A long time ago, when I was living in my favorite apartment behind a bamboo patch in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I wrote my first love letter. It was a liquid hot afternoon, and I was sitting on my screened porch, enjoying my boredom, thinking that I was full up with the very thought of her. I drew a pretty cool heart on a piece of newsprint, rolled that into a manual typewriter, and then pecked out about 15 sentences. I took more than an hour. I had to. I couldn’t edit, and I couldn’t use Wite-Out. It worked too. That woman was happy。

　　很久以前，我住在亞拉巴馬州塔斯卡盧薩市。有一天在我最喜歡的那套公寓里時，我寫下了我的第一封情書。公寓在一片竹林后面。那是一個天氣炎熱的下午，陽光穿透竹林在門廊里留下許多斑點，我坐在門廊里無聊著，卻滿腦子里想的都是她。我在一張新聞用紙上畫下了一顆相當漂亮的心，把它放進手動打印機里，然后打印出了大約15個句子。我花了一個多小時。這是必須的。我不能編輯，我也不能用修正液涂改。見效了。那個女人高興了。

　　So happy that she stuck it on the door of her refrigerator, where it clung to a magnet-laden collage of birthday cards, Easter cards, thinking-of-you cards. This irked me. “It’s a love letter,” I told her. “It’s only for you. You’re supposed to save it. It’s supposed to be folded up in a book somewhere。” She didn’t get it. She treated it like a card。

　　她很開心，于是她把情書貼在冰箱門上。冰箱門上貼滿了生日賀卡、復活節卡片和思念卡，它們仿佛組成了一幅拼圖。這個讓我很惱火。我對她說：“這是一封情書。只寫給你一個人的情書。你應該保存它。它應該夾在一本書里什么的。” 她不聽。她把情書當一張明信片一樣對待了。

　　When writing a love letter, remember: It's not a card. It's a letter。

　　在寫情書的時候，記住：它不是明信片。它是一封信。

　　First, sit. Letters take time。

　　首先，坐下。寫信是要花時間的

　　Letters have a rhythm. Letters must be written, and writing takes a while. Three lines can’t do the work of three paragraphs. This is not to say your letter must be long. Three paragraphs can do the work of three pages. Just give them some time。

　　情書是有韻律的。情書應該是書寫出來的，而寫信要花點時間。三行文字的情書是不能和三段文字的情書相提并論的。這不是說你的情書一定要長。三段也可以起到三頁的作用。花些時間吧。

　　Be loyal to the past you share。

　　認真分享的往事

　　If your love emerged on a kayak trip, then you don’t just mention that experience — you make it. Let the river become your palette. Tell a story that only the two of you know. Or narrate a moment in which she was unaware that you were watching her. Use detail to show what you remember and that you remember。

　　如果你是在一次獨木舟之旅遇到你的愛情的，那么你就不要只提那次經歷了，讓那條河流成為你的調色板，在你的筆下再創造一次那樣的經歷。講述一個只有你們兩個人知道的故事。或者描述一個她沒有留意到你在注視著她的時刻。使用細節來展示你記住的美麗往事。

　　Let the example precede sentiment。

　　先舉例后動情

　　A good love letter declares itself plainly, then illustrates particularly. “I saw you watching the men play chess in the park. So quiet. I love the way you look at things。” Show her what you love in her before you tell her what you love in her. Show, then tell。

　　一封好的情書本身既能簡單地說明，也能具體地描述。“我看到你在公園里看他們下國際象棋。很安靜。我喜歡你看東西時的那種表現。”在你告訴她哪些方面惹你喜歡之前，先向她展現你喜歡她的那些地方。先展示，然后再說。

　　Don’t repeat yourself。

　　不要老重復

　　Emotional declarations matter more if you space them a little. Even in a short letter, you must create room. With love, there’s value in scarcity. That’s why it feels like such a jackpot。

　　情緒表達更重要，如果你給它們騰出一點空間的話。即使是在一封簡短的情書里，你必須要創造出空間。有了愛，貧乏中也會有價值。這也是最吸引人的地方，那感覺就像中了頭彩一樣。

　　Most of all, remember that it’s private。

　　最重要的是，記住，情書是私信

　　Say something that surprises you about yourself. Let her know that she is redefining your terms. In this way most, a love letter is like love itself. There must be risk。

　　說一些能讓自己驚喜的關于自己的事情。讓她知道她要去重新認識你。這樣的話，情書更像是戀愛，有一定的風險。