Welcome back to Mandarin Monday. This week we have an idiom for you that can be applied to writing.

画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) means to add feet to a snake. It is used to describe someone who adds something unnecessary, thus ruining the original work (the remakes of Star Wars come to mind…).

Your novel is well written. If you write more it will be adding feet to a snake.

你的小说写得很好。别再多写了不然就是画蛇添足了。(nǐ de xiǎo shuō xiě de hěnhǎo. bié zài duō xiěle bùrán jiù shì huà shé tiān zúle.)

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