Nietzsche’s Advice For Becoming a Better Writer

God is Le dead

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There’s one bit of advice that has always stuck with me, and it comes from none other than the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzsche didn’t opine much about writing itself, but in “Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits” he did offer this gem:

“Good writers have two things in common; they prefer to be understood rather than admired and they do not write for knowing and over-acute readers.”

“Over-acute readers” — what did he mean by that?

He meant that the worst readers were those who take away a few things they can use, dirty and confound the remainder, and revile the whole.

It’s something Tolkien said as well; I’ll paraphrase: “I know some people are bored and annoyed at my writing, but I’m likely bored and annoyed at what material it is they are writing and reading as well.”

Nietzche understood writing — and reading — better than just about anyone. And his advice is as germane today as it was over a hundred years ago. Here are 4 more pieces of writing advice, based on Nietzsche’s philosophy, that will make you a better writer:

Write With Blood

Nietzche once famously said what you could write in a book, I can write in 10 sentences. This is the essence of writing with blood. It’s about being concise, about saying what you need to say in as few words as possible.

In other words, don’t write what you aren’t experienced in.

When you write with blood you aren’t just opening a window to your craft; we are seeing a part of your spirit. It feels like an extension of yourself.

This is what all excellent writing should aspire to.

Genius is in Your Nostrils

Nietzche said that his genius is in his nostrils, that he was the first to sense — smell — the lie as a lie — and that made him the opposite of a negative spirit.

It reminds me of the classic Hemmingway line: “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, bullshit detector.”

This is why I have many contradictory books in my library like “The Communist Manifesto” next to Ayn Rand, Foucault next to Jordan Peterson, and some Ted Kaczynski for good measure.

I want to see all sides of the argument, even if I disagree with them. I want to train up my B.S. detector and be able to smell the truth myself.

It also helps me avoid being cliché— and to have a healthy dose of contrarianism.

Contradictory Opinions

I am not a man. I am dynamite.

— Nietzche

Nietzche wasn’t politically correct.

In fact, he was downright offensive and purposely sought to provoke and shock people with his words.

This doesn’t mean you need to be an asshole in your writing, but you should feel free to have opinions that piss off the “worst types of readers.”

As a journalist, I can tell you that the best stories I’ve ever written were ones I felt scared to hit publish on — because I knew they would cause a stir. But that’s what good writing does; it provokes thought and conversation.

One day that person might admit to themselves that your contradictory opinion brought out the hidden sickness of their heart and made it visible.

“Altered opinions do not alter a man’s character (or do so very little); but they do illuminate individual aspects of the constellation of his personality with a different constellation of opinions had hitherto remained dark and unrecognizable.”

I Am One Thing; My Writings Are Another

Nietzsche lived a horrible, wretched life.

The love of his life Lou Andreas-Salomé infamously friend-zoned him to his grave. He was poor, sickly, and had few friends. He died young, insane, and alone.

However, even at the time, he expected this. He said nobody would understand him now and that some people are born posthumously. In fact, he was so precise in this prophecy that he believed people worldwide would study his novel “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” 100 years after his death.

And he was right!

This right here is an essential lesson for all creatives.

Express the very fabrics of your soul but don’t expect immediate recognition or validation. If you write from the truth — if you write with blood — someone somewhere will eventually catch up.

But goddamn is it hard!

It’s facing fear every single day.

A Final Thought

It’s a shame that Nietzche is only remembered for saying “God is Dead,” which is not even the original quote.

The original quote is much more interesting: “God is dead, and we have killed him! How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?”

Genius.

I believe this man could predict his posthumous success with striking accuracy because he was writing from a place of such deep truth.

And that’s the goal for all of us artists: to connect with that deep truth and share it with the world, even if it takes a hundred years.

Happy writing!

You can only really appreciate the idea that God is dead after wrapping your head around the idea that God was here, and we killed him, and he's not coming back and the rest is memes. We're on our own now, no one to blame, no excuses.