Writing vs. translating

The tasks of writing and translation show several similarities in the challenges they pose and the processes they include. In translation studies, the fuzzy edges between these tasks have been studied in many ways. To compare the processes of writing and translating in the field, we observed a freelance translator in the workplace for two working days (1 day of writing, 1 day of translating) and interviewed her on her work processes. We analysed the data with regard to the process phases, strategies, contextual features, and creativity dimensions of text production (Dam-Jensen and Heine 2013). In addition to the many similarities in the processes, our findings also show substantial differences in the text production dimensions.