If You’re a Non-Native Writer You May Also Feel These Challenges
Grammar makes us write meaningless sentences, dysfunctional ideas, and strange descriptions.
I write in a full-time mode since December 2020.
For a Portuguese guy, I have had my challenges. My mother was an English teacher, so not everything was terrible. Most of my skills were from days and days of learning the English language from my mother.
However, it has been more than 20 years since I used a pen and paper to write long texts in English.
The first articles I wrote on this platform in April 2020 now seem like pieces of uncoordinated ideas, unstructured sentences, and word compositions that don’t make sense.
Here are three pillars that challenged me when I started writing and now play in my favor.
Freedom is good, but arguably, grammar is better.
If you don’t dominate grammar, you have serious trouble with writing.
I know I do it, but each time I read one more article, I notice a new detail I can use in my writing. Most of those details I write them down, so whenever I need to use a different expression, I have many options that can help me.
However, one of the first investments I made when I started to write was to buy an online course on grammar. It helped me remember a lot of details about grammar that I would otherwise forget. And another essential thing to do when we remember those details on grammar is that in English, things work radically different compared with the Portuguese grammar.
Today, with less than $20, you can buy a 20-hour-online-course to teach you about grammar, so there’s no excuse for you to fail on this.
Grammar is the difference between knowing ‘your shit’ and knowing ‘you’re shit’.- iliketoquote.com
Practice structure determines success.
I use the same structure over and over again.
Remember, most of your readers read your work from mobile devices. So, your pieces must be clean and straightforward.
From the beginning, I use precisely the same structure in every single article.
If that’s something that has been working successfully, why should I change it?
A compelling introduction, several subheadlines to argue your point, often with quotes to reinforce your idea. And a conclusion that matches the pictures you promised to share in the title of the article.
It seems simple, but believe me when I say it’s tempting for our minds to start wandering, and you find yourself writing about a thousand topics that are not related to the subject you promised to share at the beginning of your article.
This is one of the main reasons most readers give up on reading an article.
You have to quickly involve the reader in the subject you promised to share, giving him small pieces of information like puzzle pieces glued together.
In the end, you have all the pictures together to show you’re readers and deliver your message as promised.
Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible.
The most important routine to make fewer errors when I write is to read.
I usually read one to two books per month.
Now I buy books written in English to pay attention to grammar, sentence structuring, or new expressions that can be applied in specific contexts.
It’s a constant learning process.
I’m currently reading two books, one on central banks, one on the psychology of money. Since my writing focus is on macroeconomics, and because I like to share my ideas with readers, it’s important to know specific technical terms, which, in my mother tongue, are expressed in a way, but which in English have a completely different format.
Another advantage for those who love to read is that you never lack new ideas to write about. Instead, as you read new authors, fresh and refreshing themes come to your mind to develop new lines of thought.
I keep struggle because I have more than 100 drafts and haven’t got time to write them. But that’s a perfect feeling. I see so many writers struggle because they have no new ideas to share with their audience.
Fortunately, I never suffered from that.
Final Thoughts
Yet, it has been the most fulfilled journey I ever had in my life.
So many other indie writers came to me, sharing how much they appreciated my work. People from the USA, Australia, Canada, and the UK. But also from non-English countries like India, Croatia, Angola, and Brazil.
Indie writers are always struggling, especially non-native writers. However, because of the language constraints and because the digital world is evolving, rules are constantly changing, and new opportunities appear all the time.
We have to focus on what works for us, but other platforms are appealing too.
Just this week, Facebook launched its own platform for indie writers.
The world of brand journalism and content production is a sea of opportunities, but if we lose focus, we quickly disperse. That’s why I focused solely and exclusively on this platform, at least until I reached my goal of earning enough to pay my fixed expenses. I think I can get that goal at the end of this year, which would be great.
The world is moving towards the total digitization of the economy, and therefore, it seems to me that we, indie writers, are on the right side of the barricade.
It’s evident that without work, dedication, and patience, nothing is achieved.
I honestly never thought that writing could ever become part of my daily routine. But the reality is that this industry could turn out to be highly profitable.
My website is almost ready, I have been invited to write on other digital platforms, and I continue to evolve as a writer, trying to make my service increasingly better.
If you want to take your writing journey to another level, you have to assume this activity like a job, like a business, and be as professional as possible.
In December 2020, I earned $99.70. In May 2021, I’ve made $1,530.99.
On top of my whiteboard, I have written a magic number- $6,000. That’s the amount I want to earn each month at the end of 2022. For that to happen, I have to be better, work better, and write better.
It’s a process, a path, a journey.
Yet, if you don’t write a number you can look at every day, it gets more challenging for you to accomplish your goals.
If some extraordinary writers can reach that number, so can I.
If I could do this hard path into four digits, so can you.
Write every single day. Learn with the best. Read a lot.
But most of all, believe in yourself.
Believe in you, because your voice is important, because your dreams matter, because there is only one you, because you are worth it.- @theramdomvibez
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