--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out…" description: "\"I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began by saying, usually. The editing is on the micro level - a comma here, a word there.\" — Lydia ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png" --- # I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began… ![“I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began by saying, usually. The editing is on the micro level - a comma here, a word there.” quote by Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png) > “I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began by saying, usually. The editing is on the micro level - a comma here, a word there.” [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She emphasizes meticulous, small‑scale editing rather than large revisions, valuing precision over omission. **In simple terms:** Focus on tiny edits, not big cuts. Key Takeaway Edit details, not whole ideas. Themes precision editing craft attention to detail Mood focused analytical Type instructional reflective When to use this quote - writing - self‑editing - proofreading - creative process Key Concepts micro‑editing authorial voice Questions to Reflect On - Do you prioritize micro edits over macro revisions? - How does this approach affect your writing flow? A Different Perspective May overlook larger structural issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Whereas in a memory you edit things out and sort of restructure the things to seem a little bit more heroic, or to focus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ware/whereas-in-a-memory-you-edit-things-out-and-sort-of-restructure-the/) [Chris Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ware/) > [Performance is made in the editing room, and I've come to see the truth in that - the idea that they say performances are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-fiennes/performance-is-made-in-the-editing-room-and-i-ve-come-to-see-the/) [Ralph Fiennes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-fiennes/) > [When I edit the poems - and I do edit, which some people don't mean when they use the term "stream of consciousness" -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zucker/when-i-edit-the-poems-and-i-do-edit-which-some-people-don-t-mean-when/) [Rachel Zucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zucker/) > [TV can edit things to make anyone look good or bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hadley/tv-can-edit-things-to-make-anyone-look-good-or-bad/) [Tony Hadley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hadley/) > [I go through periods, usually when I'm editing and shooting, of seeing only old films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/i-go-through-periods-usually-when-i-m-editing-and-shooting-of-seeing/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [I love improvisation. I mean, it's hard to edit, because things don't necessarily fall together - you have to find ways to give it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/i-love-improvisation-i-mean-it-s-hard-to-edit-because-things-don-t/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [“Consider failure as just a comma in the middle of a sentence that tells the story of your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-o-leary/consider-failure-as-just-a-comma-in-the-middle-of-a-sentence-that/) [Jeff O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-o-leary/) > [The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/the-goofiness-of-radicals-thinking-they-have-to-dress-in-guatemalan/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [My cholesterol count has a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pinette/my-cholesterol-count-has-a-comma/) [John Pinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pinette/) > [A comma . . . catches the gentle drift of the mind in thought, turning in on itself and back on itself, reversing, redoubling,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/a-comma-catches-the-gentle-drift-of-the-mind-in-thought-turning-in-on/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [“It is no accident, Ma, that the comma resembles a fetus— that curve of continuation. We were all once inside our mothers, saying with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/it-is-no-accident-ma-that-the-comma-resembles-a-fetus-that-curve-of/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [I mean we cant even rock them shoes if it dont got a comma on the price tag ya know. I mean.. I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/i-mean-we-cant-even-rock-them-shoes-if-it-dont-got-a-comma-on-the/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [“Never place a period in your life where God only meant to place a comma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-allen/never-place-a-period-in-your-life-where-god-only-meant-to-place-a/) [Gracie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-allen/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Sometime yuh got to shut up, swallow yr pride and accept that yuh are wrong. It's not called giving up, it's called growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teary-persaud/sometime-yuh-got-to-shut-up-swallow-yr-pride-and-accept-that-yuh-are/) [Teary Persaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teary-persaud/) ## 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/) [Explore all 135 Lydia Davis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) ## More Comma quotes > [Sometime yuh got to shut up, swallow yr pride and accept that yuh are wrong. It's not called giving up, it's called growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teary-persaud/sometime-yuh-got-to-shut-up-swallow-yr-pride-and-accept-that-yuh-are/) [Teary Persaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teary-persaud/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Never place a period in your life where God only meant to place a comma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-allen/never-place-a-period-in-your-life-where-god-only-meant-to-place-a/) [Gracie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-allen/) > [I mean we cant even rock them shoes if it dont got a comma on the price tag ya know. I mean.. I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/i-mean-we-cant-even-rock-them-shoes-if-it-dont-got-a-comma-on-the/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [“It is no accident, Ma, that the comma resembles a fetus— that curve of continuation. We were all once inside our mothers, saying with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/it-is-no-accident-ma-that-the-comma-resembles-a-fetus-that-curve-of/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [A comma . . . catches the gentle drift of the mind in thought, turning in on itself and back on itself, reversing, redoubling,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/a-comma-catches-the-gentle-drift-of-the-mind-in-thought-turning-in-on/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [My cholesterol count has a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pinette/my-cholesterol-count-has-a-comma/) [John Pinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pinette/) > [The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/the-goofiness-of-radicals-thinking-they-have-to-dress-in-guatemalan/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [“Consider failure as just a comma in the middle of a sentence that tells the story of your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-o-leary/consider-failure-as-just-a-comma-in-the-middle-of-a-sentence-that/) [Jeff O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-o-leary/) > [Give me the comma of imperfect striving, thus to find zest in the immediate living. Ever the reaching but never the gaining, ever the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-graham/give-me-the-comma-of-imperfect-striving-thus-to-find-zest-in-the/) [Winston Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-graham/) > [“Some folks metabolism isn't just slow, it's in a comma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sincerrea-carrington/some-folks-metabolism-isn-t-just-slow-it-s-in-a-comma/) [Sincerrea Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sincerrea-carrington/) > [“1) I’m, a, comma, whore. Apparently, I throw them around like confetti. Or glitter. The title of my next book: WHY COMMAS RULE THE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-derting/1-i-m-a-comma-whore-apparently-i-throw-them-around-like-confetti-or/) [Kimberly Derting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-derting/) > [I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-have-spent-most-of-the-day-putting-in-a-comma-and-the-rest-of-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I guess its time for the trama, with the E-A-Z-Y-E comma now thats drama, so pay attention by the way I must mention, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eazy-e/i-guess-its-time-for-the-trama-with-the-e-a-z-y-e-comma-now-thats/) [Eazy-E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eazy-e/) > [And I want to say anything is possible. Comma. You know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-bruno/and-i-want-to-say-anything-is-possible-comma-you-know/) [Frank Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-bruno/) Browse all 74 Comma quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began by saying, usually. The editing is on the micro level - a comma here, a word there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lydia Davis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-things-that-i-began-by-saying/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Comma" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-things-that-i-began-by-saying/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/lydia-davis-3244_comma_i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-thi_568777.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm a fierce editor! I don't edit out things that I began by saying, usually. The editing is on the micro…” — Lydia Davis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lydia Davis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm a fierce editor! I don't...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-things-that-i-began-by-saying/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-m-a-fierce-editor-i-don-t-edit-out-things-that-i-began-by-saying/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```