Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon
This is exactly how some people think. Which is very, very sad.
I don't want to become a writer if I'm going to have jackasses like that reading my works.
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You consider readers to be jackasses just because they make a different interpretation of a story than the author had originally intended?
Literature is CREATED to have differing opinions. When you publish a book and put it on the shelf for people to read, you're giving them open headway to draw their own conclusions and their own meanings from your work, you're not forcing them to come to the exact end you want them to reach. There's a reason why ambiguity is such a commonly used literary technique in novels.
If you're a writer, you should be happy if your novel is viewed in more than one aspect. It means the story you've crafted isn't static and one-dimensional, it means you've succeeded in firing up the reader's brain, triggering their imagination.
"But," you might say, "what if I was leading the story up to this really huge symbolic theme or political statement or whatever, and the reader completely misses it, and thinks it's something else?" Well, so what? That's just how his experience with your novel went. In fact, when novel discussions and debates spring up, it'll bring up lots of opportunities for readers to reread your novel. Not many people will go through a story again if they feel they've got nothing else to discover.
Anyways, I realize I've probably blown this out of proportion, and strayed way off of what you had originally intended with your statement. But even so, try to be more tolerant and open to other people's opinions. You don't see chefs tearing off their aprons and storming of of their restaurant when a customer suggests the beef stew needs more salt. So don't tear your hair out when readers think your romantic comedy series is more of a drama, or that your horror novels are more action/suspense.
And now a short statement to make my post on-topic: I thought the episode was good.
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