For a non-native, considering a career as an author in an English-speaking world takes a lot of hard pills to swallow. Standing face to face with your shortcomings may be hard, but it also creates a space to grow.
You probably know this feeling. You’re good at something. You’re an A-grade student, praised by your teachers and parents. Or, you’re the best specialist at your current job, respected by your colleagues and supervisors.
Then you go to a university or change your job, and suddenly you feel inadequate. It turns out that while your skills might have been enough in your previous life, you now face the dread of mediocrity.
To me, writing in Polish is like breathing; it comes naturally. When I write, the sentences flow uninterrupted, sculpting my thoughts into whole paragraphs in no time.
I’ve always read and spoken a lot in English, but my first attempts at writing in this language felt like treading through a minefield. In every sentence, a new mistake popped up—seemingly out of nowhere. My phrases could be grammatically correct, but just one unfortunate word was enough to make them sound a bit awkward to native speakers.
Once a master, I became a student again.
I’m getting better at it, but I’m still far from perfection. Nevertheless, the situation isn’t hopeless. Writing in English is a skill, just like writing in Polish or any native language that applies to you. But it takes time to master it.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far about writing in English as a non-native.
1. You don’t realize how much you suck until you work with native speakers on a regular basis.
The international business world welcomes people from all over the world. If you work in a multinational team, you probably communicate in English a lot. You may even be writing a significant amount of reports and presentations—and others have no problems understanding your message. But not until the majority of your team consists of native English speakers do you realize just how much you don’t know. They are much harsher critics of your work than non-natives.
You may have the numbers and grammar right, but you fall short when it comes to diction and style. Still, functioning among native speakers on a daily basis will help you to approach their level of language skills.
2. There is a massive gap between “understandable” and “well written.”
In today’s English-speaking world, many non-natives try to find their audience by writing a blog in English or creating a podcast or vlog in English. But when it comes to quality, you can only go as far as your language skills go.
To be quoted in relevant media, or to contribute to websites for writers and bloggers (such as medium.com), your language skills have to be much more than “good enough”; they have to be perfect.
Mediocrity can be overbearing and frustrating, but if your texts aren’t flawless, don’t panic: Come to terms with it and start working on it.
3. You need to train your “writing muscles” regularly.
Writing is like training at the gym. If you don’t do it regularly, your muscles start to fade. Grasping the beauty of the English language requires time and conscious effort.
Based on my experiences in the past few months, I can tell you that this attitude works wonders. At first, I was very slow at shaping my thoughts into written sentences in English. But as time goes by, it takes less and less time to do so—and without compromising on quality. Still, when it comes to quality, there’s always more that can be done.
4. Your active vocabulary is much smaller than your passive one.
If you read a lot or work in English, you can easily fall under the impression that your knowledge of the language is sufficient to be a great writer. Usually, though, it’s not. Your passive vocabulary may be vast (that is, you understand complicated and technical words), but your active vocabulary still might be inadequate.
When you speak in English, you can tell an appealing story using relatively limited vocabulary, because you can enhance it by changing your vocal intonation. But you won’t have this advantage when telling the same story in writing. In such case, the choice of words is what distinguishes the good writers from the bad ones. It’s a common rookie mistake to overuse certain words—such as “good,” “interesting,” “big” or “popular”—in written English. For example, if you write that you read a good article, what do you mean by that? Is it captivating, amusing or helpful?
5. You probably use too many words.
The English language is much more concise than many other Indo-European languages. I’ve noticed that a paragraph in Polish usually translates into two-thirds of its length in English. Unless you try your hand at poetry or fiction (good luck with that!), take on the system: the shorter the sentence, the better. In most cases, it works. Native speakers don’t appreciate lengthy sentences; using them makes your text boring and wearies your readers.
6. Technology is there for you.
Don’t be afraid to use apps to correct and enhance your writing. Even native speakers invest in Grammarly Premium to avoid typos and other minor errors.
If you’re starting your journey with writing in English, such apps will help you to avoid some foolish spelling and grammar mistakes—but they still won’t be enough to make your texts “well written.”
7. You need editing more than proofreading.
Proofreading is the final polishing of a text. It involves correcting minor errors (typos, punctuation, etc.) and formatting. If you’re not a native speaker, this might not be enough for you.
More often than not, your writing will need editing. Even if you don’t make serious grammar mistakes, something usually needs to be done regarding sentence structure, choice of words (repetitiveness, etc.), or inconsistencies in style and spelling (British and American English differ, and non-natives often don’t pay much attention to that when they speak).
8. A professional editor becomes your teacher.
If you enter the world of written English as a non-native, the proofreader/editor that you work with will become your mentor. Instead of hiring cheap translators or English teachers from your own country, invest in professional editing. It will cost you, but it will be worth it.
I’ve done my research and have realized that there’s no way around it. An excellent proofreader and/or editor makes a big difference: Not only will they correct your text, but they’ll also provide remarks and tips for your writing. And this is how you learn.
Summing up …
Writing in a non-native language requires a mix of self-acceptance, constructive criticism and perseverance. And, as with any other journey, the first steps are usually the hardest. Hush up your inner perfectionist, and don’t let it discourage you. Instead, focus on getting better—one sentence at a time.
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