Suppose someone gave you a pen —a sealed, solid-colored pen.You couldn’t seehow much ink it had.

假设有人给了你一枝笔，一枝密封的、纯色的水笔，里面有多少墨水你看不到。

It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece (or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things.You don’t know before you begin.

很可能刚刚试写几字便用干耗尽；也可能足以完成一部或几部杰作，永存于世，使世事为之大变。

Under the rules of the game, you really never know.You have to take a chance!

而这一切你在动笔之前却是一无所知。根据游戏的规则，你确实永远也不会知道，只能冒一下险。

Actually, no rule of the game states you must do anything. Instead of picking up and using the pen, you could leave it on a shelf or in a drawer where it will dry up, unused.

而事实上，也没有规则说你就一定要做些什么。你大可以把笔搁在架子上、放在抽屉里，弃置不用，任墨水蒸发干净。

But if you do decide to use it, what would you do with it? How would you play the game?

然而，如果你真的决定使用，你会做什么？怎么来做这个游戏？

Would you plan and plan before you ever wrote a word?

你会左计划、右计划，然后才慢慢下笔吗？

Would your plans be so extensive that you never even got to the writing?

计划会不会太泛太多，根本就达不到写作这一步？