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