real vs flawless
In case this is the first time you've read anything written by me: English is not my native language.
Yesterday, I was having a tough time with how to structure a certain sentence correctly to convey what I was trying to. As with many other problems, I asked for help from AI. And, as usual, it gave me solid feedback on how to improve and why.
But, being the philosophical overthinker that I am, it also got me thinking deeply about what I was really trying to achieve.
Is my goal to appear as a flawless writer in my second language?
Or is it to convey my voice in the form of writing?
To me, it's definitely the latter.
Sure, I'd like to avoid unnecessary typos and mistakes that make the thing needlessly difficult to read. I want to write as well as I can, with the skills I have. I also want to keep improving those skills and become a better writer.
But more than anything, I want my writing to sound like me.
That's why, to me, this feels like a slippery slope. Asking for feedback is OK. But having someone (or something) tell you how you should write your sentences instead? Feels like a line drawn on water. Because I value authenticity over appearing competent, I think I'll stay at a safe distance from it for now.
There are probably enough skilled English writers out there already, if that's what the reader is looking for.
The number of mes (and yous) is 1. As it should be.