I am editing\rewriting bunch of my old chapters and it is a cringy experience. Also, I often read stories that have potential but would really benefit from being written in something more similar to English. I think my 10 years of experience at chyoo\chyoa allow me to give some advises (Note that I don't think that I am a good writer. Yet some people do like my stuff, so) So, my advises: 1) Use tools. I use Grammarly. There are other similar tools. It will help you to miss fewer articles, it will help you to use correct prepositions. It will spot many typos, it will tell you that "taked" or "littlier" aren't English words, etc. (But don't assume that tools are always correct) 2) Master Yoda be not beg you I English is all about sentence structure. Chances are that your language is far more liberal. Learn the basics! Remember: Subject - verb - the rest 3) Use simple and short sentences Related to 2 Yes, longer sentences are more colorful. Yes, your writing will look somewhat bland. But this way it will be comprehensible. You can use more complex sentences when you are comfortable with using simple ones. 4) Google is your friend If you are unsure if you should use some phrase (or worse, an idiom), Google it first. Chances are that if you find 10 results then it isn't a proper English phrase\idiom. 5) Choose your stories wisely Different stories have different requirements for grammar. I know that you like that big beautiful story with one or two authors. I know that you have wonderful ideas but your first chapters shouldn't go there. I suggest starting on some public stories like Game Monster. No one will mind if you'll learn there. If you really want to start on moderated one - contact the author\owner first and discuss their requirements\expectations. Starting your own story can be fine, too. But, please, please, please, don't start a generic incest story #231. Do something unique that will be so interesting that readers won't care about your subpar writing skills. 6) Proofreading is always a good idea. 7) Just because you write in a foreign language, you can't ignore basic rules of decent writing. No walls of text. No 3-sentence chapters. No sex scenes like "he inserted, came, and pulled out". Readers care about all that way more than if you used an "a" instead of a "the" 8) Relax Saying all of that. Remember - there are only two situations when you should try really hard - when it is a paid job or when the lives of other people depend on your efforts. Remember, you write for your own entertainment first. If you'll write a short chapter and then spend hours and hours trying to make it perfect (BTW, you'll fail anyway) then you'll get bored real fast. I remember myself. It was really hard for me to start writing. I was sure that I'll write crap (spoiler - my early chapters ARE crap) and didn't want to look like a moron. I don't even think that I became a good writer. But I do have 810 chapters, 7 500 likes and 58 followers. I think it was worth it
Another quick one, if I may... Let us KNOW when you are not an English native speaker/writer. English speakers are much more forgiving at that point, because we KNOW how fucked up our language is. Recently really enjoyed a story more because of the fact it felt like a dub from another country. I personally LOVE foreign films, so... having the original author writing as opposed to an unfeeling machine translation is incredibly fun. No, it's not PERFECT... and that's why I love it. Foreign turns of phrase that people like are how a language grows, IMHO. Only a dead language has perfect rules.
Heh. Every language is fucked up in its own way. I have witnessed how much "fun" English speakers have with grammatical genders or chaotic Slavic way to form sentences.
Well, I'm not a native speaker and I would prefer if readers would point out if something is wrong. (At least everything that isn't related to punctuation style )
If anyone wants me to edit their work, just ping me and I'll do it. I enjoy doing it, I don't need any compensation, and I won't be offended if you don't like my edits and want to use your own version.
I'll note that "few advises" isn't proper English -- a native English speaker would probably have titled this post "Some advice for non-English speaking authors." The other uses of "advises" in the post should be "advice" as well. "Advises" is a verb (a form of "advise"), and "advice" is a noun (which is always treated as singular, no matter how much advice there is)... Hvast advises authors to use Google. Hvast decided to advise authors to use Google. Hvast gave the advice that authors should use Google. Hvast's eight pieces of advice for authors included using Google.
