno hi
People who write anime fanfiction are obviously using Japanese characters created by Japanese people. Therefore the author may find it realistic to add Japanese words to their story. Why, you ask? Well, the author may respond by saying, "Because the characters are Japanese," or something similar. Well, get a load of this: you are not Japanese, and you are writing a story in English.
And that's the big reason why Japanese words are unnecessary in fanfiction, written in English. I've noticed a lot of people, especially on fanfiction.net, throwing a bunch of random Japanese words in their stories, and sometimes using ones that absolutely nobody would know. The most common ones being use dare Hai, Arigotou, Kawaii, and enki, shoujo and shounen; there may be more, but those are the ones I see most. Don't know what they mean? There you go, another reason why they shouldn't be used for random purposes, even if the author puts a glossary in the end of the chapter.
From a fanfic: "Domo Arigatou, Akira. No one has ever spoken to me so, and I will treasure your friendship and honor it to the very end," he said, before leaving the room.
There's only one flaw with this sentence; and, you guessed it, it's that darn usage of Japanese words. It generally means "thank you", but how will every single person know that? Why not just say, "thank you", as a more readable replacement? French may say "merci" and Japanese may say "Origato", but mentally both are saying "thank you", right? Since the story is being told from their viewpoint, we have to see it as they do -- which means it should be written as "thank you", not the foreign word.
No famous author mixes languages with English, because that's just plain stupid; they are trying to publish a book for all of America or even the whole world to read. They never throw in random words in random places from another language. So why do that when your writing anime fanfiction yourself? Sure, there are exceptions to using Japanese words, like names, and certain scenes that call for Japanese words. For example, if someone American is learning Japanese at a school, you don't need to have everyone but the American speaking Japanese words, but it's okay to have him speaking some, since he is trying to learn it. Just don't go overboard with them; be realistic, have some common sense. In one sense there's the reader's perspective to consider. If it's a story set in Japan and being told from the viewpoint of a Japanese person, it needs to be written with the same familiarity as if it was set in the USA from the viewpoint of an American person.
That said and done, I will now come to a conclusion to my little rant: just refrain from using Japanese words in random places, because it's a big turn-off for a lot more people than you think. Not everyone here who speaks and reads English is Japanese, or some other nationality.
The use of Japanese words: a complete turnoff
Some essay by the one and only Akutatsu no kuno hi
People who write anime fanfiction are obviously using Japanese characters created by Japanese people. Therefore the author may find it realistic to add Japanese words to their story. Why, you ask? Well, the author may respond by saying, "Because the characters are Japanese," or something similar. Well, get a load of this: you are not Japanese, and you are writing a story in English.
And that's the big reason why Japanese words are unnecessary in fanfiction, written in English. I've noticed a lot of people, especially on fanfiction.net, throwing a bunch of random Japanese words in their stories, and sometimes using ones that absolutely nobody would know. The most common ones being use dare Hai, Arigotou, Kawaii, and enki, shoujo and shounen; there may be more, but those are the ones I see most. Don't know what they mean? There you go, another reason why they shouldn't be used for random purposes, even if the author puts a glossary in the end of the chapter.
From a fanfic: "Domo Arigatou, Akira. No one has ever spoken to me so, and I will treasure your friendship and honor it to the very end," he said, before leaving the room.
There's only one flaw with this sentence; and, you guessed it, it's that darn usage of Japanese words. It generally means "thank you", but how will every single person know that? Why not just say, "thank you", as a more readable replacement? French may say "merci" and Japanese may say "Origato", but mentally both are saying "thank you", right? Since the story is being told from their viewpoint, we have to see it as they do -- which means it should be written as "thank you", not the foreign word.
No famous author mixes languages with English, because that's just plain stupid; they are trying to publish a book for all of America or even the whole world to read. They never throw in random words in random places from another language. So why do that when your writing anime fanfiction yourself? Sure, there are exceptions to using Japanese words, like names, and certain scenes that call for Japanese words. For example, if someone American is learning Japanese at a school, you don't need to have everyone but the American speaking Japanese words, but it's okay to have him speaking some, since he is trying to learn it. Just don't go overboard with them; be realistic, have some common sense. In one sense there's the reader's perspective to consider. If it's a story set in Japan and being told from the viewpoint of a Japanese person, it needs to be written with the same familiarity as if it was set in the USA from the viewpoint of an American person.
That said and done, I will now come to a conclusion to my little rant: just refrain from using Japanese words in random places, because it's a big turn-off for a lot more people than you think. Not everyone here who speaks and reads English is Japanese, or some other nationality.