Self Improvement, Writers
Dear Indonesian Writers
I remember Angela Duckworth in her book entitled ‘Grit’ once said, “Everyone undoubtedly has potential. What we do with our potential is another thing.” What do you think about these quotes? Agree or disagree? We may have different kinds of circumstances, country, language, tribe, and so on. We do have our own starting line which then creates different situations. But again, it is your choice to run or to sigh. Fuck, I choose sprint.
I remember in 2021, where my score in the final examination broke like The Great Depression in 1930. It affects my GPA from 3.20 to 2.23 and guess what? This is the turning point of my life. Because of this shit happened to me, I found my new hobby, which is writing. Yes, I started to study hard to pay back this little bastard for dragging my GPA down. Inside my study, I acknowledge that the best method that suits me, which increases my study efficiency, is writing. Since then, I’m getting used to write every fucking day, no matter it is on the sheet of paper or my laptop. Either publish it or not, I keep dancing. Thank God for dragging down my GPA. It means a lot.
My point is, if you guys love to write, especially from Indonesia, India, Brazil, China, or any non-English speaking country, just do it. Just write no matter what. Doing things that we love is more essential than caring about what other people think. That is the dignity and honorable act if you praise yourself first by doing the things that you love. You feed your soul and existence.
My point is, if you like to publish your story and get feedback from the audience (if you choose Medium as your platform), try to write in english. Based on my personal experience of writing on this platform for almost two years, It will gain more traffic to your profile if you write your shit in english. Ah shit, my english is limited. I’m from a non-English country. English is not my native language, how can I write in English when I can’t even speak English? For God’s sake, that’s why you should write in english. At least try first, and be consistent then.
I’m from Indonesia which of course is not an English speaking country. We are just a developing country from South-East Asia that often fights with each other just because of multiculturalism issues such as ethnicity, race and religion. My people still believe in shaman rather than technology. We do, still caring about this shits while Germany has made it to create a train with water as the fuel. And guess what? It is not my excuse for not studying english.
Well, in my opinion, the hardest part is always at the beginning. You will struggle, suffer, and be confused not to write with your native language. Values are the output of consistency, because consistency always involves process. The more time it takes to create something, the more valuable this thing is. Same case when we try to speak or write in english. Even at the moment, I also still learn about how to write in English with perfect grammar and so on. I still make grammatical errors in this article, mark my word.
However, my advice for all beginners writers who want to learn how to write in english is, at beginning of your process, fuck grammar. I know some of us are too shy to write in English because we are afraid that we will make a lot of grammatical errors. Then, it affects our confidence.
I’ll tell you. All this time, all I had to do was just make sure that my articles are easy to swallow by the readers. Focus on your point first, not grammar. As time passes, your grammar will get better and improve by itself. The other common excuse is, “Sadly. I don’t have any money to take an English writing course”. Motherfucker, we are not living in the Baldwin IV era. We are not the people who live side by side with the dinosaurs. The Internet has changed the game. Using google translate tools is not an embarrassing act for those who want to upgrade themself. To be honest, I still use these tools sometimes.
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world“— Chinese Proverb
My point is, if you love to write, you do it 100%. If you only love to write in your native language, you do it 100%. If you want to upgrade yourself by writing in various languages, you do it 100%. Not only for writers, but also for everyone with the things they love. For those who are scared, shy, or unconfident to start something new, remember, life only gives you one shot. We are not immortal. China hasn’t found a fluid that can make humans immortal yet. As Nike motto, just do it…
Champions League is kicking-off now. I have to go. Thanks for coming, and good day from Jakarta.
