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Comment by iLemming | Hacker News Reader

WriteOrDie.com style of writing is great, I agree. And I agree that you shouldn't be editing the initial draft, just get it out and keep writing; review and rearrange things later. Editing and fixing typos while writing is like feeding your horse while she's galloping.

My personal problem though is the language. English is hard. Yes, English is beautiful and versatile and egalitarian and it has flavors, etc. But I am not a native English speaker and I still haven't learned how to form copiously coherent sentences in my mind, let alone complete paragraphs. I can write beautiful sentences in my native tongue, but not in English. And I just can't write my thoughts in my native tongue first and then translate them later - something gets lost whenever I try; and I tried many times - it's just not the same.

It's difficult to become an adequate writer for someone born into the language, almost impossible for someone who had to learn it in adulthood.

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I have the same problem. Time and practice have certainly helped. But sometimes I just write whatever I want in my native language and then put it in Google Translate and then manually fix the errors in Google Translate's result.

Many already pointed out that your writing is good. I will just add, read about "imposter syndrome". That will clear some of your doubts and you might start thinking in a different direction (at-least for writing capabilities if not anything else).

p.s. I totally understand your feeling. I am also a non native English speaker.

but your writing looks good now, what are you missing?

i can't tell any difference from your writing quality to mine. but i could not write any better in my native language either.

Well, I'm not saying that my writing is incomprehensible, I assume I've overcome that barrier. But I'm still years of practice away from achieving goodness. Maybe a good analogy would be something like a chef who grew up in Japan and learned how to cook tasty Yakitory (skewered chicken), and then moved to Korea and learned their cuisine. He makes unbelievably tasty Dakkochi (Korean skewered chicken), it sells well, yet it's not the same. He knows - something is missing, but he can't tell exactly what. And his only hope is to keep trying. And that's just chicken - arguably the easiest meat to deal with.

As a native English speaker, your writing seems beautiful and perfect to me. I would never have guessed you aren't a native speaker. The feeling of foreignness can be pernicious. You'll always wonder if a miscommunication is because of foreignness or the countless other reasons even two native speakers misunderstand each other.

Thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot to me and may sound gratifying to those who, just like me, are still trying to get a grip on the subtle art of expressing their thoughts freely and without any hurdles, like swimming or running.

I feel awkward now. My initial intent wasn't a plea for sympathy. I didn't mean it to sound like: "look at me, the poor foreigner, my life is tough, yadda yadda..."

I think English is interesting and a curious case here because it is exceptionally forgiving; not only does it allow mistakes - sometimes, "breaking the rules" is encouraged.

As long as you try to convey your thoughts, whatever path you choose, it most likely finds acceptance, and your voice gets heard.

I remember the day I arrived at JFK for the first time. I couldn't speak. I knew words; with whatever elementary grammar I had at the time and the pathetic vocabulary that I would thinly stretch to communicate, I could say things in my head, yet I wouldn't dare to say them out loud.

From the day our ancestors left the trees and tried communicating with each other, we started associating and measuring our intellectual level tying it to our speaking abilities. When we cannot freely express our thoughts, we feel (subconsciously or otherwise) inferior to our interlocutors.

However, for most English-speaking people, English is a second language, and for hundreds of millions, it's not even a second but a third or fourth.

And most often, simply demonstrating the commitment to learn and get better earns you respect from even the native speakers.

For this reason alone, I think anyone who learned English, even at the primary level, should try to write in it.

No rule says that whatever story you're trying to tell needs to be fluid, has to sound harmonic, and is not allowed to have sharp edges.

Enigma's song comes to mind:

The principles of l̵u̵s̵t̵ [writing in English] are easy to understand... Do what you feel, feel until the end...

My suspicion is that you are blocked because you demand perfection in every aspect from yourself? You should be able to achieve excellent writing in more technical areas, or in niche topics.

You will likely struggle to write poetically in English. Perhaps instead encourage skills that are not specific to English: good metaphors, writing simply and clearly, choosing an interesting topic.

I suggest you keep an eye out for compelling writing that is written by people that do not have English as a first language, and see if you can recognise their tricks. And remember: if you write then you are a writer. Just write. The best writers usually wish their writing were better, and can see all the flaws in their work.

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