: Tips for writing sentences like a native speaker English isn't my native tongue, but I've been writing novels in English for a while. Most of the time, I can be aware of what's grammatically

I do have the same issue as the op. I recently took up freelance writing on a full-time basis and I have issues with clients because my English does not have the feel of a native speaker.

One thing I am doing to help myself is immersion in the American culture so that I can pick up the one or two things about how Americans speak their English. I also frequent American heavy websites such as Reddit, 4chan and 9gag so I can pick up colloquial American English.

Its a long and brutal process but I am sure that in the coming months, I will begin to see some results: sound and feel more native in all my applications of the language.

I do listen to NPR, some podcasts, etc., just trying to immerse myself totally in the culture. If I could, I would come over to the USA to live for a while, say one or two years, but at the moment, I cannot afford the visa fees -- maybe in the future when I have made some money from my writing I will make the journey. I have no doubt that total immersion on the ground will take my writing to new heights.

Hang on my friend... don't lose hope. With some tears, blood and sweat, your goals are achievable.

Cheers!

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I have three suggestions for you:

Read what you write out loud. I'm a native speaker and sometimes just saying what I've written aloud helps me decide if it "sounds right." Because "sounds like" a native speaker is easier to hear when you say it aloud and actually hear the sounds.
Read newspaper articles out loud. It will help you get used to reading out loud and you'll remember some phrases from it. Same goes for music. Sing along with the lyrics and you'll benefit as well.
Use Google to search, not just Google books. I'm a native speaker and I do the same thing when I decide on word choice. I search the two phrasings I'm debating and then go for the one with more results if there is a huge difference. This is also how I decide if a phrase is American or British - by the URL.

This is based on my experience as a native speaker, editor, English teacher, and writer. Here is some more advice on how and why to read out loud: writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/reading-aloud/
and here is some more on why saying things help you remember them:
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201005/say-it-loud-i-m-creating-distinctive-memory

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If you want to write like a native speaker, try to read a variety of texts and learn to
use phrasal verb and idioms. Most of the time, we are exposed to the formal English language in news channel and always use it as a formal language in our workplace. But native spaker won't speak in this way. They will use more informal language in daily conversations and informal writings such as diary. Try to get one or two friends using English as their native langauge and start to write to them using phrasal verbs and idioms in the format of diary or some casual online chat. That would improve your English a lot.

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If you want to write like a native speaker, you should also be listening. So listen to radio broadcasts, podcasts, and TV shows. (Movies can vary; because they are shorter, they can be narratively compressed, so dialogue is often more focused on moving the plot forward. TV shows have the luxury of time, so they can afford to have people just banter.)

In particular, try to find series: soap operas, long-running (four or more years) TV shows and podcasts, radio hosts who have been on for a long time. When you have character (or real-person) relationships which are ongoing, it becomes less important to tell a story and you can spend time just enjoying one another's company. So your speech is more relaxed, more "native." The idea is that this is how people actually talk to one another.

Also, try improvised or ad-libbed shows. Search on YouTube for "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (the U.S. cast). People who are ad-libbing aren't thinking about how they're constructing sentences, so that's about as pure of "native" speech as you can get.

Record these and transcribe what you hear, if you can. That will give you something to compare your work to.

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EXPENSIVE WAY:

I would suggest living in a country like US and A or Canada for 2-3 months (or more) and going out a lot. With native speakers, of course ;).

CHEAP WAY:

Listening to PBS radio and watching/listening a lot of native speakers on Youtube.

I don't know how your brain works, but majority of people talk to themselves (talking to yourself = thinking) when they try to formulate their thoughts and sentences. Only a few geniuses see them, but that's maybe only 0.001% of the world's population. So, at first glance listening may seem not very important for you as a writer, but I would disagree.

Learning a whole scene from your favorite movie and replicating them will help you too. And last but not least ;) is talking to other people via chat, forums, stackexchange ;) and in online communities. Ideally with more mature and intelligent people and not with teenagers (unless your books are about teenagers).

Also, talking with foreigners from US and A and Canada is helpful. I am sure there are a lot of expats in Spain, especially if you are from Andalusia or Madrid. The only problem could be that majority of them are not from US and A but from Britain.

Btw, only a few non-native English writers are successful, because it takes a lot of time and work. I would suggest watching some Ray Kurzweil videos how the brain works, especially that videos about learning new things when you are older. It takes a lot more time, because your "exclusive" areas in your brain are already "inhabited" with old stuff. Young people have these areas "free" (it's much complicated, I am just simplifying things for now). Here is a link:

Watch this video from 6:50 (it's already been set to 6:50 in my link)

It will help you understand how human brain works with learning new languages.

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