How Learning English Turned Me Into a Writer
It took me 474 days but it was worth it
As you can tell from my name, I am a native Italian speaker. I was born and raised in Italy and only studied English at school. My level was tragically low for most of my life. Before deciding to improve it, I had never thought about becoming an author. To be honest, I had always considered myself a terrible writer.
But let’s start from the beginning and see how learning a foreign language turned me into a writer…
Where Everything Started
It was 2019. I had just graduated in software engineering and had gotten my first job. I was not enjoying it at all. It was not what I aspired to do in life and after only five days, I quit.
This negative experience was what motivated me to finally improve my basic English. I had always been terrible at languages, but if I wanted to find a better job abroad, I had no choice but to improve my command of English. Fueled by such a goal, I started studying hard.
Moving from an A2 Key level (being able to use English to communicate in simple situations) to a C2 Proficiency level (mastering English to an exceptional level) in a foreign language is a grueling task. Trust me.
Creating a Daily Routine
Day after day, I was trying to stay as consistent as possible. First, I defined a large set of tasks that would help me hone my English. Then, I devised a fixed routine, by assigning them to each day of the week.
I considered a small group of those tasks essential and decided to do them always, regardless of the day. Writing a short essay and waiting for native speakers to correct it was one of them. Unexpectedly, this simple, self-imposed habit would turn me into a writer.
What follows may sound obvious, but it was not to me at the time. I was unaware that by writing a 100 to 300 word text every day, not only was my English improving, but so were my writing skills. This was simply a by-product of the language learning process.
Of course, practice is the key to improving in any field, but when it comes to writing it is a little trickier. If had passively followed this routine, I would not have become a writer. There are further aspects to take into account.
Adapting to a New Language
The purpose of language exchanges is to help someone learn your language. In exchange, they help you learn their own. Based on my experience, there is a large gap between the demand and supply of native English speakers on applications to find people willing to engage in a language exchange. Therefore, if you want to get your texts to be corrected by these few native speakers, you have to make them appealing. This simple truth completely changed my approach to writing in English.
At first, I was simply translating Italian into English. This implied that I was using English just like I would have used Italian. Extremely long sentences, dozens of commas, and plenty of avoidable words. My old Italian writing style in a nutshell.
When I started noticing that no one on the platform was willing to correct my entries, I realized I had to change something. So, I decided to read English books as much as I could. By observing how great authors were using my target language, I was able to deduce a few fundamental rules.
I was now aware I had to cut my sentences to the bone, avoid unnecessary commas, and make evident what I wanted to convey. By shifting into this new approach, I was making my texts much more readable and captivating. My English benefited from this change and my writing skills grew.
Consistency Is the Key
I could have been the best writer in the world, but if my essays lacked authenticity, no one would have been interested in reading them. My writing skills were at their peak. Nonetheless, if I had not had this epiphany, my journey would have ended there.
Forcing myself to write a short text every day was becoming much more problematic than I expected. After a hundred days, I was out of ideas. My creativity had been drained by this self-imposed task. Finding something to write about was now an exhausting struggle. I was experiencing creativity fatigue for the first time.
That was the moment I could have given up. Instead, I decided to stick to my plan. This choice completely consumed my creative energies. My daily notes turned into boring, avoidable, shallow pieces of writing. Although the majority of them were being ignored by the community, I did not care. I was well aware of the reasons.
I was facing a plateau, but I knew my creativity was bound to be restored. I just had to stay consistent and focus more on enjoying the process rather than trying to write something appealing at any cost.
Enjoyment as a Game-Changer
After studying English for over a year, I reached my goal. I was able to express a wide amount of concepts in different nuances. I probably did not even need to write anymore. Still, this was part of my routine. No longer for learning, but solely for fun.
By forcing myself to write a small text every day I was nurturing a passion, without even knowing it. Writing in English was no longer a chore, but an enjoyable activity. This was the game-changer.
I now enjoyed writing and this was even more clear in what I was producing day after day. The community loved reading my short essays and more and more people were asking if I had a blog. The tables were turned, and they were now waiting for me to publish my daily essay.
Likewise, finding subjects to write on was easier than ever. Addressing deep and complex topics, as well as frivolous and shallow ones was no longer a struggle. My brain had developed a writing mode and I could easily activate it and let the words flow out.
When I Finally Realized I Could Be a Writer
Writing was now a necessity. Yet, I still had to realize that learning English had turned me into a writer.
Another task that was part of my strict routine was to listen to podcasts at least twice a week. I tended to listen mainly to interviews with artists, designers, and notable people.
When a famous American author was asked to explain the difference between amateurs and professional writers, he pointed out it was not a matter of getting paid. According to him, the huge difference was that amateurs writers struggle to write, while professional writers can write on command. Professionals do not strive. On the contrary, they perform.
This answer enlightened me. Perhaps, I was undervaluing my skills. It was what I needed when I needed it. After all, why not try to become a professional writer?
Completing My Journey
Then, after 474 essays, the online service I was using to publish my daily pieces was temporarily shut down. Then, a few months later the world was hit by a global pandemic.
I took advantage of the situation and channeled my creativity and energy into new projects. Since my Italian also improved considerably from this experience, I opened a blog in my native language to share my academic journey.
The truth is that I was missing writing in English and my blog did not fill the void. This is why I opened this Medium account.
Since then, I have been published by the best publications on the platform and become a guest author for many blogs. I know my writing journey has just begun, but in a way, I consider it finished. From now on, everything is a plus.
This does not mean that I have no goals. In fact, the next step is to self-publish my first book, which I plan to do by the end of the year. Who would have thought it?
Conclusion
This experience taught me that if you want to be a writer you need to write consistently. Like any other passion, you need to nurture it. The only way to do this is by writing every day, even when your creativity seems to have completely disappeared. Stick with your writing routing even during tough times, and you will see the results in the long run. Writing will become a need, making you able to craft high-quality pieces without struggling.
Thanks for reading! I hope that you found my story helpful. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or suggestions.
