My Session on Medium Day: Pre-Submit Your Questions

Spoilers: There’ll be storytelling tips for non-native writers

Buse Umur
3 min readAug 6

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My Medium journey has always been on and off.

I clicked the “Publish” button so many times only to see a few clicks in return. I’d give up, then come back, give up, and…

I never thought Medium was a place for me — for us. For those who learned English at school and dreamed of writing in it.

Soon after the beginning of my Medium journey, I was convinced (and was told by others) that non-native writers would always be one step behind. We had to try harder, work more, and camouflage our writing better to sound “native” enough.

And that’s where we all lose the opportunity. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my Medium journey, both as a writer and a reader, it’s that nobody cares what your English sounds like.

We all want to plunge into each other’s stories and become immersed in storytelling — no matter who the source is. We want to get to know one another through our words.

A few months ago, when I was going through a rough period, I clicked that famous “Write” button again. So many thoughts were strolling in my head, and anxiety was kicking in every night. I knew I needed to articulate those thoughts.

Then, a kind of magic happened. This time, writing on Medium opened a new sphere for me. I no longer cared about the results, I just needed to write.

I thought I would be done after two or three articles, but the more words I put on paper, the more the thoughts emerged in my head. Not only did it feel good to give voice to my thoughts and ideas, but I also found a community.

My followers grew fast, and I received several comments every day about how my readers related it to their lives, struggles, or interests.

And one day, I woke up to an invitation to Medium Day.

This is my opportunity to tell you why you should never give up.

What is my session about and when is it scheduled for?

My session is called How To Write Personal Essays When English Is Your Second Language. It’ll…

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Buse Umur

a copywriter who crafts your truth 💛 | copywriting, marketing, branding, personal essays