Writing in French, English and Spanish - 2nd draft

WRITING DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Writing is a deeply personal experience, we can't help revealing who we are even if we are writing academically. That made me think; we are supposed to write in English, French and Spanish but each of us has a different approach towards each language, our comfort level varies between them and our learning experience has been different. I would go as far as saying that WE change when we switch languages .

This implies that writing in French, English and Spanish has totally different meanings for me and he best way to explain is to create metaphors that describe the process of putting something down on paper.

Writing in French is like a long, difficult journey: when you finally arrive (and bear in mind you might get to a place that is totally different from your initial destination) there is a great deal of satisfaction yet somehow you are unable to forget everything you have been through. At the same time, maybe that is not such a bad thing because you don't write something to forget it, you write so you are able to remember.

Writing in English is similar to swimming in a huge Olympic - sized pool: I know how to swim and I´m not exactly afraid but it is still a struggle to plunge into the deep end. However, I know that pools are made for diving into, the main thing is to find the courage to do it.

I can compare writing in Spanish to an expedition into an underground cave. I´m always aware I have to carry some kind of light with me because I´m entering my deepest self and there might be beautiful things there but it´s impossible to avoid the darkness that is all around . This is a huge issue for me because, it may sound weird, but my "English self" is a lot more rational and less emotional and my "Spanish self" . The consequence of this is that I'm always afraid of not being objective enough or detached enough enough to be a “serious writer”.

In short , I have come to believe that when we write in a different language we have to acknowledge the fact that in addition to our different skill level the act of writing itself is deeply different.