Interpretations Of Your Writing

Has someone ever interpreted your work to mean something you totally didn't intend to mean? Was this a good or bad experience for you? In general, do you think it's interesting and cool when somebody gets something out of your work that you didn't consciously intend to be there, or does it annoy you because the message you were trying to convey didn't get across?

Discuss.

---

This happens a lot with my songs, and I think it's very interesting. (That is probably because I usually don't have a good idea of what my songs mean at all.) However, I once wrote what I perceived to be a partial love song, and two readers thought it was about the Holocaust. This surprised me, but, once again, I thought it was sort of cool.

I've had it happen. I only correct if they seem confused. Otherwise I let them think whatever they want. To me, it's more important they took something from it rather than what they took from it.

What someone takes from anything you write is up to them =) You are trying to portray what you believe (or want them to believe) but that is as far as you can go. From there, it's up to the reader to take from it what they desire.

I love writing ambiguous poems that could mean just about anything, but is so well written that any meaning taken from it is very powerful and deep. It brings a joy to my heart seeing people comment about what they think the poem means.

You know, I really like this topic. I don't see why not many people are posting on this.

In a few of my stories and poems, others have pointed something or other out that wasn't what I had originally planned. Which is great, because I like that. I want my readers to see things in a different perspective.:)

Plus, it's rather interesting to read/hear what how other people look at my writing. I love it when someone does tell me.

I generally write things that are more straightforward. It's just the way I am. I'm not big into metaphors and symbolism, it's not my style. But a few of my pieces definitely have a deeper meaning. I consider writing art and it's free to your own interpretation. In fact, if my story can mean something completely different to someone else and be something they relate to, I actually think that's amazing. I don't think any interpretations that I've read have been wrong as much as not what I intended but I always find them fascinating and the fact that someone thinks that deeply about anything I've worked on is always flattering.

If someone interprets your writing it is basically there own opinion. You know how you want your story to go and that's that.

Though, that does not mean interepretations are bad, they can be helpful.

My friend keeps seeing symbolism in the things I write, and I don't mean to put it there.

:XD I think it's cool, and it gives me ideas.

It just goes to show that half the stuff we learn in English class is bullshit. :XD

Bells.:

My friend keeps seeing symbolism in the things I write, and I don't mean to put it there.

:XD I think it's cool, and it gives me ideas.

It just goes to show that half the stuff we learn in English class is bullshit. :XD

English class is there to improve your reading and writing skills, as well as teach you to do public speaking and research =P

If you want what most people believe English should be about, take a Literature class when you get to University, such as Free Writing, or "Literary of the 21st Century" (That was really hard but cool too says my friend), where all you do is read and write, learn how to be a good author and such =)

It's rather interesting to read what other people think about my writing, how they interpret the characters, the settings, the plot, the little hints here and there... Sometimes I get amazed when they notice some sort of... symbolism or prediction of what's going to happen in between the lines.

I really like that, because it makes me realize that the readers are not only reading the story, they're also getting involved with it and analyzing it.

DeSignFluX:

Bells.:

My friend keeps seeing symbolism in the things I write, and I don't mean to put it there.

:XD I think it's cool, and it gives me ideas.

It just goes to show that half the stuff we learn in English class is bullshit. :XD

English class is there to improve your reading and writing skills, as well as teach you to do public speaking and research =P

If you want what most people believe English should be about, take a Literature class when you get to University, such as Free Writing, or "Literary of the 21st Century" (That was really hard but cool too says my friend), where all you do is read and write, learn how to be a good author and such =)

I know that English is there for that reason, but what I'm saying is half the stuff that is apparently a symbol/foreshadowing something is just put there because it sounds cool or fits the plot well.

i.e. The mad dog in To Kill a Mockingbird apparently means that everybody in Maycomb is confined by their racism, because they all go inside and close their doors.

I don't believe that. I just think that it's there to show that Atticus can shoot a gun.

You see what I'm getting at?

Bells.:

I know that English is there for that reason, but what I'm saying is half the stuff that is apparently a symbol/foreshadowing something is just put there because it sounds cool or fits the plot well.

i.e. The mad dog in To Kill a Mockingbird apparently means that everybody in Maycomb is confined by their racism, because they all go inside and close their doors.

I don't believe that. I just think that it's there to show that Atticus can shoot a gun.

You see what I'm getting at?

I do understand, yes =)
In every single class, with every single book I was meant to "interpret" the teacher would say that it MUST mean one thing or another, so the class writes that down... I would write down what I think (because that's what the question always was. "What do you think is the meaning of <part of plot> and why?" D=< You get marked wrong for writing the wrong thing...

The main point of writing is for everyone to have their own interpretation of each event. If something was meant to mean a specific thing, they would have said it without harefooting around it D=<

I try and put some hidden messages in my writing to see if anyone cottons on. :shifty

^Me too! Not that anyone ever does.
I've never posted anything online, but I always have my aunt read my English papers and assignments and I was co-editor of my school's literary magazine last year. I wrote a short one-page story that turned into a reflection of my thoughts and hopes about my own future. I had to retype it more times than I can count because my aunt said she couldn't see how anyone would understand what's going on in the story, until finally I refused to change any more of it.
I use a technique where I introduce something without explaining it first sometimes. Like... I'll talk about something that happened in the past and then have a flashback to explain it or something to that extent. Well I guess that's confusing to a lot of people who dwell on the initial vagueness. I suppose it's partially my fault for wrong interpretations of my writing, but nevertheless... :file:

I love hearing what people get out of my writer. Whether they're wrong or right, hearing what people get out of my writing is really interesting. Even if it's completly wrong, I'll still enjoy what they get out of it. I'll usually tell them though what the real meaning behind it was supposed to be... Sometimes I don't though and just let them go with their own thoughts on what it meant.

Second opinions of what your stories mean can make you realize things you didn't notice before. Or at least have a better understanding of them.

I wrote an incredibly short story (fifty-seven words long, to be precise). It was just I scribbled down off the top of my head about standing near a busy road, and nearly everyone thought it was about contemplating suicide.

A lot of my readers get everything I write in my story. They catch on with the humor, the irony, and the emotions that I created deliberately; one girl also figured out a lot of the plot before I even finished it. Not because it’s a cliché plot, but she said that I create my characters so well and foreshadow amazingly, that she picked up the hints hidden in the writing. A lot of the comments people left actually also really helped, because I picked up where some thought this was going and figured out a way to play with their minds a bit. It helped me figure out the little twists and realise where the irony fitted in. I’m amazed I did it well enough that they could figure it out, for it shows that they must have analyzed it and thought about it quite a bit.

I haven’t finished the story, and it’s my only story, but it’s the first one that I know that I will actually finish. I’m so proud of it so far. :)

This happens to me a lot, I think the first people to say "wtf" was probably Jenni (Sardonic Grin) and Sara (bastard son) well not like that, but they were confused with what I was trying to get across.

All in all, I think what they said helped me a lot to become a way better write than I was three years ago, so it was cool with me, and plus I never get mad when someones trying to help me out.

One person mistook a part of my story about breathing. They thought another person was breathing and the breaths were in sync. But they really liked the way that they thought it was, so I didn't see any point in correcting her.

There's something Ryan Ross said (I can't find the quote) along the lines of, I don't want to tell them what it means because if it means something to them because they think it's a certain way, I don't want to take that away from them. And I agree with that statement.

Although, I've had several conversations with people who have asked me tons of questions about stories to understand it better and I have no problems with that either.

What's interesting though, is sometimes even I don't know what my stories mean, but some of the readers already established a picture in their heads. I wrote a story about waiting, but I don't even know why the other person left - maybe they cheated, maybe they went to a war, maybe they died were the options I got from people.

It's actually pretty cool

The Way:

What's interesting though, is sometimes even I don't know what my stories mean, but some of the readers already established a picture in their heads. I wrote a story about waiting, but I don't even know why the other person left - maybe they cheated, maybe they went to a war, maybe they died were the options I got from people.

That's why I love really great reviews. A lot of my stories are abstract and I understand the feelings a lot more than the actual photograph. I just feel what my characters feel and it's very hard to be objective. So I love to hear what they say it's about.