Non-Native English Speaker: Should I Give Up?

I have always loved writing since a young age: Creative writing, fiction, real-life stories, you name it. I am a decent writer in my native language and got an offer from a publishing house for a book deal.

The problem is that I have learned basic English quite recently, so I can't even dream of getting closer to the refined and original style of writing and vocabulary many of you possess.

My first story is ready. A non-fictional, 2000-word recount of one of my real-life experiences. I know I should have an editor, but I'm a bit worried that for the non-fictional stories, they might change my words quite a bit to embellish them or give the story the proper "Author" vibe, so to speak.

At the moment, my idea is to write about my real-life experiences and detailed fantasies, the ones I personally use to get aroused. Any advice for me, or should I give up the dream of becoming a real author in English and write (if they pass the editor's approval) only these kinds of stories, disregarding fiction altogether?

PS: I am an avid reader, mostly in English, and I'm starting to read a few stories here to have an idea. Thanks for any advice you can give me. You can be brutally honest. I take and encourage constructive criticism.

You should most definitely not give up!

I'm not a native English speaker either, just as many other authors and mods here.

You can always work together with whomever you choose as editor. They could use track changes on the text file so you can see any edits, and use the Add Comment tool for suggestions (That's what I do, at least).

Your story is your own.

Quote by AvidlyCurious

You should most definitely not give up!

I'm not a native English speaker either, just as many other authors and mods here.

You can always work together with whomever you choose as editor. They could use track changes on the text file so you can see any edits, and use the Add Comment tool for suggestions (That's what I do, at least).

Your story is your own.

Thanks a lot for the advice... by reading the stories here, I felt a bit intimidated. Any further advice on how to find a good editor I could work with? I honestly would like to improve with the help of the editor while maintaining my voice.

Thanks again! xx

I've seen people posting a request for help/editor/proofreader here in this forum thread. I guess you could also ask in the chat rooms, although I rarely go there, so not sure.

You could also ask an author you really like here for advice, or to share their experiences.

Author friends could give it a read and help out (that would be my case), too. Chatting about ideas or possible approaches could give you new perspectives.

I think reading and talking to fellow authors is the best way to learn and improve.

It sounds like a great way to learn idiomatic speech on topics that are not in the textbook.
Someone will surely help you turn your ideas into flawless English. You will learn a lot.

Hi Laura,

I am a native english speaker and I think your written english is fine. I am not a professional writer and I do not have a degree in english, but your writing seems pretty clear and concise. In fact, I think it is better than a lot of native english speakers I know. Keep at, you don't have that far to go, and you will get better as time goes on. "AvidlyCurious" is right in that you can get guidance from other writers. I would help you myself, though I am not that experienced when it comes to this kind of writing and I had my first two stories kicked back for revision.

Best of luck!

Quote by reader909

It sounds like a great way to learn idiomatic speech on topics that are not in the textbook.
Someone will surely help you turn your ideas into flawless English. You will learn a lot.

Thanks, so I should try to find an editor... will try my best!

Quote by Cocklust_bd

Hi Laura,

I am a native english speaker and I think your written english is fine. I am not a professional writer and I do not have a degree in english, but your writing seems pretty clear and concise. In fact, I think it is better than a lot of native english speakers I know. Keep at, you don't have that far to go, and you will get better as time goes on. "AvidlyCurious" is right in that you can get guidance from other writers. I would help you myself, though I am not that experienced when it comes to this kind of writing and I had my first two stories kicked back for revision.

Best of luck!

Thanks a lot for the words of encouragement, I am trying my best to first proofread the story myself helped by Grammarly, but I feel that the way I could express the concepts is very limited with my English compared to my language, so I imagine that, as anyone else here told me, I will need to find someone to help me out and maybe, gradually, I will find my own voice... in English. That's what I am aiming for. I truly love writing, whatever genre, is one of my main hobbies and it's such a pity to give up.

May I ask you why they sent your stories back for revision? I have read all the guidance they provide, more than once, and I obviously felt a bit intimidated

Thank you!

Quote by AvidlyCurious

I've seen people posting a request for help/editor/proofreader here in this forum thread. I guess you could also ask in the chat rooms, although I rarely go there, so not sure.

You could also ask an author you really like here for advice, or to share their experiences.

Author friends could give it a read and help out (that would be my case), too. Chatting about ideas or possible approaches could give you new perspectives.

I think reading and talking to fellow authors is the best way to learn and improve.

Thanks again, you've been super kind! I do go often to the chatrooms and some people offered to read my story to give me a first impression of it, but I feel I need someone who writes regularly to truly assess if I have any potential at all, so I will keep reading the stories and maybe ask an author although my personality pushes to "not disturb" people I do not know well, as they are surely busy with their own writing.

The worst it can happen is a no, I guess, so it's worth a try. Thanks for the tips!

Hello Laura,

English is my second language, too. Most of all - write what you want, that inspiration makes a big difference. If it is not enjoyable, stop, think, change course.

When I started writing erotic fiction it was more than the words I was using, some conventions are different than French, and we use far more adjectives which does not work so well in English. I have read my favourite French authors and then read the English translations - they are subtly different. My advice to you is to read as much English as you can, stories here, anything. It will help you find how it flows, it has its pacing, and its composition, which is unique compared to the romantic languages of Europe.

The next thing is to write small stories. I had so much time during the Paris lockdowns, that I tried to write a novel. This was silly - I know. I wrote and wrote, and wrote. My husband used to write here, and I helped him, which was a blessing in disguise. I wrote in English how French is written. It was such a mess, some 60,000 words that would need a horrific amount of editing. I go back to look at it to see if I can save it, it is too much. I struggle to write a story of 6,000 words without getting into an editing hell that takes hours of effort.

So you are doing great, write short stories, then develop. 2,000 words is ideal here, it is many people's preference. I would suggest writing often, even a micro story is helpful. Or, try to put down 200 words a day for your story - this helps, too.

Last, there are lots of great resources. I use Grammarly and take its advice, sometimes I ignore it, but it is very good. There are translation tools and thesauruses. I write in an old version of Word 2013, and it has a text-to-speech tool, which is very helpful. The robot speaks slowly and this helps to find mistakes.

I would be very happy to read over your story if you wish and offer advice where I can.

The very best of luck! Keep going.

Read her stories! She's beyond amazing!

Yes, read AmuseBouche. A fantastic author. There are many others, each with varying voices, that will give you an appreciation of the idiosyncracies and haphazard beauty of English that I try to tame in my own work here.

One further thing: please treat Grammarly's advice with a pinch of salt. It's fine if you're starting out or want a little nudge to spot typos, but like most programmatic systems that aim to help with art, it often fails in the most spectacular fashion. So if you feel you're not confident in English in the first place (I can't see why: your posts are eloquent and readable) then the tool could direct you to misleading conclusions or, at worst, bad habits.

Whatever you do, don't give up.

Quote by AmuseBouche

Hello Laura,

English is my second language, too. Most of all - write what you want, that inspiration makes a big difference. If it is not enjoyable, stop, think, change course.

When I started writing erotic fiction it was more than the words I was using, some conventions are different than French, and we use far more adjectives which does not work so well in English. I have read my favourite French authors and then read the English translations - they are subtly different. My advice to you is to read as much English as you can, stories here, anything. It will help you find how it flows, it has its pacing, and its composition, which is unique compared to the romantic languages of Europe.

The next thing is to write small stories. I had so much time during the Paris lockdowns, that I tried to write a novel. This was silly - I know. I wrote and wrote, and wrote. My husband used to write here, and I helped him, which was a blessing in disguise. I wrote in English how French is written. It was such a mess, some 60,000 words that would need a horrific amount of editing. I go back to look at it to see if I can save it, it is too much. I struggle to write a story of 6,000 words without getting into an editing hell that takes hours of effort.

So you are doing great, write short stories, then develop. 2,000 words is ideal here, it is many people's preference. I would suggest writing often, even a micro story is helpful. Or, try to put down 200 words a day for your story - this helps, too.

Last, there are lots of great resources. I use Grammarly and take its advice, sometimes I ignore it, but it is very good. There are translation tools and thesauruses. I write in an old version of Word 2013, and it has a text-to-speech tool, which is very helpful. The robot speaks slowly and this helps to find mistakes.

I would be very happy to read over your story if you wish and offer advice where I can.

The very best of luck! Keep going.

Thank you so much for all the advice and encouragement! I'm happy I decided to ask for advice here because I have received plenty. Also, lovely people proposed to read the story to help with concrete advice, which was so helpful. After a few revisions (which I feel are still not enough), I decided that the story is complete (2.5k words). Wow you trying to write a novel, I shiver only at the idea! I love writing, but when they offered the book deal in Italian, my native language, I was humbled as I am not a professional writer and felt a lot of pressure on me, even if in Italian I'm better with my writing, as you rightly say... there are differences in translating into English. More adjectives and other things. Well, I take one more day to read it again and let's see if I'm ready to submit it. So far the response have been good but I'm quite terrible with the punctuation and spaces

The story is definitely something I loved to write; I'd never write something I don't feel mine; it would be a complete disaster, so thanks for reminding me of that, too! When/ if my story is approved, I will try to start another, always on the shorter side if I can (I love details. They are my ruin!!).

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and help! xxx

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Yes, read AmuseBouche. A fantastic author. There are many others, each with varying voices, that will give you an appreciation of the idiosyncracies and haphazard beauty of English that I try to tame in my own work here.

One further thing: please treat Grammarly's advice with a pinch of salt. It's fine if you're starting out or want a little nudge to spot typos, but like most programmatic systems that aim to help with art, it often fails in the most spectacular fashion. So if you feel you're not confident in English in the first place (I can't see why: your posts are eloquent and readable) then the tool could direct you to misleading conclusions or, at worst, bad habits.

Whatever you do, don't give up.

Thanks, I use Grammarly and sometimes it doesn't make any sense even to me but all in all, it helps with many things, I do oversight!I will have to take some time to read all of you. Surely, that will help tremendously, as I need some references of good authors to begin with, to understand the styles, different approaches, and what works!

Fingers crossed :)

Quote by AvidlyCurious

Read her stories! She's beyond amazing!

Hey! Whos stories should I read? Sorry Im sleep deprived these days and slower than usual

Some of the best authors on Lush, including a lot of the story moderators, are non-native speakers/ writers. AC, Amused, and the others are 100% correct—never give up, because you'll get it and excel. I've seen several writers on here go from being unable to get a story passed to one of the most widely read and loved authors. You can and will excel at it.

Quote by Cocklust_bd

Hi Laura,

I am a native english speaker and I think your written english is fine. I am not a professional writer and I do not have a degree in english, but your writing seems pretty clear and concise. In fact, I think it is better than a lot of native english speakers I know. Keep at, you don't have that far to go, and you will get better as time goes on. "AvidlyCurious" is right in that you can get guidance from other writers. I would help you myself, though I am not that experienced when it comes to this kind of writing and I had my first two stories kicked back for revision.

Best of luck!

Thank you. I'm sorry I'm not practical with the forum, and I'm just seeing the new replies now... I'll try my best and will need a regular editor for sure, fingers crossed, and thanks for the encouragement!

Quote by krystalg

Some of the best authors on Lush, including a lot of the story moderators, are non-native speakers/ writers. AC, Amused, and the others are 100% correct—never give up, because you'll get it and excel. I've seen several writers on here go from being unable to get a story passed to one of the most widely read and loved authors. You can and will excel at it.

Wow, thanks! It's a massive encouragement to know how non-native speakers have grown! It gives me hope that at least my stories can be published one day! For excellence, I don't even think about it One step at a time and let's see what happens!

Quote by LauraLovesYou

Hey! Whos stories should I read? Sorry Im sleep deprived these days and slower than usual

I was referring to AmuseBouche, but both WW and Krystal are prolific authors and mods, so check them out, too!

Practice makes, well, if not perfect then pretty damn good. So go for it, you know as you write you'll become better. We are our own worst critics.

NO!! Absolutely not, please do not give up!!! As a native English person, I find my own language difficult.

I can only echo those above and say that your written English is excellent, probably actually much better than my own!

If you are ever struggling with writing in English just remember this;

You write in English because you can.
Most of us write in English because we have to.

Quote by Georgia_27_8

NO!! Absolutely not, please do not give up!!! As a native English person, I find my own language difficult.

I can only echo those above and say that your written English is excellent, probably actually much better than my own!

If you are ever struggling with writing in English just remember this;

You write in English because you can.
Most of us write in English because we have to.

Thanks a lot! Im going to try this first story and see how it goes!! I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing it, so at least that is a good sign, as I'm doing it mainly for my own pleasure at the moment; the rest (hopefully) will come!

What I often do to quickly ascertain the meaning of a word is to Google the word itself followed with "meaning". This usually directs me to Websters or Collins entries for that particular word. Searching for synonyms also led me to scores of new words.

Developing the ability to vividly express oneself in a new language will take time, but it is immensely rewarding. My first language is French, I'm a pro English-to-French translator living in Canada, and only the colleagues who are closest to me know how solid my written English really is, and it's still improving (hopefully).

Throughout centuries, monks and lay authors of various native tongues have written wonderful texts in Latin. There are a few left among us.

Quote by AvidlyCurious

I was referring to AmuseBouche, but both WW and Krystal are prolific authors and mods, so check them out, too!

Thanks I totally will

Don’t give up!! English is my 2nd language and I have three stories published! My first ones were rejected, but I studied their grammar page and greatly improved my English.

Absolutely do not give up. As other's have said, many of the best authors and moderators here don't have English as their first language. However, they do have a better grasp of the English language than I and many others do (especially Georgia 🤭).

Check out AvidlyCurious and El_Henke in particular - they're amazing.