I know all the separate meanings/translations of the sentence but I can't
think of a translation which makes sense.

> 「贅沢{ぜいたく}を言{い}わなければ。」

I thought of: "Must tell luxury"?

The whole sentence is:

>
> 「一流{いちりゅう}の売{う}れっ子作家{こさっか}には程遠{ほどとお}いけれども、贅沢を言わなければどうにか食{く}っていけるだけの仕事{しごと}はある。」
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2017-08-20T20:19:28.430
52539
2017-10-22T13:30:02.257
2017-10-22T13:30:02.257
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9112
question
verbs conjugations
Meaning of 贅沢を言う
贅沢 means "extravagance".  
贅沢を言う means "to ask/expect too much".

～なければ can be short for ～なければならない, "must do" "have to do", but here in your
example it's used in its literal sense: "If not".

Put together:

> 贅沢を言わなければ  
>  "If (I) don't ask/expect too much"
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2017-08-21T01:41:40.713
52549
2017-08-21T01:41:40.713
9831
52539
answer