: Choosing between your Mother Tongue and another language OK, I know I was warned, but what can I do? I had this question for a very long time. I have decided where to write (platform like

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This depends in part on who your audience is, as already noted. It also depends on what kind of editorial support you'll have and on what your goals are.

I've seen lots of work, both drafts and published work, by native speakers that doesn't really measure up. English is a difficult language full of quirks and borrowings from all over the place, and I imagine it would be much worse for somebody learning it as a second language. (I'm a native speaker.) If you're working with an editor who can take the time to help you deal with those quirks then writing in English could work out for you, but without an editor you'll be more challenged. (Your question, for instance, contains some things that would need to be edited before publication. Please don't take that comment amiss; your question is quite understandable and your English is way better than my second language.)

If your goal is to get published, and particularly if you can't hire an editor, then I recommend writing in your native language for these reasons. If, on the other hand, your goal is to grow as a writer, then I recommend writing in English because you're obviously interested in doing so and you'll be able to interact with more people. There are many online writing groups and sites in English.

I don't know anything about tools for typing Hindi. For English there are lots of different tools and approaches -- different software for typing, but also different kinds of keyboards, and voice-to-speech software to avoid (or reduce) typing. Maybe there are other tools that could better support Hindi than what you're currently using?

Finally, beware the challenges of translation, particularly for creative work. Unless you have professional translators available, you should plan to write in the language in which your work will be published.

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Perhaps you can write in the language you are most comfortable using. I also agree with experimentation, where you write in both languages and see how it will turn out. Or if you'd like, you can choose to write in Hindi then hire a translator or vice versa. It will be costly on your part, but you also have an advantage since you already have better grasp of both languages.

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First, think of your audience, and potentially co-workers.

Who will read what you write?

I'm fairly adept at my native language, but still I write in English, simply because my potential English-speaking audience is roughly twenty times bigger than the local one - I write for a certain niche, which is popular in the US, not nearly so locally though. (That of course means I have to compete with more authors too, but - oh well, it's not like the reader can't choose both me and the other authors.)

Who will you work with, on what you write?

If it's a collaborative effort, say, a piece of software, using native language is preferred simply because your coworkers, your immediate testers and first audience will likely be local, so creating it will be easier. Still, if you write a computer program, add language switching facilities from moment one. By the time they are needed modifying the software to be multi-language will be a torment. And if the system is implemented well, you'll be able to translate it, and have both versions at your disposal.

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I am in a similar situation, where I alternate between english and french (my native tongue).

I know my english is not good enough to write an entire novel, but I often write short stories and exercise writing in both english and french. I don't know how hindi compares to english, but I assume it's pretty different in it's structure.

Writing the same story in different languages can drastically change it's pacing and tone; one language being moreable to handle certain kinds of writing styles. At least that's what I've gathered from my experience.For example I love writing /reading science-fiction in english while I strongly prefer french for thriller-type stories.

For now I'd say experiment writing the same stories in both languages and see how it turns out. Chances are you'll find what languages goes best with the type of stories you want to write.

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