Make eight decisions before translating
Download filled example

Work / edition: Letters from the lighthouse — restrained adventure
Target language / region: English for readers in the United Kingdom.

Download the blank text file and fill it in locally. The middle column shows decisions for our fictional adventure; the last column tells you where to check them.

Who is reading, and why?
Example decision: Adult readers of a restrained adventure.
Review point: Does tension come from events rather than added adjectives?

Which language and region?
Example decision: English for readers in the United Kingdom.
Review point: Check spelling and dialogue punctuation.

Who narrates, and in which tense?
Example decision: Keep the source viewpoint and tense.
Review point: Compare the first paragraph and a later chapter.

How formal and how fast?
Example decision: Polite distance; keep short answers short.
Review point: Compare a conversation and a pause.

How do characters address each other?
Example decision: Preserve the relationship; record fixed titles separately.
Review point: Check an early and a late exchange.

How is dialogue punctuated?
Example decision: Use target-language conventions consistently.
Review point: Check quotation marks and speaker changes.

What may change?
Example decision: Word order may change; facts and uncertainty may not.
Review point: Look for invented motives or emotions.

Where will you review?
Example decision: Opening, dialogue and a late passage.
Review point: Record source location and next decision below.

A complete example in SEKA’s four fields
Copy these fields manually into the style editor and adapt them to your book. This is a text worksheet, not an import file. Goal and execution requirements each allow 2,000 Unicode characters.

Name
Letters from the lighthouse — restrained adventure

Description
For an original fictional adventure. Two characters keep a polite distance; tension comes from omissions and pauses, without added emotional adjectives.

Goal
Preserve plot, viewpoint, tense, relationships and uncertainty. Use natural target-language sentences. Do not invent motives, feelings or events.

Execution requirements
1. Keep the source person and tense.
2. Preserve polite distance in dialogue.
3. Adjust word order for readability while keeping information and tone.
4. Keep short replies brief.
5. Add no metaphors, fear or romance for literary effect.
6. Put names and fixed titles in a separate glossary.
7. Follow target-language dialogue punctuation.
8. Preserve readings supported by the source for ambiguity and wordplay; add no information.

Style: “keep replies brief”. Glossary: a specific name or title and its chosen translation. Keep the two records separate.

Keep a review record
Source location | Original information | Expression rule | Observation | Next decision
Opening | Narrative person and tense | Keep both | Fill in after review | Adjust the next brief if needed
Dialogue | Distance between Ana and Jules | Keep replies restrained | Fill in after review | Read the adjacent scene
Late passage | An unresolved motive | Do not explain it | Fill in after review | Compare with the source

Do any rules contradict each other?
Replace vague “natural and fluent” instructions with observable choices.
Move fixed terms to a glossary.
Remove details the source does not support.

Use your brief in SEKA
Sign in, create a style in the style library, and save the four fields.
Prepare one file you may translate. In translation settings, actively select this style for that task; it is not automatically applied to later tasks.
On the translation page, check the file, language and options, then review the required Credits before confirming payment. One task uses one style; its style is locked once translation starts.
Review the opening, dialogue and a late passage. Record issues and revise settings for a future task; editing a saved style does not update a running task.