To write or not to write

拿起笔还是放下

Writing is not easy. I do it everyday.

写作非常不容易。我每天都在写作。

And I can tell you, it’s quite a challenge.

我可以告诉你，这是一个相当大的挑战。

But, the more I do it, the easier I get to just write.

但是，我写作的越多，我就越会容易的感觉下笔如有神。

Sometimes, that’s the most difficult part starting.

有时候，最困难的部分是开始。

When people ask me about writing---how they can write---I often suggest they brainstorm¹ first.

当人们问我关于写作——他们如何写作——我通常建议他们先作头脑风暴。

Writing the main ideas collected to a topic, usually produces some great things.

写出收集到一个话题的主要思想，这个话题通常会产生一些伟大的东西。

If the things get organized, perhaps through an outline,

如果条理化，也许会产生一份提纲，

then you can write something really great.

你就可以写出一些非常棒的东西。

Most of the writings I do with spontaneous², I just start writing.

大部分的作品我都是自然而然写出，我才刚开始写作。

I just stopped and done.

我只是停下来做而已。

But I always go over what I wrote at least two times.

但我总是至少两次重温自己所写的。

The first time I go over my writing is spell-check the word,

第一次我检查写作中的词语拼写，

It’s unacceptable to deliver a piece of writing with misspelling in it.

我不能接受一篇文章里有拼写差错的问题出现。

The second time, I actually read what I wrote aloud,

第二次，我大声读出我所写的，

and add things that may I missed,

并添加可能我错过的东西，

it could be a idea that seems incomplete³ or something else.

它可能是一个似乎不完整或别的什么东西。

If you have the time, it’s good to put your writing down for a little while,

如果你有时间，最好让你的写作停下来一会儿，

and read it again later, and to see how you like it.

再读一遍，看看你有多喜欢它。

You may have something you wish to add or subtract⁴.

你可能有一些想增加或者删减的东西。

If you have a serious paper to write,

如果你想写些非常严肃的东西，

and you have completed all of the things I talked about,

那你一定要按照我刚才谈到的所有的东西去做，

the best thing to do--before you return your paper--is to have someone to read what you wrote and make comments on it.

在你回到这篇文章前最好的事情就是有人读你写的东西并发表看法。

There is no doubt that practice makes perfect.

毫无疑问，熟能生巧。

or at least better, so, if you want to be a better writer in Korean or English,

至少会更好，所以，如果你想成为一位更好的韩语或英语作家，

I recommend that you write as much as you can.

我建议你写的越多越好。