#bilingual writer

[flaminghelldancer]

Solarballs musing: "Astro"

In Spanish, there's the word "astro" which means "celestial bodies" (though originally it was only used for stars and sometimes is still used like that, but it's infrecuent).

The thing is, if the show was in Spanish, they could use "astros" as "people".

I'm not sure if there's a word in English that includes all celestial bodies, other than "celestials" (which I think is short for "celestial bodies" instead of its own word). The closest I can think of is "worlds", but that is just planets and moons from what I know.

[writeroftheinterior]

Being a bilingual writer means coming up with ideas for the same story in both languages and not being sure in which language you should even write the story.

[mydramiones]

as a bilingual writer, it's really fun how i can write loads of scenes in my native language without any problem, but once i reach the spicy scenes... i don't know WHY but i always write them in english.

if you look at my google docs you'll see half the book in spanish and then a random fragment written in english because i can't, for the love of god, write spicy scenes in spanish.

[loralinaliu]

A winter in Richmond

Richmond, Winter — I. Flat White

Last year, I moved to London from a small city near Dublin.

While sitting beside a Queen Anne–style table with mosaic flowers, his fingers edged against mine. I lowered my head. The milk bubbles in my flat white were tenderly enriched with air.

I moved to his house by a casual invitation—if you could consider a plain sentence one. The foam’s structure crumbled, as did my sense.

Snowflakes dropped onto the plate, decorating our yard. He sifted sugar powder onto my over-baked toast.

I swallowed the topping of my toast; it was too sweet and bitter.

“Why don’t we go out? It’s snowing—the first time I’ve ever seen snow in London.”

The sky was dim, under a pall.

[lorircreates]

I get so annoyed when I see non-English native speakers excusing themselves because they're writing fanfiction in English. Why do they think they have to put a disclaimer in ther fics about that? Is there some kind of rule that only allows people from English speaking countries to write in English that I wasn't informed about when I joined the fandom?

I completely understand if someone feels insecure about writing a story in English. Believe me, I'm fluent in English since I was fourteen and I still have trouble with grammar and spelling, my writing is far from being flawless and I know my insecurities will never go away, but I never apologize because English isn't my native language. Never.

It's twice as hard for me to write because ideas tend to come in my head in two different languages and even though grammar checkers and thesaurus always help (thank you, Grammarly!), I know I can't rely on them. But you know what? I'm writing stories for fun. I have no obligation to write masterpieces like a English native speaker, specially because I don't live in an English speaking country and no one around me is fluent in English.

I give zero fucks to anyone who says my writing isn't good. I've dealt with haters my whole life and they didn't even hide behind the anon option in my ask box. They said all the racist/sexist things they wanted right to my face and I'm still here ranting in English and I still don't give a shit because I know I can always improve my skills. I know I'm capable of writing good stories and I study and research a lot just to write a goddamn fanfiction and no one will stop me from doing what I want to do.

Do you think my writing is bad? Come beta read my work, sweetie! I have no problems with learning something from anyone who can actually help me. If not, mind your own business because I'll NEVER apologize for being a non-English native writer.

So here is a message to all my fellow writers from non English speaking countries: please stop diminishing your own work because of a few grammar or spelling mistakes and never stop writing because of internet trolls. You're great and you can be even greater if you keep on writing.

[itsphinee]

Me consumís,

Me invadís... Ay, de mí

Ay, de vos, de todo

Lo que te haría

y te diría...

Es que me sacás de

eje

Y tu pensamiento me

equilibra,

me sostiene...

Y me despide por el aire

Soy ciclón

Y calma,

Caída libre

y paracaídas...

Ay, de mí

Ay, de vos

***

You consume me,

You invade me... Pityful me,

Pityful you, and everything

I would do to you

and say to you...

You just push me

off-axis

And the thought of you is

my balance,

my support...

I am a ciclone

and I am calm,

Freefall

and parachute...

Pityful me

Pityful you.

(as the original version is in spanish, I am not so sure of the accuracy of the translation, plus, the poem has overcome no edition, anyways, I hope English speakers can interpret)

[itsphinee]

¿Nunca sentiste que deseás muy desesperadamente a alguien? No en un ámbito sexual, sino que necesitás tocar su piel, abrazarle, sentir su calor y su olor, ver su sonrisa, ver lo suave que es su pelo, ver dentro de sus ojos y sentir su voz. Sabés que es físicamente imposible tenerle a tu lado, pero lo querés tan desesperadamente que sólo querés que sea tuye y que esté para vos siempre.

***

Haven’t you ever felt that you need someone desperately? Not in a sexual way, but feeling a need to touch their skin, hug them, sense their warmth and scent, look at their smile, the smoothness of their hair, see deep into their eyes and feeling their voice. You know it is physically impossible to have them by your side, but you crave them so dearly that you just want them to be yours and to be always there for you.

[amkicn]

Writing is funny because, without noticing it, I switch between languages. Like, the dialogue is almost always in English, but the actions are in Portuguese for some reason—and it's not even a rule. Sometimes I switch literally in the middle of a sentence, and when I realize I wrote something like "she was balançando o pé"...

So you can imagine the hell editing is for me lol. But I still love writing. This English-Portuguese mess is somehow the way I can express myself the most.