Reader maturity, which Nietzsche (more than) touches on here, is a huge issue that isn’t often addressed. Having been writing for a number of years, with all sorts of feedback, one point stands out most significantly: If the reader finds your perspectives harmonious with his or her own, s/he will generally proclaim to have found “good writing”. If your perspectives deviate from those, the writing will often be proclaimed bad or suspect.
Dealing with the prejudices of readers and interpreting them correctly is one of the most difficult features of self-development. The more controversial ones topic happens to be, the more one is likely to become lost in a snowstorm of confusing and contradictory criticism. One cannot take it all to heart. I’ve had overwhelming compliments for writing that appealed to people’s nationalist and patriotic sentiments in a trivial way, yet as I’m matured and delved much more deeply into things, the less the compliments are forthcoming. This suggests that most readers, from those who are relatively naive to those who are more sophisticated, desire above all to have their prejudices confirmed in their reading and prefer to avoid written constructs that pose difficulty to them.
I imagine this is also why academics whose areas are less controversial can often find it easier to succeed than those who deviate from an expected route.
STAY SANE AND SAVAGE Gender activism, intellectual shamanism
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