Earlier today, I tried to write a Harry Potter/Dresden files crossover (oneshot) story in English.

After 500 words, I had no choice but to concede defeat. What I have written is not worth my computer memory: the descriptions are pathetic, the characterisation mediocre and the style (let’s not talk about it).

English is not my native language and it is only while I was trying to write a oneshot that I realized my inability to write a narrative story. Words seem to flee in front of me. Sentences and paragraphs do not seem to make sense anymore (in my mind, at least). That happened even with my plot outline in front of me.

I have no difficulty to understand English when I read it (I read mostly books written in English now) or when I listen to a TV Show/News in English.

I do not seem have the same difficulty when I write messages on the forum, a summary or an argumentative text (is that the right English term?).

Although I am not fluent in English (I still have some difficulty when I try to speak it, but I can usually be understood), I should have (in my mind) enough skill to write a narrative text, but I don’t seem able to.

I was wondering if someone had any advice that my help with my problem or had similar difficulties while learning another language and how he/she was able to overcome them.

Thanks,
Ty.

 

Not saying it's the case, but the problem could be you simply can't write. There are people who can speak and write very well in any language they know, but when it comes to creative writing and actually making a gripping story, not everyone can pull it off.

Maybe you're one of those. You can write an argumentative essay (you got it right, btw) but you couldn't write down an interesting character to save your life. It happens. Not something to be embarrassed about. Some people play football really well, others are brilliant programmers, others are naturally good at writing.

If you're worried about characterization, dialogue, style and the like, my suggestion is to read. Read a lot. Pick whatever genre you like best and see how the pros do it.

Perhaps you like detective novels, so start with the King and see how Mr. Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes. He has a certain style and writes from the 1st person POV, though interestingly enough, he does so not from the detective's POV, Sherlock Holmes, but from his companion's, Dr. Watson. Then pick up a novel that uses the 3rd person and see how they do it, what works, how they describe things, how they build up the tension and then solve everything in the climax.

When you're done and you know who you like best, try and copy their style. Work with that for a while and see how you do. If it doesn't work, pick another style and POV and work with that.

Everybody would like to be a hot-shot writer with their first draft, but it just doesn't happen. It takes more than just sitting down the first day and trying your hand in it.

If you're looking for tips specifically related to the craft of story-telling, I suggest you get one of the thousands of books that discuss just that. Or you can have some advice for free, too. Have you read the Dresden Files? The author, Jim Butcher, has a Livejournal in which he posts advice for beginner writers.

Link to Jim Butcher's Livejournal

Here's a tiny extract.

There is more, a lot more to it. I suggest you give that guy's livejournal a read, working from the very bottom and up. You don't have to do exactly what he says, but if you're completely lost, and it looks like you are, having an experienced, succesful writer who went through the same thing you're going through right now could be a really big help.

Exact same thing happened/is happening to me. So the ball's in your court.

Hope this helps.

- Nick

 

Try writing it in your native tongue to get a better grip of characterization, dialogue and whatnot.

Also, just keep writing. Look back and actually think on how to improve it. Recall works of fanfiction and try to think how those authors may have worded it. What words did they use to make it make sense. (DLP is full of such works.)

 

I second this. I learned to write in English by writing a lot in Russian. English isn't my native tongue either: I didn't learn it until well into my teens. Another thing I did was read books in English, and then write a translation in Russian. It allowed me to see the structure of a story in a language I was more comfortable with. Vice versa also helps: if you translate a portion of a Russian story into English, it can help you with your storytelling.

 

Thank you

Thank you Nick, 7ate9 and Schrodinger. Your advices are quite helpful.

I started reading Jim’s Livejournal. Fascinating, I will look on the Internet to see if others writer I like have done something similar.

I will resume writing in French since it seem it would be easier for me until I’m confident enough to retry myself in English.

I will try your advice, Schrodinger, by translating something from English to French.

Does it have to be published book (like the Storm Front by Jim Butcher) or can it be a work of fanfiction with the authorisation of the author?

Thank you again.
Ty.

 

I don't know what you mean by that. What are you talking about here? Of what texts you could translate from English to French?

 

If I'm taking Schrodinger's idea correctly, she's suggesting that you take the french version of a book (Storm Front works- whatever you have handy, really) and do some translation exercises into English, then find a copy in English and compare the results.

Since most fanfiction doesn't have multiple language editions, you'd have a harder time with it.

Alternately, if you want to practice without the absolute standard of an English version of a book, you can try to find a fanfic written solely in French, translate that and ask someone privately to read it for style and offer suggestions.

In neither case would you post the results to a public forum.

If you wanted to try that here, I'd suggest asking Tinn if she has anything written in French that she'd be willing to have you translate to post into WbA, but clearly this only works with the original author's explicit consent.

 

From experience, translating is much harder than simply writing.

There's a reason why Google-translators suck: word-for-word translations aren't worth a dime. You need to keep the spirit, you need to be as literal as possible without weighing down the style, you need to find equivalent for common phrasings and popular sayings; all this because you need to go from well-written English to well-written French. Not well-written English to wobbly French that looks like it's been translated from English.

French needs more words than English to express the same thing. The sentences are longer, and you can lose a lot of the desired effect on the way. You're hampered by the original author's writing, because you don't dare change around too much of it; it's a huge restriction on your freedom as an author. Translating is an art, but it's thankless.

More to the point, concerning your own problem: when you write in English, you don't think in French and mentally translate into English. You think in English directly. So would translating texts from French to English work?... I'm not sure. The task is hard and the mental mechanisms are different from those involved in writing directly in English.

The only advice I can give is: you should read. Read, read, read, then read some more. Read books. Get the Dresden Files if it helps -- the advantage of that series is that there are a dozen books, so you won't run out; and the vocabulary is pretty basic. The language, with its quirks, its sayings, its structure, its vocabulary, will eventually be familiar. It'll take more time to build your own style of writing, and you will write like the author you've read the most, but with practice that particular aspect will fade.

Oh, and I haven't written French in ages. I've translated from English into French -- one was my own story, the other wasn't -- but eventually dropped both translations. Too much trouble.

 

Yes, Tinn said it. rranslations are a bitch. We did some in my High School french class, since she assumed that would a job we would eventually be in. With limited grasp of the language, we floundered quite a bit with fifth-grade level text books.

One point to expound upon hers, is don't passively read something for enjoyment, read it with a critical eye. Look how the author rearranged the words to create a desired effect. Think how the action flows from one point to another. Analyze each sentence on its own, then put several to together. When you can do this, you will have learned how to edit your own works later on.

 

But the very fact that translation is (arguably) harder is what makes it an effective method. But meh. It worked for me, something else might work for you.

 

Good point, Schro, but that could mean the difference between climbing a rock wall with your hands and feet, versus having the right equipment for it. I say take the easier path before the harder, especially with writing since it's hard enough to work up the urge the write in the first place.

 

You know its not necessarily you, the problem could be English alone. Your native language is French and even though a lot of the words are similar between the two, at the root, there is a reason English is a German-based language. The flow of ideas and written format of texts in English can be better translated into German than French or even Spanish.

When I read Madame Bovary for English class, it was the single most exhausting experience of my life, but when I reread it in French, it was outstanding. Flaubert's work seemed to flow of the page and his descriptions of French atmosphere in that time period and even their culture was absolutely fantastic and spot-on. The same in English was just painful, that is the only way I could describe it. However, a Spanish friend of mine read a Spanish version of the book and still found it appealing.

Personally, I write and I like to think that I write well; however, when I tried transferring these efforts to write a story in French I hit the exact same wall as you. J'ai trouvé qu'il était tellement difficile à l'écrire, presque impossible.

What I would suggest you do is read, read, read and then read some more. I've been reading books in English since I was five and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface. The more you read, the more you'll be better acquainted with the language and given enough time and effort, you might just be able to go beyond the block you've hit with writing. I know I'm trying with my French (however fruitlessly).