We all know how it’s more challenging for a non-native English speaker to become an English writer, but it’s absolutely not impossible. In fact, many renowned writers aren’t Americans, and their primary language isn’t English.
Ever heard of Haruki Murakami?
He’s a world-renowned Japanese novelist, but he writes in English, too.
He’s written the opening pages of his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, in English using the limited knowledge he has had about the language. However, he translated them to Japanese later on.
The bottom line is, even if English isn’t your native tongue, you can still become an exceptional writer.
That’s without a doubt.
5 Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Writer
There are a lot of non-native English speakers who write professionally. And most of them started at a disadvantage. If you seriously pursue writing, you may get a chance to meet some of them online or even do a collaboration with them.
These people have proven that their limited English language knowledge isn’t a hindrance to reaching their personal goals.
Now that we’ve got that squared away, we’ll look into the top 5 things any aspiring writer should know.
1. Writing is a learnable skill.
Just like any other skills out there, writing is very learnable.
Remember your kindergarten days when you didn’t know how to read fluently? I do!
I could vividly recall when the teacher called me out to read an excerpt from a Filipino book that I couldn’t read. I felt embarrassed, so I taught myself with the help of my parents.
The point is, if there’s someone who teaches it, then you can learn it.
Why do writing gurus even create courses in the first place if they can’t teach their students how to write?
Why are there English teachers? Writing coaches and experts?
Because they know without any doubt that they can pass on their knowledge to their students.
Again, writing is a skill, just like swimming, dancing, painting, and anyone can learn it, and you can become an expert at it if you’re willing to put in the work.
At one point, we’re all noobs.
Remember your first job?
For sure, you didn’t have a clue about what to do.
You had thought the job was too difficult or impossible to do. But you still gave it your best, and after some experience, you got the hang of it, right?
Writing isn’t any different!
2. Tenacity will get you far.
You see, tenacity surpasses brilliance in terms of success.
Tenacious people are those who believe in persistence and determination.
That even if their actions are small, if they consistently act, they will achieve their goals.
They don’t rely on luck or fate. They’re the go-getters and action-takers of the world.
Every successful person you look up to today—the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah—each one of them became successful because they are tenacious.
They have systems in place. And no matter how boring the day gets or unmotivated they are, they follow the system because they know doing so will make them successful.
To be tenacious, focus on your goals. Times will get hard, but you need to develop thick skin amidst failures and challenges.
You need to have a high tolerance to rejections and losses, learn to shrug them off, and go another round if you must for the sake of your goals.
When I was starting, my goal was to expand my network. So I connected to people on LinkedIn and offered my writing services for free in exchange for a testimonial.
I sent messages to hundreds of connections but got zero response. To think that I was offering my services for free. It was depressing! But instead of wallowing up in sadness, I learned to accept things as they were.
I consoled myself. I told myself over and over again that it’s okay. Remember, sometimes, you’ll be your own hero to survive.
Later on, I realized all the losses were just bricks that I needed to hit myself into to become better at my craft.
Again, you don’t have to be brilliant in English or write like American journalists.
If you want to earn a living through freelance writing, a grade 6 level or below in English will suffice.
Unless your goal is to get employed in a news publication, like the NY Times or Guardian, you can just write in your most comfortable style and voice.
Keep in mind that not all people in America can understand the journalistic style of writing. This style is mostly targeted to audiences who have high educational attainment, which in truth is only a fraction of the population.
If your English is at the lower level, it means you can write to most Americans, and that will be your edge over others.
You can use your limited knowledge of the English language as an advantage to speak at a level most of your audience can relate to.
You see, people read to understand.
And the only way for people to understand is to read the information written in basic English.
Surprisingly, successful writers are those who express ideas in the simplest words possible.
Just like what you’re reading right now.
The difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful one is tenacity.
You need to have a talent for not giving up no matter what happens and whatever comes your way.
Be a person of limitless grit!
Remember Thomas Edison?
Even if his teachers said he’s too stupid to learn anything, he didn’t give up.
His tenacity led him to 1000 failed attempts before finally inventing the light bulb.
After that, his name exploded in the books.
As cliché as it sounds, the lesson he left through his own story is worth gold if only we take it to heart.
Perhaps it will take you 10,000 words or 100,000 words before you become a good writer. And another 100, 000 words before you become a professional writer.
If you persevere and persist, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.
3. Practice until you live and breathe words.
Do you follow an online writer? Did you check out his/her blog?
If you did, you might have come across some archived articles dated 5-10 years back.
And if you’ve ever read the first and the most recent post in that blog, you’ll see the difference in skills and strategies.
One of the writers I follow is Elna Cain.
When I read her first blog dated back in January 2016 and her latest blog, the difference in the style and skills are apparent.
Her recent blogs have evolved, and they’re more engaging, specific, and elegantly written compared to 4 years ago.
The fact is, you don’t become better by studying alone. You do, however, by putting everything you’ve learned into practice and applying the strategies.
If you want to sharpen your writing skills, you need to write because writers write!
You don’t just write when you’re “motivated” or in the mood.
Establish a writing habit. This habit will help a lot in becoming as skillful as your role model writer.
Haruki Murakami, as famous as he is, revealed he writes 1200 words every day.
So even though he’s already legendary, he still practices.
You should do the same. Start small, like 100 words each day. And build your way up until you can write 1200 words or more in less than an hour. You’ll soon see your style and voice evolved.
4. The right mindset will give you the right direction.
You can write all you want but if you don’t believe that this career is meant for you, let me be frank; you’re wasting your time!
Be confident with your ability and have an unwavering belief that you can overcome obstacles and rise after falling into a lot of potholes. You can be a legendary writer! You can author books!
You can be the next J.K. Rowling, Gary Halbert, Haruki Murakami, or your favorite author.
Cultivate this kind of mindset, and you’ll never be lost. Believe that writing is what you were born to do unless you’re not serious about it.
And most importantly, you need to have mental fortitude.
Associate yourself only with people whose goals are similar to yours.
Don’t be scared to connect to people you look up to or have marked their names in the industry. Connect with them on LinkedIn or send them an email using the contact page of their site.
Join online support groups that are dedicated to helping newbie writers. In short, find your tribe!
You need as many people as possible to help you in your writing journey.
I’ve been so blessed because I’ve found people online who’ve been so generous in sharing their knowledge.
Another thing is, so you don’t destroy the right mindset that you’ve tried so hard to build, unfollow toxic people.
Those people who do nothing but rant on social media and post nonsense things are bad for your mental health.
Even if they’re friends or past colleagues, be ruthless when it comes to your own mental being.
Social media connections that cultivate feelings of jealousy or discontentment and make you feel you’re missing out on something will evoke negative emotions. So be sure to unfollow these people.
It’s difficult at first. I know because I’ve been there. But it’s for your benefit. Later on, you’ll say to yourself that you made the right decision.
On the contrary, I started to follow people in the same freelance groups as I am. Since then, all the posts on my feed are positive and inspiring, which helped me protect my mindset about everything.
This is just one way to safeguard yourself from the negativity of other people so you don’t catch their bad vibrations.
5. Having a goal gives you direction.
Don’t venture into something without any goal. Otherwise, you’ll be like a ship floating aimlessly in the waters.
Always have a goal, whether it’s short-term or long-term.
Have a vision as to where you want your career to go.
As for me, I started writing to make a living out of it in the long run, so I can have more time for my other passions, like traveling.
That was my long-term goal.
My short term goal was to escape the corporate world and stop working for a boss. Although I still haven’t reached this goal, I’m positive I will.
You see, the best thing about having short-term goals is that every time you achieve one, you get more confident with your ability. Small wins, like achieving short term goals, will help you propel and take small steps forward.
It’s like a power-up. Similar to the characters of an online game who get power boosts whenever they overcome an obstacle.
With wins after wins, you become bolder, and you’ll want to aim for bigger projects.
I got my first client after five months of writing on my own.
I must admit I didn’t have discipline when I first started. Part of it was because I didn’t know what I was doing.
I didn’t have someone to ask advice from or if I was doing the right thing.
I didn’t have someone to give me support or encourage me.
It was all self-taught, and I was working alone. And this is why it took me several months to learn what I wanted from this career.
The point is, setting an achievable goal gives you a direction, as a compass does.
Once you meet your first goal, you’d work on your second goal, then third, and the next ones on bigger and more complex projects, and ultimately, getting to your desired destination.
Final Thoughts
It’s not all about your writing skill. As you go and learn new strategies, you’ll realize that the right mindset, your trust in your ability, and having a goal are what will eventually move you a notch closer to your goals. Before you start writing, condition your mind that no matter what hardships knock you out, always, always stand up and go another round.
