--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think a lot of what goes into writing…" description: "\"I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.\" — Lydia Davis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png" --- # I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught… ![“I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.” quote by Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png) > “I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.” [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. Writing skill can be taught, especially technical aspects like avoiding mixed metaphors. **In simple terms:** Writing techniques are teachable. Key Takeaway Practice precise language. Themes writing craft technique clarity education Mood thoughtful instructive Type educational practical When to use this quote - Creative writing classes - self‑editing - workshops - literary criticism Key Concepts Metaphor usage editing skills Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance technical precision with creativity? - When is breaking a rule effective? A Different Perspective Technical skill alone doesn’t guarantee artistic depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [We are all shaped by where we grow up, though that shaping takes different forms. I don't think there's any doubt that coming of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/we-are-all-shaped-by-where-we-grow-up-though-that-shaping-takes-2/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [Each night about this time he puts on sadness like a garment and goes on writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/each-night-about-this-time-he-puts-on-sadness-like-a-garment-and-goes/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [One goes on writing partly because it is the only available way of earning a living. It is a hard way and highly competitive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/one-goes-on-writing-partly-because-it-is-the-only-available-way-of/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [When you're not writing, you're not doing anything else either because everything you do goes into the writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linn-ullmann/when-you-re-not-writing-you-re-not-doing-anything-else-either-because/) Linn Ullmann > [Anyone who goes into writing has to find out somewhere along the line, he's either naive or insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-uris/anyone-who-goes-into-writing-has-to-find-out-somewhere-along-the-line/) [Leon Uris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-uris/) > [“Is that how it goes with writing? That as long as you are writing, no time is ever completely in the past? Is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyung-sook-shin/is-that-how-it-goes-with-writing-that-as-long-as-you-are-writing-no/) [Kyung-Sook Shin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyung-sook-shin/) > [I find it both fascinating and disconcerting when I discover yet another person who believes that writing can't be taught. Frankly, I don't understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-find-it-both-fascinating-and-disconcerting-when-i-discover-yet/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [In a lot of ways, TV writing taught me how to be a good storyteller. I learned about dialogue, scenes, moving the plot forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/in-a-lot-of-ways-tv-writing-taught-me-how-to-be-a-good-storyteller-i/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [Poets are immersed in process, and I mean process not as an amorphous blur but as a discipline. The hard work of writing has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/poets-are-immersed-in-process-and-i-mean-process-not-as-an-amorphous/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [“Writing has taught me that the frontier isn’t always a place. Sometimes it’s a season of your life. The space between who you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-lee/writing-has-taught-me-that-the-frontier-isn-t-always-a-place/) Dustin Lee > [“It is my personal belief that writing cannot be taught.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parnell-hall/it-is-my-personal-belief-that-writing-cannot-be-taught/) Parnell Hall > [In high school, in 1956, at the age of sixteen, we were not taught "creative writing." We were taught literature and grammar. So no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/in-high-school-in-1956-at-the-age-of-sixteen-we-were-not-taught/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I would love to see writing taught online because at university like Yale, there are not enough teachers who are able to teach writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gelernter/i-would-love-to-see-writing-taught-online-because-at-university-like/) [David Gelernter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gelernter/) > [If writing has taught me anything, it's that you don't actually understand anything until you can express it in words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bleyer/if-writing-has-taught-me-anything-it-s-that-you-don-t-actually/) [Kevin Bleyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bleyer/) > [The art of drawing which is of more real importance to the human race than that of writing...should be taught to every child just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-art-of-drawing-which-is-of-more-real-importance-to-the-human-race/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) ## 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 Etc quotes > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [They look at what's more important, like subjects to help with the SAT's, etc. They miss that music is vital. It offers a break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-guarini/they-look-at-what-s-more-important-like-subjects-to-help-with-the-sat/) [Justin Guarini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-guarini/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [What people actually refer to as research is really just Googling. I already have a complicated relationship with research. It used to be going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dermot-mulroney/what-people-actually-refer-to-as-research-is-really-just-googling-i/) [Dermot Mulroney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dermot-mulroney/) > [“Never praise oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhagwan-swaminarayan/never-praise-oneself/) Bhagwan Swaminarayan > [I'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-m-educating-myself-more-about-world-poetry-i-know-a-lot-about/) [Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/) > [It's really a pity that there are observers who view political events like comic strips. There has to be a Zorro, there has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/it-s-really-a-pity-that-there-are-observers-who-view-political-events/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [When members unite with the church, they should not only make a profession of faith in Christ (that is essential), but in light of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-adams/when-members-unite-with-the-church-they-should-not-only-make-a/) [Jay Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-adams/) > [Let us ask... how things work at the level of on-going subjugation, at the level of those continuous and uninterrupted processes which subject our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/let-us-ask-how-things-work-at-the-level-of-on-going-subjugation-at/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [None of my own experiences ever finds its way into my work. However, the stages of my life - motherhood, middle age, etc. -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-tyler/none-of-my-own-experiences-ever-finds-its-way-into-my-work-however/) [Anne Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-tyler/) Browse all 1,258 Etc quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lydia Davis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing-can-be-taught-not-mixing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Etc" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing-can-be-taught-not-mixing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/lydia-davis-3244_etc_i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing_2481820.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.” — 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 think a lot of what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing-can-be-taught-not-mixing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-think-a-lot-of-what-goes-into-writing-can-be-taught-not-mixing/#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 } } ] } ```