In English classes everywhere and in the hands of nerdy fans, writers’ works get interpreted. They will even “find symbolism” that writers never meant. They just have an itch to find some deeper meaning.
I don’t want people interpreting my stories wrong. I’d rather a fan come up to me or email me, asking me about it. I’d address some huge incorrect deeper meanings publicly, but it would be impossible to find them all. Another part of me thinks I’ll just nod along if their “deeper meaning” sounds better than what I originally intended.
But once the book is out of my hands, is it really mine anymore? We all have our ideas – our creations – but it’s all up to our audience to interpret. It’s our audience who takes the creativity and the messages from us. The stories aren’t ours anymore.
They’re doing their jobs by experiencing and learning from our stories. Whether it’s good or not is up to them. We have done our part by getting people to think more.
What do you think?
