--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be old hat, but I see no reason to…" description: "\"It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so for one, like me, who is very much inte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg" --- # It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what… ![“It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so for one, like me, who is very much interested in creating stories and novels of ideas.” quote by Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg) > “It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so for one, like me, who is very much interested in creating stories and novels of ideas.” [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores the value of embracing seemingly familiar topics to generate fresh, idea‑driven stories. **In simple terms:** Old topics can spark new ideas. Key Takeaway Re‑examine familiar subjects for novel narratives. Themes creativity curiosity storytelling intellectual exploration Mood thoughtful encouraging Type creative inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - academic research - creative workshops Key Concepts Narrative theory idea generation Questions to Reflect On - What familiar subject could you re‑imagine? - How do you balance novelty with tradition? A Different Perspective Risk of redundancy if not approached uniquely. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Creating stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating-stories/) [Hats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hats/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [I am interested in creating model for the global community by using technology and creating ease of doing business, ease of living, and creating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-chandrababu-naidu/i-am-interested-in-creating-model-for-the-global-community-by-using/) [N. Chandrababu Naidu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-chandrababu-naidu/) > [I am particularly interested in creating a relationship between ideas of reception in conceptual art and theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-crouch/i-am-particularly-interested-in-creating-a-relationship-between-ideas/) [Tim Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-crouch/) > [I'm not really interested in creating things to be seen inside a private gallery. I'm interested in creating things that are all around us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-heatherwick/i-m-not-really-interested-in-creating-things-to-be-seen-inside-a/) [Thomas Heatherwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-heatherwick/) > [“Life is just so interesting and complicated and beautiful. Every day, every interaction is different. There’s so much floating around that I would find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-escovedo/life-is-just-so-interesting-and-complicated-and-beautiful-every-day/) Alejandro Escovedo > [I was interested in creating things that I could be proud of and so, you know, I was interested in being an editor of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-was-interested-in-creating-things-that-i-could-be-proud-of-and-so/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [To be honest, I'm really not interested on how I'm viewed as. The only thing I'm interested in is to keep creating something special.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hidetaka-miyazaki/to-be-honest-i-m-really-not-interested-on-how-i-m-viewed-as-the-only/) [Hidetaka Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hidetaka-miyazaki/) > [I've always been interested in creating things for kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martellus-bennett/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-creating-things-for-kids/) [Martellus Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martellus-bennett/) > [I try to employ a different strategy for each story. Often, I'll have a specific look in mind before I even have the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-clowes/i-try-to-employ-a-different-strategy-for-each-story-often-i-ll-have-a/) [Daniel Clowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-clowes/) > [Yeah, I like to keep myself interested - I'll kind of throw myself into some area that I don't completely know or understand, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/yeah-i-like-to-keep-myself-interested-i-ll-kind-of-throw-myself-into/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [When I work on someone else's record, I'm happy to alter the way I approach it, if I happen to like who they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anoushka-shankar/when-i-work-on-someone-else-s-record-i-m-happy-to-alter-the-way-i/) [Anoushka Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anoushka-shankar/) > [I love to jump into your life and interested in acting like you and I'm interested in you I think anywhere is romantic when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dougray-scott/i-love-to-jump-into-your-life-and-interested-in-acting-like-you-and-i/) [Dougray Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dougray-scott/) > [If someone acts like they're interested in you, then they vanish for days, then act interested again they're playing games. Move on!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/if-someone-acts-like-they-re-interested-in-you-then-they-vanish-for/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [It's an interesting time that way. It's hard to meet good girls down here. It seems like they're all after something and interested in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-speedman/it-s-an-interesting-time-that-way-it-s-hard-to-meet-good-girls-down/) [Scott Speedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-speedman/) > [Remember when you were a kid, and everyone used to say, 'Would you rather be interested or interesting?' And to me, it was always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/remember-when-you-were-a-kid-and-everyone-used-to-say-would-you/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [People that are interested in me, I like to be interested in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-hartley/people-that-are-interested-in-me-i-like-to-be-interested-in-them/) [Justin Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-hartley/) ## More by Norman Lock > [I admitted that I did not understand life. What I meant was that I am bewildered by human hearts and motivations, including my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-admitted-that-i-did-not-understand-life-what-i-meant-was-that-i-am/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I had hoped to be a poet, and for a long time I tried to write poetry. My first published pieces were poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-had-hoped-to-be-a-poet-and-for-a-long-time-i-tried-to-write-poetry/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Each piece of writing I undertake, whether a story, novel, play, or poem, begins with an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/each-piece-of-writing-i-undertake-whether-a-story-novel-play-or-poem/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I very much like the idea of the unreliable narrator. Shaping my fictions as monologues - by introducing the "I" - allows me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-very-much-like-the-idea-of-the-unreliable-narrator-shaping-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I do seem to favor a deathbed confession as the occasion for my dramatic monologues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-do-seem-to-favor-a-deathbed-confession-as-the-occasion-for-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I do believe we are actors in our own dramas, which, moment by moment, we ourselves write; that we are characters in our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-do-believe-we-are-actors-in-our-own-dramas-which-moment-by-moment/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [The critique of social inequality, which is very much a part of my story, came about naturally from my recollection of Huck and Tom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/the-critique-of-social-inequality-which-is-very-much-a-part-of-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Theatre aside, my penchant for the extended monologue began with my reading of Browning's dramatic monologues, in high school. My inclination to adopt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/theatre-aside-my-penchant-for-the-extended-monologue-began-with-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [In nearly everything I write, I am like a ventriloquist, throwing my voice into my characters, animating them by the slightest twitch as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/in-nearly-everything-i-write-i-am-like-a-ventriloquist-throwing-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Emotional, physical, and spiritual estrangement and ontological and religious doubt inform my personality, my thoughts, and my characters, which are, more often than not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/emotional-physical-and-spiritual-estrangement-and-ontological-and/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Many of my short fictions use theatre as a metaphor for situations in which characters find themselves estranged from the larger, uncontrollable world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/many-of-my-short-fictions-use-theatre-as-a-metaphor-for-situations-in/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I used to teach writing in a federal prison, and for my students' benefit, I would liken the narrative use of this highly personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-used-to-teach-writing-in-a-federal-prison-and-for-my-students/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I haven't the stature to critique one of our literature's great novels, Tobias; and I'm not one of those who believe The Adventures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-haven-t-the-stature-to-critique-one-of-our-literature-s-great/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Eventually, I came to believe, stupidly, that I had exhausted that story's "original" form with its single use. I went on to other stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/eventually-i-came-to-believe-stupidly-that-i-had-exhausted-that-story/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) [Explore all 29 Norman Lock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so for one, like me, who is very much interested in creating stories and novels of ideas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Lock" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/norman-lock-21222_books_it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to_201618.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially…” — Norman Lock", "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": "Norman Lock", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It may be old hat, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/#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 } } ] } ```