--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never, if you can possibly help it, write…" description: "\"Never, if you can possibly help it, write a novel. It is, in the first place, a thoroughly unsocial act. It makes one obnoxious to one's family and to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c42/pearl-s-buck-1024_books_never-if-you-can-possibly-help-it-write_2173631.jpg" --- # Never, if you can possibly help it, write a novel. It is… ![“Never, if you can possibly help it, write a novel. It is, in the first place, a thoroughly unsocial act. It makes one obnoxious to one's family and to one's friends. One sits about for many weeks, months, even years, in the worst cases, in a state of stupefaction.” quote by Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c42/pearl-s-buck-1024_books_never-if-you-can-possibly-help-it-write_2173631.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c42/pearl-s-buck-1024_books_never-if-you-can-possibly-help-it-write_2173631.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c42/pearl-s-buck-1024_books_never-if-you-can-possibly-help-it-write_2173631.jpg) > “Never, if you can possibly help it, write a novel. It is, in the first place, a thoroughly unsocial act. It makes one obnoxious to one's family and to one's friends. One sits about for many weeks, months, even years, in the worst cases, in a state of stupefaction.” [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a novel isolates you socially, making you neglect relationships and fall into inertia. **In simple terms:** Novel writing can be socially isolating. Key Takeaway Balance writing with social engagement. Themes creativity isolation discipline Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - authoring a novel - long‑term projects - creative retreats Key Concepts social impact personal sacrifice Questions to Reflect On - How can writers stay connected while working? - What routines prevent creative stagnation? A Different Perspective Isolation can harm mental health and relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Help Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help-write-701964/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/months/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-place-3093543/) [Obnoxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obnoxious/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Worst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-novel/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [For me, what I am making in the novel is a place to live. When I first switched from poetry to novels, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/for-me-what-i-am-making-in-the-novel-is-a-place-to-live-when-i-first/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [To me, the point of a novel is to take you to a still place. You can multitask with a lot of things, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/to-me-the-point-of-a-novel-is-to-take-you-to-a-still-place-you-can/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Write a novel if you must, but think of money as an unlikely accident. Get your reward out of writing it, and try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/write-a-novel-if-you-must-but-think-of-money-as-an-unlikely-accident/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only people who truly know your story, are the ones who help you write it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-people-who-truly-know-your-story-are-the-ones-who-help-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You write to help yourself think better, then think to help yourself write better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-williams/you-write-to-help-yourself-think-better-then-think-to-help-yourself/) [Joseph Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-williams/) > [I'm not here to write a song for you, I'm here to help you write a song for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel/i-m-not-here-to-write-a-song-for-you-i-m-here-to-help-you-write-a/) [Miguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel/) > [Study your reader first - your product second. If you understand his reactions, and present those phases of your product that relate to his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-collier/study-your-reader-first-your-product-second-if-you-understand-his/) [Robert Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-collier/) > [“A brick could be used to help you write the book you’ve always wanted to write. That is, if you wanted to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-brick-could-be-used-to-help-you-write-the-book-you-ve-always-wanted/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I learn a lot from acting, but it's not my natural way. I can't help but write; I do it all the time. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-stuart-masterson/i-learn-a-lot-from-acting-but-it-s-not-my-natural-way-i-can-t-help/) [Mary Stuart Masterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-stuart-masterson/) > [The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-beattie/the-new-year-stands-before-us-like-a-chapter-in-a-book-waiting-to-be/) [Melody Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-beattie/) > [She's always been there for me through anything, I can think of many school projects I had to do and I would say, 'Mom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mookie-betts/she-s-always-been-there-for-me-through-anything-i-can-think-of-many/) [Mookie Betts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mookie-betts/) > [I can't help but to write, I have a inner need for it. If I'm not in the middle of some literary project, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-t-help-but-to-write-i-have-a-inner-need-for-it-if-i-m-not-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have been a writer since 1949. I am self-taught. I have no theories about writing that might help others. When I write, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-have-been-a-writer-since-1949-i-am-self-taught-i-have-no-theories/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [You don’t need help to write a song. You just need to get over this experience that bummed you out so bad. The relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-nicks/you-don-t-need-help-to-write-a-song-you-just-need-to-get-over-this/) [Stevie Nicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-nicks/) > [If you're living in your time, you cannot help but to write about the things that are important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-you-re-living-in-your-time-you-cannot-help-but-to-write-about-the/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## More by Pearl S. Buck > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Hunger makes a thief of any man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/hunger-makes-a-thief-of-any-man/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [War is the most devastating endemic and epidemic disease the human race has to endure, and yet too little has been done to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/war-is-the-most-devastating-endemic-and-epidemic-disease-the-human/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not just a scientist, either, oh, no, only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-one-really-understood-music-unless-he-was-a-scientist-her-father/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/wang-lung-sat-smoking-thinking-of-the-silver-as-it-had-lain-upon-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/the-secret-of-joy-in-work-is-contained-in-one-word-excellence-to-know/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/if-our-american-way-of-life-fails-the-child-it-fails-us-all/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Mind and body were well or ill together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/mind-and-body-were-well-or-ill-together/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“U meni postoji mjesto gdje živim posve sama; tu obnavljam svoja proljeća koja nikad ne presahnu”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/u-meni-postoji-mjesto-gdje-ivim-posve-sama-tu-obnavljam-svoja-prolje/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Brave young American men climbed the rugged slopes of Korean mountains and fought in homesickness and desperate weariness for the sake of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/brave-young-american-men-climbed-the-rugged-slopes-of-korean/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then; life is dull without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/truth-is-always-exciting-speak-it-then-life-is-dull-without-it/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“All scientific effort must now be concentrated in the area of defence (sic). We have learned our lesson. We, the most civilized of people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/all-scientific-effort-must-now-be-concentrated-in-the-area-of-defence/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [to know how to read is to light a lamp in the mind, to release the soul from prison, to open a gate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/to-know-how-to-read-is-to-light-a-lamp-in-the-mind-to-release-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) [Explore all 304 Pearl S. Buck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## 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. 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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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Never, if you can possibly help it, write a novel. It is, in the first place, a thoroughly unsocial act. It makes one obnoxious to one's family and to one's friends. One sits about for many weeks, months, even years, in the worst cases, in a state of stupefaction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pearl S. 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