Let’s start with the cons.
First of all, I want to be clear: you’ll never be able to express yourself as clearly or as elastically as in your mother language. If you are an innate bilingual, it’s okay. But if you are someone who has never been not even for a day to an English-speaking country, someone who gets his daily bread of words through books and media, then beware: everything — and I mean everything! Every action you take, every memory you collect, every banter and filthy joke you tell — that happens in your environment's language takes its heavy toll on your fluidity and creativity in English. Memories do have a lingual code, whatever some people may try to persuade you otherwise. And no, you can’t achieve just anything. Conrad and Nabokov? Please reconsider. First, Conrad had known French before he was introduced to English, and those are very close terrains. About 60 percent of all English words are of French origin, and that is saying much. Second, Conrad immigrated from his home country at a relatively young age (16); worked aboard some French vessels before he joined the British Navy when he was about 24. Old? How old are you? And needless to say Conrad lived sealife; he mingled with the right models for his characters; heard them cuss and curse; had conversations with them that he recorded; he even married an Englishwoman — things that you are, very probably, never going to do. As for Nabokov, he studied at Cambridge, for God’s sake! Moreover, he spoke three languages at his parents' house, shifting from Russian to French, French to English and English to Russian on daily basis. Did you speak English as a second, third or fourth language when you were little at your parents' house? If the answer is yes, then excuse me, sir. But if not, think again about the quest you want to pursue. Last thing about Nabokov is that he lived the greater part of his life in the United States, and did not even consider writing in English until he was old enough for you to drop the subject altogether and master Chinese.
Second of all, you’ll make of yourself an outcast inside your own community. Very few countries I know of encourage their intelligentsia to direct their pens (keyboards now, I guess) to foreign readerships. Even though you become a luminary in the field, even if you turn out to be a real genius, they will bestow you with little to no appreciation at all. Or it could be worse, if they try to pull your leg to their boisterous, feisty and very busy literary life. Once you decline or show the first hint of lack of interest, it's war! You'll wish you have never made that ignoble mistake and written a word in the first place.
Third, who told you that writing in English is such a cinch anyway? Do you have any idea how even native English writers strive and strain to compose one original sentence that can possibly stand out against all that collage of seemingly ad-infinitum literary produce? What do you know about English clichés, cultural references and catchphrases? Have you mastered English collocations and connotations? Do you dream in English, sir? Do you think in English or are you just interpreting from another language with the delusion of parallel words?... I’m not saying it’s impossible, but at least don’t fool yourself into believing it's a piece of cake or even within close reach. To clarify, imagine how many years a foreigner from a faraway land would take to master your mother tongue.
Fourth, even if you managed to transcend all the lingual and cultural barriers and eventually wrote a good manuscript in English, how are you going to publish it? Do you have connections in the publishing world? Do you know there are so many talented English-speaking writers that remain to this day unpublished? Things may be a bit better than in your third-world country regarding publishing and reading in general, but not all the time. Sometimes the dearth of talent in a given place plays into the hands of the privileged few. You might not sell a lot of books, but at least you will be published and recognized. Remember, for many writers, that is more than enough. But again, not adding up to the compendium of human achievements, not contributing to a civilization you honestly believe in, not be translated and read by the biggest body of readers worldwide, not be written in history if you will, all that makes the poor writers who write in their native languages furious. You'll notice them. They speak in tongues on national televisions worldwide about nothing else but Western hegemony and decadence and why they haven't been translated yet.
Why bother, then? Too many impediments and drawbacks, huh? Wait, don't be a hothead. There are still amazing advantages to writing in English.
Here are some pros to writing in English.
First and foremost, all human knowledge — past, present and foreseeable future — is available in English. If you want to read Voltaire, you’ll find his books in English. If you want to read the fables of Aesop, you will find a good English translation. If you want to read your most renowned native authors, you’ll find them in English as well. As for science, the best references are almost always written in English. If you read in English, you'll know more than all of your national intellectuals — those who only read translations — combined.
Second, if you’re a fiction writer, some genres are exclusive to the Anglophone Culture: science Fiction (to a lesser extent fantasy), thrillers, detective novels, and more or less comics (save for in France and Japan). Even if you decided to write these genres in your native language, where else would you learn the ropes? Who could possibly teach you the craft but the Anglophone writers — who, in many cases, are also the founders? Can you be a good sci-fi writer without reading Gibson, Sterling, Ursula Le Guin or Kim Stanley Robinson? Can you start writing comics before you read Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Sin City ... etc? Can you write detective novels without getting to know Philip Marlowe first? Think about it. Now, if you’re going to get most of your readings in one language, how far will you write in another before you lose touch with words?
Third, better lingual resources and whatnot. That was the first thing that drew me to the English language. Thousands of dictionaries, corpora, grammar books, writing guidelines and other helpful sites are out there just to make you a better writer. Even other major European languages, like French and German, cannot compete with that.
Fourth, vast and infinite readership. The Anglophone book market is the biggest in the world, and you’ll be read by readers from all sorts of backgrounds. It’s a writer’s dream of a lifetime, isn't it?
Last but not least, tapping into the global network of professionals. Being fluent in English not only helps you be read by a wider readership, but also be in contact with writers from all around the world. You'll be able to attend conferences, exchange signed copies and ask for guidance and direction. You'll have a better shot at that than if you continue writing in your native tongue that nobody outside your country can read and is little translated if ever.
Those were the pros and cons to writing in English as a second language. My only advice is that you take your decision very early on and stick to it as long as it works.
First of all, I want to be clear: you’ll never be able to express yourself as clearly or as elastically as in your mother language. If you are an innate bilingual, it’s okay. But if you are someone who has never been not even for a day to an English-speaking country, someone who gets his daily bread of words through books and media, then beware: everything — and I mean everything! Every action you take, every memory you collect, every banter and filthy joke you tell — that happens in your environment's language takes its heavy toll on your fluidity and creativity in English. Memories do have a lingual code, whatever some people may try to persuade you otherwise. And no, you can’t achieve just anything. Conrad and Nabokov? Please reconsider. First, Conrad had known French before he was introduced to English, and those are very close terrains. About 60 percent of all English words are of French origin, and that is saying much. Second, Conrad immigrated from his home country at a relatively young age (16); worked aboard some French vessels before he joined the British Navy when he was about 24. Old? How old are you? And needless to say Conrad lived sealife; he mingled with the right models for his characters; heard them cuss and curse; had conversations with them that he recorded; he even married an Englishwoman — things that you are, very probably, never going to do. As for Nabokov, he studied at Cambridge, for God’s sake! Moreover, he spoke three languages at his parents' house, shifting from Russian to French, French to English and English to Russian on daily basis. Did you speak English as a second, third or fourth language when you were little at your parents' house? If the answer is yes, then excuse me, sir. But if not, think again about the quest you want to pursue. Last thing about Nabokov is that he lived the greater part of his life in the United States, and did not even consider writing in English until he was old enough for you to drop the subject altogether and master Chinese.
Second of all, you’ll make of yourself an outcast inside your own community. Very few countries I know of encourage their intelligentsia to direct their pens (keyboards now, I guess) to foreign readerships. Even though you become a luminary in the field, even if you turn out to be a real genius, they will bestow you with little to no appreciation at all. Or it could be worse, if they try to pull your leg to their boisterous, feisty and very busy literary life. Once you decline or show the first hint of lack of interest, it's war! You'll wish you have never made that ignoble mistake and written a word in the first place.
Third, who told you that writing in English is such a cinch anyway? Do you have any idea how even native English writers strive and strain to compose one original sentence that can possibly stand out against all that collage of seemingly ad-infinitum literary produce? What do you know about English clichés, cultural references and catchphrases? Have you mastered English collocations and connotations? Do you dream in English, sir? Do you think in English or are you just interpreting from another language with the delusion of parallel words?... I’m not saying it’s impossible, but at least don’t fool yourself into believing it's a piece of cake or even within close reach. To clarify, imagine how many years a foreigner from a faraway land would take to master your mother tongue.
Fourth, even if you managed to transcend all the lingual and cultural barriers and eventually wrote a good manuscript in English, how are you going to publish it? Do you have connections in the publishing world? Do you know there are so many talented English-speaking writers that remain to this day unpublished? Things may be a bit better than in your third-world country regarding publishing and reading in general, but not all the time. Sometimes the dearth of talent in a given place plays into the hands of the privileged few. You might not sell a lot of books, but at least you will be published and recognized. Remember, for many writers, that is more than enough. But again, not adding up to the compendium of human achievements, not contributing to a civilization you honestly believe in, not be translated and read by the biggest body of readers worldwide, not be written in history if you will, all that makes the poor writers who write in their native languages furious. You'll notice them. They speak in tongues on national televisions worldwide about nothing else but Western hegemony and decadence and why they haven't been translated yet.
Why bother, then? Too many impediments and drawbacks, huh? Wait, don't be a hothead. There are still amazing advantages to writing in English.
Here are some pros to writing in English.
First and foremost, all human knowledge — past, present and foreseeable future — is available in English. If you want to read Voltaire, you’ll find his books in English. If you want to read the fables of Aesop, you will find a good English translation. If you want to read your most renowned native authors, you’ll find them in English as well. As for science, the best references are almost always written in English. If you read in English, you'll know more than all of your national intellectuals — those who only read translations — combined.
Second, if you’re a fiction writer, some genres are exclusive to the Anglophone Culture: science Fiction (to a lesser extent fantasy), thrillers, detective novels, and more or less comics (save for in France and Japan). Even if you decided to write these genres in your native language, where else would you learn the ropes? Who could possibly teach you the craft but the Anglophone writers — who, in many cases, are also the founders? Can you be a good sci-fi writer without reading Gibson, Sterling, Ursula Le Guin or Kim Stanley Robinson? Can you start writing comics before you read Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Sin City ... etc? Can you write detective novels without getting to know Philip Marlowe first? Think about it. Now, if you’re going to get most of your readings in one language, how far will you write in another before you lose touch with words?
Third, better lingual resources and whatnot. That was the first thing that drew me to the English language. Thousands of dictionaries, corpora, grammar books, writing guidelines and other helpful sites are out there just to make you a better writer. Even other major European languages, like French and German, cannot compete with that.
Fourth, vast and infinite readership. The Anglophone book market is the biggest in the world, and you’ll be read by readers from all sorts of backgrounds. It’s a writer’s dream of a lifetime, isn't it?
Last but not least, tapping into the global network of professionals. Being fluent in English not only helps you be read by a wider readership, but also be in contact with writers from all around the world. You'll be able to attend conferences, exchange signed copies and ask for guidance and direction. You'll have a better shot at that than if you continue writing in your native tongue that nobody outside your country can read and is little translated if ever.
Those were the pros and cons to writing in English as a second language. My only advice is that you take your decision very early on and stick to it as long as it works.
