Most severe novelist and story teller starts (8)
I believe the answer is:
sternest
'most severe' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'novelist and story teller starts' is the wordplay.
'novelist' becomes 'sterne' (laurence sterne**).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'starts' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'story teller' is 'st'.
'sterne'+'st'='STERNEST'
(Other definitions for sternest that I've seen before include "Most severe and unrelenting" , "Strictest or grimmest" , "Most serious and unrelenting" , "Most unfriendly" , "Most strict and demanding" .)