About 9 in 10 people in the world can read. Crazy, considering just 100 years ago this number barely exceeded 2 in 10. Talking about reading, I was doing some of that just now. I was looking into Sichuan cooking because I wanted to make something nice for diner, until I noticed something annoying. EVERY SINGLE COOKING BLOG PLACES THEIR RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. Now, I’m no stranger to the internet and have done some research into SEO and all that, but this nuisance did spark some thoughts in me that I wanted to write down.
By my definition, writing is the act of communicating thoughts through visible words. The combination of taking something meaningful and putting it into words is what makes writing such a powerful form of communication. Words are an easier way of conveying an idea than a picture, which is why words have become such a widespread medium of communication.
Going off of this definition, the only reason we would want to write is in order to communicate some thought to ourselves or others. Reality teaches us otherwise. More often than not, the main reason to write nowadays is to gain an audience, and that is precisely the problem. From the definition of communication, writing warrants an exchange of thought in some way or another, but sometimes it feels like the exchange has become more important than the thought exchanged.
Everyone reading this article also writes in some way or another, wether they like it or not. Before reading further, I want to confront you with a question. What do you write for? Do you write because you see value in what you are writing, or do you feel a certain obligation to write (in a certain way or form)?
As for me, I write to organise my thoughts and ideas. My head can get quite cluttered, and this is a way for me to rethink thoughts and extract the essence. I also relish in teaching, and find it quite fulfilling to express my thoughts allowing others to extract (some) wisdom from them. Whenever I write for anyone else but myself, I find myself lacking the motivation to do so, making my eventual writing bland.
I looove taking walks. Nearly every day, I put on my shoes and walk trough the streets of my local village or through the forest nearby. The serenity of it all makes it easy for me to get lost in thoughts or in dance, depending on if I feel like turning my brain on or off. However shallow it may be, having beautiful things around you is essential, as it inspires you to do healthy things. Imagine if the only buildings around me were ugly factories. I would definitely not be taking even a step out of the door, that’s for sure!
These forests that I speak of can be found in all sorts of places. Whenever I read a good book, it feels akin to walking through a tranquil forest, and I lose all sense of time. Having beautiful things around us is something we should strive for, as we could all use a hearty dose of the living-in-the-moment drug.
Then came the internet (or so I’ve heard, I wasn’t born yet), and along with it a near infinite platform for writing with near-zero barriers to entry. With the rise of social media, you could suddenly share information with the click of a button (which people did, of course). Everyone could now read and write whatever they wanted.
This, I feel, is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it is great that we can share our collective knowledge more easily now. On the other hand, with such great audiences, people are more interested in getting recognition for their writing than in the actual writing itself. The effect? Our lovely forest of information is slowly turning into a swamp.
This is exactly what I experienced with those recipes. Instead of having well constructed articles for our recipes, most blogs have become bloated with SEO keywords and tricks to keep you searching their page for as long as possible. I honestly couldn’t tell most cooking blogs apart if my life depended on it!
I want to start this part off with a quote.
He who knows the reader, does nothing further for the reader. Another century of readers and spirit itself will stink. – Nietzsche
In his magnum opus “Thus spoke Zarathustra”, Nietzsche has captured the heart of my problem. With the massive influx of potential readers the internet has brought us, we have stopped writing to be understood and have begun writing to be heard. Paradoxically, we disregard the beauty and elegance of our writing in order to reach more mass appeal. By writing for our readers, we actually write worse for everyone (including ourselves). After that, what even is the point?
That everyone can learn to read will ruin in the long run not only writing, but thinking too. – Nietzsche
As I said, it all starts with us writing in order to please the masses. Nietzsche warns us that it is a slippery slope into thinking to please the masses as well. I know I have felt the need to think the popular thoughts just because they are the easiest to think and share. I believe that we should practice discerning our own values and beliefs, as long as we stay respectful about it towards others. In writing, this means writing whatever YOU want to write and share, not writing for the masses. A true writer wishes not to be read, but to be understood and learnt by heart. If you only write the way that everyone else does, are you really being understood?
Of all writings I love only that which is written with blood. – Nietzsche
My experience with social media is that most content is simply written without a second thought. This is not the way it should be done! Whatever you write without soul will be read without soul. There is an abundance of information on the internet, so writing that information again simply won’t do. Write because you want to, and in the way that you want to. Only when you have written with your own blood will it be truly beautiful. I urge you to stop taking the easy route of creating standard content and to start experimenting with your own unique style.
In my life, I have struggled quite a bit with recognition. Being smart can often be seen as easy, but it’s not really. Being smart + not working hard = being a disappointment, as your intelligence causes people to have higher expectations. Because of this, you end up having to work just as hard as anyone else while people won’t really praise you for anything except your “born” giftedness. If you don’t, you just become another case of “wasted potential”.
I thought that I was the problem, because I didn’t work hard enough. Luckily, I have grown as a person, and can now see that this is not my problem, nor is it that of other people. The real problem lies in the human/biological craving for recognition. Shaking this feeling off can release you from a myriad of ailments, such as humiliation, jealousy and writing terrible articles.
One should care first about creating their own style of writing, writing about whatever interests them. In doing so one creates meaningful an valuable content. Only then should one care about how to reach more people. I fail to see the millions of unique ways in which people can make interesting writing, and I believe that there is simply so much more that can be done with this medium besides all of the cookie-cutter articles that flood the internet. Go forth, be bold and write with blood!
Where passion for the art of writing is lacking, we should be careful not to become the lackies of our readers. Where ink and pixels don’t suffice any longer, we need to take to our body and start writing with our blood. Only then can we truly enjoy our writing and create fulfilling content.
To wrap things up, I’d like to share some blogs and other sources that I feel are written with blood. I hope they may inspire you to do the same.
Signing off, have a lovely day!