Complex sentence: She began by translating French fiction for publication as stories or serials, and shortly started to work on the cookery column--which had been moribund for the previous six months following the departure of the previous correspondent--and the household article.
Split into simpler sentences: She began by translating French fiction for publication as stories or serials. Shortly afterwards she started to work on the cookery column--which had been moribund for the previous six months following the departure of the previous correspondent--and the household article.