What are the pros/cons of writing in English in a non-English country?

Question

I live in a country that doesn't have English as its main language. I have two choices in writing, either write in my mother language or write in English.

Why should or shouldn't I write in English?

My first few thoughts were:

Do publishers often publish works that are not in that country's language?

More people speak English, so one would assume you have a bigger audience in English. But, it is also logical that it is easier to connect to people in the same language and it will gain readers faster.

Of course, language skills are also an issue. What level of English would be acceptable (and editable) for publishers? Where would they draw the line and say, no, this is too awful?

Is it possible to publish a book in a country you don't live in, but it's an English-speaking country and so better suited for an English book? How do publishers address this? Do they pay attention to country when getting a manuscript?

So, to summarize, I think it would be a good idea to generate a list of pros and cons so people thinking about writing in English instead of their main language can read it and make a better decision.

Answer 1

You should write in whatever language you are most comfortable with. Personally, I find that one of the biggest downfalls in writing is worrying about your audience too much. You will eventually build everything around trying to appease your readers, making the story you're writing seem stale and boring to yourself. Or, you will lose yourself in fixing tiny unnecessary details to try to make a masterpiece.

If you're deciding on what language you want to write in, consider these two questions;

1. What are you most comfortable writing in?

2. What language do you read the most in?

Experience in reading in a certain language will play heavily into how well you write, however I will still prioritise what you feel the most comfortable writing in. After all, if your writing is good enough to be read in one language - it can be easily translated to a multitude of others.

Answer 2

What do you want to achieve with your writing?

• One answer is to spread a universal (useful to all people on Earth) message to as many people as possible. Then you can write in English.
• If you want to change your particular society, then you can write in your mother tongue.
• If you like a particular genre and want to have fun writing in it, write in the language of the works you like most.
• If you want to write to have fun (and you are not willing to work like a prisoner in a concentration camp to perfect your skills), write in whatever language you are most comfortable in.
• If you want to write to preserve your language from dying, then you can write in your mother tongue.
• If you want to earn as much money as possible, write in English.
• If you want to write poetry, I'm not sure you have an option. There are several successful prose writers, who weren't native English speakers. I'm not sure there are any significant poets, who wrote in English and weren't native speakers (correct me, if I'm wrong).
• If several of the aforementioned motives apply to you, you may write in both languages. There are skills (characterization, plotting, worldbuilding), which are language-agnostic.

Answer 3

There are separate aspects to this question: writing, publishing and finding success as a writer. The answer would be different depending on which aspect we have in mind.

If the question is only about writing, then I agree with other answers - write in language that you like. If it's not your native language, there are many ways to improve.

If the question is about publishing, then English may not be a good choice for you. If you want to get published in your country, look around and see how many books in English by local authors are already published. Publishing in English-speaking country may be more fruitful, but then it's a whole new topic "How do I find a publisher in different country". You can always spend some money and self-publish and/or e-publish, if you like.

If the question is about finding success with readers, that's probably the most difficult one. First, in my opinion, you should love to write. If you don't love to write in your native language, then don't do it. Second is the quality of writing, and this is where native language normally has a big advantage. Should you go ahead and write in English, make sure you have a test audience that would read your writing and criticize you. Publishing will come third (see the paragraph above). And if all 3 steps are good, then you should find your success!