Learn Hardcore Japanese: kanozyo ha syourai nihongo de syousetu wo kaku sakka ni naritai to itte imasu. - She says she wants to become a writer who writes novels in Japanese in the future.

In a neutral, descriptive sentence about someone you already know, 彼女は is more natural than 彼女が. It sets up “her” as the background topic, then tells you what she says/wants. Using 彼女が here would sound like you’re contrasting her with someone else or emphasizing that she (and not someone else) is the one who says this.

Why is there no particle after 将来?

将来 is an adverbial noun here, working like an adverb (“in the future”), so it can appear without a particle before the verb phrase:

将来日本語で小説を書く作家になりたい
→ “(She) wants to become a writer who writes novels in Japanese in the future.”

You can sometimes say 将来は to make “in the future” itself the topic:

将来は日本語で小説を書く作家になりたい。
“As for the future, I want to become...”

But 将来に in this sense is usually unnatural; 将来 without a particle is the normal way to say “in the future” here.

What does 日本語で mean, and why is the particle で used instead of を or に?

日本語で means “in Japanese” or “using Japanese” and で here marks the means or medium of the action:

日本語で書く = “write in Japanese / using Japanese”

Particle roles in this context:

で: means, method, or language of an action
- 鉛筆で書く – write with a pencil
- 日本語で話す – speak in Japanese
を: direct object of the verb
- 小説を書く – write a novel
に: often marks a target, destination, or time; not used for “in (a language)” in this sense

So 日本語を書く would literally be “write Japanese (language itself)”, which is different. Here we want “write novels in Japanese,” so 日本語で小説を書く is correct.

How does 小説を書く作家 work grammatically? Why is 書く before 作家?

小説を書く作家 is a relative clause: a verb phrase (小説を書く) directly modifies a noun (作家).

小説を書く – “(someone) writes novels”
作家 – writer/author
小説を書く作家 – “a writer who writes novels” / “a novelist(-type writer)”

In Japanese, the clause that describes a noun always comes before that noun. There is no word like English “who/that”:

小説を書く作家 = “a writer who writes novels”
日本語で小説を書く作家 = “a writer who writes novels in Japanese”

You cannot move 書く after 作家; 作家を書く would mean “write a writer,” which is wrong. The whole 小説を書く block is stuck in front of 作家 as its modifier.

Whose action is 書く? Why isn’t the subject written?

The subject of 書く is the same as the subject of the main clause, 彼女.

In Japanese relative clauses, the subject is often omitted when it’s clear from context:

（彼女が）小説を書く作家
→ literally “(she) writes novels + writer” → “a writer who writes novels (she writes)”

Because the whole sentence is about 彼女, it’s understood that she is the one who will be writing the novels, so the が and 彼女 inside the relative clause are simply dropped.

Does 書く here mean present, past, or future? Could it be “will write”?

The plain form 書く in a relative clause is time-neutral and gets its time reference from context:

小説を書く作家 – “a writer who writes novels / a novelist”
- present habit: “who (typically) writes novels”
- future fact: “who will write novels (once she becomes a writer)”

Because the sentence has 将来 (“in the future”) and 作家になりたい (“wants to become a writer”), the natural interpretation is future-oriented: a writer who will (as her profession) write novels in Japanese. Japanese does not need a special “will write” form here; 書く covers that.

Why is に used before なりたい (作家になりたい)?

With なる (“to become”), the thing you become is marked by に:

医者になる – become a doctor
先生になる – become a teacher
作家になる – become a writer

Here we have the ～たい form attached:

作家になりたい – “want to become a writer”

So に is required to mark 作家 as the “resulting state” or “goal” of becoming. 作家をなりたい or 作家はなりたい would be ungrammatical.

What exactly does the ～たい form in なりたい express?

～たい is attached to the ます-stem of a verb to express the speaker’s (or quoted person’s) desire to do that action:

なる → なりたい = want to become
行く → 行きたい = want to go
書く → 書きたい = want to write

So 作家になりたい literally means “(I/she) want(s) to become a writer.”

Compared with other forms:

なりたい = simple statement of desire (“wants to become”)
なりたがっている = describes someone appearing to want to become (outward behavior, from the observer’s view).

Here it is inside what she herself says, so なりたい is appropriate.

Isn’t ～たい normally only used for the speaker’s own desire? Why is it used with 彼女?

On its own, ～たい is usually used for:

the speaker’s desire: 私は日本に行きたい。
someone you are directly addressing: どこに行きたいですか。

For a third person (like 彼女), we usually avoid directly stating their inner desire and instead use:

～たがっている (appears to want)
- 彼女は日本に行きたがっている。

However, in this sentence, なりたい is inside a quoted clause:

彼女は ... なりたいと言っています。
→ She is saying “I want to become ...”

Inside quotations (～と言う), you express the desire using the speaker’s own words. So from her perspective, saying 作家になりたい is perfectly natural. The outer sentence is just reporting what she says.

What does と do in なりたいと言って?

Here と is a quotative particle. It marks the end of what is being said or thought:

「作家になりたい」と言う – say “I want to become a writer.”
「帰りたい」と思う – think “I want to go home.”

In your sentence, the quoted content is:

将来日本語で小説を書く作家になりたい
(all of that) と言っています

So と tells you “this preceding part is what is being said.” There is no need to put actual quotation marks; と fulfills that role.

Why is it 言って います instead of just 言います or 言いました?

言っています is the ～ている form, which can express:

An action that is happening right now
A repeated or habitual action
A current state resulting from a past action

Here, 言っています most naturally means:

She keeps saying / has been saying / says (regularly) that she wants to become such a writer.

Nuances of different choices:

と言っています – “(she) is (always) saying” / “(she) has been saying”
と言います – general statement, like giving someone’s line or role: “She says, ‘...’” (e.g., when narrating)
と言いました – “(she) said” – a one-time, completed event in the past

So 言っています suggests this is something she says repeatedly or has said over some time, not just once.

Can と言っています also mean “she has been saying that ...” in English?

Yes. ～と言っています can correspond to several English translations depending on context:

“She is saying (right now) that...”
“She keeps saying that...”
“She has been saying that...”

In everyday conversation, 彼女は ... と言っています is often understood as “She says / She has been saying (that)...” – a report of her usual or repeated statement. The exact English tense depends on how you want to represent that nuance, but the Japanese form is the same.

Why is the sentence order “将来日本語で小説を書く作家になる” instead of something like English word order?

Japanese word order is generally [modifiers] → [thing they modify] → [verb at the end].

Here’s the structure:

将来 – in the future (time expression)
日本語で – in Japanese (means/method)
小説を – novels (object)
書く – write (verb modifying the noun)
作家に – into a writer (goal/result)
なりたい – want to become (main verb)
と言っています – is saying (reporting verb)

So:

Build a detailed noun:
- 日本語で小説を書く作家
  → a writer who writes novels in Japanese
Then apply the main action:
- 将来 [日本語で小説を書く作家] になりたい
  → wants to become (that kind of writer) in the future
Then report that:
- ... と言っています。

English works more like “[verb] [object/modifiers]...”, but Japanese packs all the description in front of the noun and puts the main verb (なりたい, then 言っています) at the end. You cannot “reorder” it into English-like word order without breaking the grammar.