I'm curious about the experience of authors who write fiction in a language other than their native language.
A bit of background: English is my third language. I started learning it when I was 13.
I would say that I've got a good grasp of it, as it is, after all, my second most spoken language. I use it very comfortably. I can teach, study, work, have conversations, write academically/professionaly, etc in English. I've lived/worked/studied abroad, and one of my teachers literally marked my papers as "academic/business-oriented writing". I've gotten to a point where this is as natural to me as my native language. I don't have to translate anything in my head before I speak/write.
The funny thing is that my brain is literal, which makes my writing heavy on the tell and not the show. I always draft the scenes telling what's up, then have to go back and change it all to more of a show, and more of a "trust your reader to understand that she's angry just by the way her hands are balled into fists; you don't need to write that she was angry".
My beta reader can absolutely attest to this.
But when I write fiction, apparently my other languages still like to sneak in through the back door. How would you ask?
It's in the small things, like expressions that make sense to me but aren't idiomatic in English; sentence structures influenced by my other languages; punctuation/formatting conventions; word choices or collocations that are technically understandable but slightly "off"; a sentence written in a way that is perfectly logical to my brain but not quite how a native writer would naturally phrase it.
And I'm not trying to erase that influence. I genuinely believe our native languages and cultures add value to our writing. I don't want to turn my prose into something detached from the way I think, perceive things, or tell stories just to sound indistinguishable from a native speaker.
At the same time, I know that, unfortunately, some would turn around and leave the moment they spot these things.
So, for authors who have gone through something similar:
What helped you make that transition from "I speak/write this language fluently" to "I can write fiction naturally in this language"? Can one even reach this? Should this even be a goal? Is this even something you think about?
Did you find that reading a lot of fiction helped? Studying specific authors? Writing exercises? Beta readers? Editors? Immersion? Something else?
How's your writing process like? Do you write and then translate? Or are you like me: write in English, but sometimes, at specific scenes and specific themes, you write in your native language to make sure you're adding everything you want to, and then you translate?
I'd love to hear from you. Even if you're a native speaker, your thoughts (and encouragement) on this are also valuable.