The writer sows the seed of meaning, gives it shape; but how grows and transforms is in the green fingers (or otherwise) of the reader. The writer invents; the reader interprets and reinvents. Something like that...
Thanks, Glenn, that's a great way to put it, that the writer seeds the story with meaning. As artists, we set out our stall, and the reader chooses what they wish to take from it. We can of course try to impose a meaning on them, but I feel that a story will die on that cross. Art is an invitation, a knock at one's door, not a battering ram breaking it down.
Gosh, I'm seriously overdoing the metaphors today; better have a lie-down! :)
Indeed; it's all a package of intention, but in some ways the product sold on our stall is potentially so malleable that our attempts to fix it may not hold, especially if it is more imagist and impressionist than literal or narrative. We can be surprised by the feedback and the direction travelled by the reader. Show not tell, and all that. 💚
The writer sows the seed of meaning, gives it shape; but how grows and transforms is in the green fingers (or otherwise) of the reader. The writer invents; the reader interprets and reinvents. Something like that...
Thanks, Glenn, that's a great way to put it, that the writer seeds the story with meaning. As artists, we set out our stall, and the reader chooses what they wish to take from it. We can of course try to impose a meaning on them, but I feel that a story will die on that cross. Art is an invitation, a knock at one's door, not a battering ram breaking it down.
Gosh, I'm seriously overdoing the metaphors today; better have a lie-down! :)
Indeed; it's all a package of intention, but in some ways the product sold on our stall is potentially so malleable that our attempts to fix it may not hold, especially if it is more imagist and impressionist than literal or narrative. We can be surprised by the feedback and the direction travelled by the reader. Show not tell, and all that. 💚