"On writing well"

 Writing well should not be a mission impossible for non-native speakers. It should not be...

(Made on Canva)

I have heard my friends and colleagues talking about paper rejection with heavy comments from the editors and reviewers on the "broken English" from non-native speakers. I have read some of the papers in that line. Many of them are not bad, many others are impossible to comprehend. 

I have lived all of my academic life as a non-native speaker. I couldn't understand a sentence in the first term of learning science in Russian. When my listening skills got to a decent level, I moved to an English-based program for my Master's degree, in countries where English was not their official language. My whole scientific journey was in foreign languages. I have always struggled to express my ideas. One of my biggest fears is that no matter how hard I try, I'm still a foreigner, I write and speak as a foreigner. Most of the time, speaking and writing abilities are used to judge a person's mind. Most of the time.

As other foreigners wanting to improve their writing skills, I have taken writing courses and read books on writing. Nevertheless, I still feel I need more. The fear is rooted deep and makes me believe that I would never be great in academia or elsewhere.

Until I read "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. From my point of view, it is not a self-help or motivational type of book. It's on writing English of different genres. The most important take-home message is that: I struggle, not because I'm a foreigner but because I haven't practiced enough.

And it's so encouraging. It means that the "broken language" is not scripted in my genes. There is room for improvement. I can be better, much better.

William Zinsser emphasized in the book that nobody is a naturally good writer. Native speakers struggle too. A good writer spends much time mastering their choices of words, their sentences, structures, their points in the paragraphs, the length of their text and their logic. If it's so for native speakers who spend years and years learning writing, why do I expect to be a good writer effortlessly? I need to write more and try harder.

"On Writing Well" is also a very pleasant read. I did read it out loud as a bedtime story for my daughter. I gained much confidence in writing and felt motivated to head back to the writing battle.

Duong Bui

Edmonton, July 14, 2024

PS: I'm not paid to advertise for the book :)))))