"Despite her exhaustion, Remedios felt the energy of novelty. The trees were different here, the streets, the smells; it enlivened her. She'd been forced into change for so long now that it felt comforting, even as she landed in a new country with nothing but a suitcase."
–– Claire McMillan, American author
Source: Claire McMillan. Alchemy of a Blackbird. Toronto: Atria Books (Simon and Schuster), 2023; p. 132.
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 35.
"Contrary to the myth that artists are eccentrics, leaping from one peak of inspiration to another, [Philip] Pearlstein exemplifies the greater truth that most artists live as they work: incrementally, day by day, in the same way that they build up a canvas or chisel a sculpture. They are creatures of habit. The dancer Twyla Tharp wakes up every morning at five-thirty and takes a cab to the gym –– a trite ritual, but as she has written, "a lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves into that environment, they begin their creative day." ... Novelty in creative endeavours usually arises from routine –– you have to be familiar with something before you know what is novel."
–– Michael Kimmelman (b. 1958), American critic and journalist
Source: Michael Kimmelman. The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa. New York: Penguin Press, 2005; p. 150-151.
via Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 116.
"Novelty is nothing more than a fresh combining."
–– Steven Heighton (1961-2022), Canadian novelist, poet, short-story writer
Source: Steven Heighton. Work Book. Toronto, Ontario: ECW Press, 2011, p. 25.
via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p.115.
"... Novelty is overrated; Success often comes when you're second or third, or even twenty-second, to the party. The key is to keep pushing, because you're more likely to succeed with experience –– and also because you're likelier to get lucky as time passes."
–– Adam Alter, South African writer and professor
Source: Adam Alter. Anatomy of a Breakthrough. Toronto: Simon & Shuster, 2023; p. 30.
via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 132.
