Why Creators Shouldn't Insist On A Specific Interpretation Of Their Work

You've seen it before. The author, director, actor, or musician who tells you what his or her work is about. If those two characters really love each other or not. If that character really died. What they really meant by that bit of symbolism.

Most creators of media have a vision in mind when they set off to make their masterpiece, and so when audiences don't "get it," they can understandably get frustrated. Some creators even seem to get resentful of the audience they've attracted, if they feel the audience has been attracted for the wrong reasons.

The thing is, as creators of artistic work, we have to accept the fact that each person is going to experience it differently than we do and take away something a little different, whether or not we intended it to be that way.

The reality of the matter is, if someone sees or doesn't see something in your work, that is a valid interpretation, no matter how disagreeable it might be. When you turn your work loose on the world, it's no longer truly yours. Other people are going to see and have opinions on it. And this is a good thing. It means you have created something that has touched other people, that has made them want to stay in your world a bit longer, even if they see it a different way.