My Session on Medium Day: Pre-Submit Your Questions

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

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.