---
title: "1 Writing Didn Quotes By Lydia Davis"
description: "1 Writing Didn quotes by Lydia Davis. Plus more from Lydia Davis and more Writing Didn sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/lydia-davis-3244_long_i-started-writing-the-one-sentence-stori_2394339.png"
---

> [I started writing the one-sentence stories when I was translating 'Swann's Way.' There were two reasons. I had almost no time to do my own writing, but didn't want to stop. And it was a reaction to Proust's very long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-started-writing-the-one-sentence-stories-when-i-was-translating/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/lydia-davis-3244_long_i-started-writing-the-one-sentence-stori_2394339.png)

## More by Lydia Davis

> [Heart weeps. Head tries to help heart. Head tells heart how it is, again: You will lose the ones you love. They will all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/heart-weeps-head-tries-to-help-heart-head-tells-heart-how-it-is-again/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“But on that particular day I did not even begin to feel interested in this chore, and was suddenly more deeply bored than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/but-on-that-particular-day-i-did-not-even-begin-to-feel-interested-in/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [If a translation doesn't have obvious writing problems, it may seem quite all right at first glance. We readers, after all, quickly adapt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/if-a-translation-doesn-t-have-obvious-writing-problems-it-may-seem/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [I always interrupt work with other work, either in a small way or big way, so that's normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-always-interrupt-work-with-other-work-either-in-a-small-way-or-big/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [ I worked more intensively hour after hour when I was starting out \[writing\]. More laboriously. I'd say quantity is important as well as quality,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-worked-more-intensively-hour-after-hour-when-i-was-starting-out/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“because she couldn’t write the name of what she was: a wa wam owm owamn womn”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/because-she-couldn-t-write-the-name-of-what-she-was-a-wa-wam-owm/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“Everything was sharper, clearer, and closer, as though, before, I had been seeing only little bits at a time, not all of it, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/everything-was-sharper-clearer-and-closer-as-though-before-i-had-been/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“He did not know exactly when to thank his hostess after attending a dinner or a weekend party. In his uncertainty, he would thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/he-did-not-know-exactly-when-to-thank-his-hostess-after-attending-a/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“There was no confusion of our bodies. I knew which arm was his and which mine, and which leg, and which shoulder. I did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/there-was-no-confusion-of-our-bodies-i-knew-which-arm-was-his-and/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“So it’s not really $100 a shot because it goes on all day, from the start when you wake up and feel her body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/so-it-s-not-really-100-a-shot-because-it-goes-on-all-day-from-the/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“The people of the town, though, remained strangers: I could not realize that I must be seeing some of them over and over again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-people-of-the-town-though-remained-strangers-i-could-not-realize/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [“He does not trust her: she will claim to be in a bad mood when she is not, and then require him to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/he-does-not-trust-her-she-will-claim-to-be-in-a-bad-mood-when-she-is/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [I would recommend, definitely, developing a 'day job' that you like - don't expect to make money writing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-would-recommend-definitely-developing-a-day-job-that-you-like-don-t/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

> [the translator, a lonely sort of acrobat, becomes confused in a labyrinth of paradox, or climbs a pyramid of dependent clauses and has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-translator-a-lonely-sort-of-acrobat-becomes-confused-in-a/)

[Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/)

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