--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are few punishments too severe for…" description: "\"There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,\" — S. S. Van Dine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/024/s-s-van-dine-52963_books_there-are-few-punishments-too-severe-for_793821.jpg" --- # There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel… ![“There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,” quote by S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/024/s-s-van-dine-52963_books_there-are-few-punishments-too-severe-for_793821.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/024/s-s-van-dine-52963_books_there-are-few-punishments-too-severe-for_793821.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/024/s-s-van-dine-52963_books_there-are-few-punishments-too-severe-for_793821.jpg) > “There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,” [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers face severe criticism that can feel like punishment for their work. **In simple terms:** Criticism can be harsh for writers. Key Takeaway Accept feedback constructively. Themes creativity criticism artistic pressure Mood reflective critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - publishing - review process - creative blocks Key Concepts literary analysis authorial identity Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate constructive from destructive feedback? - What strategies help maintain confidence? A Different Perspective Not all criticism is punitive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment/) [Punishments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishments/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It's a very funny topic, missing weight and getting title shots. I think the punishments should be more severe, but I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whittaker/it-s-a-very-funny-topic-missing-weight-and-getting-title-shots-i/) [Robert Whittaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whittaker/) > [“What is more useless than the popular novel that has passed its boom!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holbrook-jackson/what-is-more-useless-than-the-popular-novel-that-has-passed-its-boom/) [Holbrook Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holbrook-jackson/) > [I cringe when critics say I'm a master of the popular novel. What's an unpopular novel?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/i-cringe-when-critics-say-i-m-a-master-of-the-popular-novel-what-s-an/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [A novel and its writer are inseparable: you are your books. A play's not like that at all. 'Abandonment's not mine - it's everyone's.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/a-novel-and-its-writer-are-inseparable-you-are-your-books-a-play-s/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I won't read a new graphic comic novel until the writer has completed the entire series. I got burned a few times when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-won-t-read-a-new-graphic-comic-novel-until-the-writer-has-completed/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) > [It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceal his snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/it-is-the-test-of-a-novel-writer-s-art-that-he-conceal-his-snake-in/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [“Every story has already been told. Once you've read Anna Karenina, Bleak House, The Sound and the Fury, To Kill a Mockingbird and A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/every-story-has-already-been-told-once-you-ve-read-anna-karenina-2/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I am almost six-novels-old. It took me until the third novel to call myself a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manju-kapur/i-am-almost-six-novels-old-it-took-me-until-the-third-novel-to-call/) [Manju Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manju-kapur/) > [When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/when-writing-a-novel-a-writer-should-create-living-people-people-not-2/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Is it not superfluous to write more than one novel if the writer has not become, say, a new man? 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If a writer can make people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/when-writing-a-novel-a-writer-should-create-living-people-people-not/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [In writing a novel, the writer must be able to identify emotionally and intellectually with two or three or four contradicting perspectives and give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/in-writing-a-novel-the-writer-must-be-able-to-identify-emotionally/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Face it," Gary told her kindly. "You'll never catch up. You just do as much as you can and take the punishments without saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/face-it-gary-told-her-kindly-you-ll-never-catch-up-you-just-do-as/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) ## More by S. S. Van Dine > [Giving full rein to one's cynicism as one goes along produces a normal outlet and maintains an emotional equilibrium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/giving-full-rein-to-one-s-cynicism-as-one-goes-along-produces-a/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/there-simply-must-be-a-corpse-in-a-detective-novel-and-the-deader-the/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long-descriptive-passages-no/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [It has long been a source of wonder to me why the leading criminological writers--men like Edmund Lester Pearson, H. B. Irving, Filson Young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/it-has-long-been-a-source-of-wonder-to-me-why-the-leading/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [Only, as long as we're going insane we may as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/only-as-long-as-we-re-going-insane-we-may-as-well-go-the-whole-way-a/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [Of all the criminal cases in which Philo Vance participated as unofficial investigator, the most sinister, the most bizarre, the seemingly most incomprehensible, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/of-all-the-criminal-cases-in-which-philo-vance-participated-as/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) [Explore all 7 S. S. Van Dine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) ## 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": "There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "S. S. 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