Today’s episode comes as a result of my conversation with a potential author. The woman said to me, “I would like to write a book and I know my materials very well. The trouble is, English is my second language, and my English is simply not good enough to write a book.” 

So when she said that, she felt as though that was it. The argument was done, game over, I can’t write a book. But that’s not true. And if this is your situation, if English is not your first language and you’re concerned about your language skills, here’s my answer to you. 

I talked in the earlier videos about the technique of recording, talking your book in order to get to the point where you have a first draft. If English is not your mother tongue, then this is probably the best approach for you. I suggest you either have somebody interview you and record it, or just simply talk it yourself into some kind of recording device. And then after that, you have it transcribed. 

What’s important is what comes next. 

Editing is always important to a professionally written book. But in these circumstances, it’s particularly important. So as soon as you have your transcript, you need to bring in a professional editor to the process. 

Now I would say that you may probably need to have a conversation or a meeting with your editor after he or she has had a first look at the transcript, because you may have to explain some of the things that you’ve said so that the editor will get a good understanding of what you’ve been saying. But if you have a competent editor take this next step, then there’s absolutely no reason why you should let your language skills stand in the way of becoming an author. 

Go for it, and I’ll talk to you next week.