Using Correct Manuscript Form

1. Manuscripts should be printed or typed on standard-size white paper.

2. The text should be double-spaced.

3. Print or type only on one side of each sheet.

4. On each page leave margins (2.5 cm) at the top, the sides, and bottom.

5. Indent the first line of each paragraph.

6. Pages must be numbered, preferably in the upper right-hand corner and far enough from the edge (about 1.5 cm down from the top).

7. On the title page supply the following information: the name of the translator, the name of the editor, the type of the original work, the number of pages in the translation, the source language, the target language, the number of illustrations, the target language title, the name of the author in the source language, the source language title, the full title of the source of the original, the place of publication, the name of publishing company, the year of publication.

8. Word processing makes available several features that are not available on the conventional typewriter — italics, boldface, various typefaces, and different possibilities for spacing. If the manuscript is being prepared for its final readership, then it makes sense to use these capabilities to make it as attractive and readable as possible.

When you have finished preparing the final version, proofread it again to correct any copying errors.

Translators argue that the translation can never really be finished. Even as one 'completes' the 'final' version one hears the tiny insistent voice saying: 'Hang on a minute; I've got a great idea!' In principle, no target text I ever 'finished' or 'polished' to the point where it could not be edited further and translation could go on forever; there is no definitive reading of a text nor a perfect rendering of ideas in written form (nor, therefore, a perfect' translation). In practice, however, there must, sooner or later (and for busy professional translators it is likely to be sooner), come a point where one has to stop tinkering with the target text. It is for this reason that we need the notion threshold of termination — the point at which the translator feels that the text is adequate to achieve the goal set for it.

The main requirements set for an adequate
full-length written translation are:

1. Accuracy: all information presented in the original should be fully and faithfully rendered into the target language.

2. Brevity of expression: information should be expressed laconically (using few words to say much).

3. Clarity of expression: brevity of expression should not prevent understanding; your target text should be comprehensive.

4. Stylistic appropriateness: the target text should not deviate from the established literary language norms.