By its very nature, art is intended to evoke a feeling, an emotional response from its audience. It is not just a static object, but one in which the audience participates.
When an artist creates a work of art, therefore, by its nature the artwork will take on a life of its own. Whatever intent the artist might have imagined behind their work, it will take up new meanings and new significance when it is interpreted and experienced by others. This is true for works of literature, no less than it is for a painting or musical score.
I know that some artists have difficulty with accepting or fathoming this. They fervently desire the audience to absorb their work precisely as they imagined it or intended it to be.
But in my experience, that interaction - between the audience and the artwork - is part of what makes art so magical in the first place. When I see readers fall in love with one character, who may not necessarily have been the same as the character I might have imagined - that is a success, not a failure. It means I have brought enough vibrance into that character to inspire the imagination of others. Similarly, when I see readers citing a particular quote or passage, it is another part of that interaction between the audience and the artwork whereby the written word takes on new meanings or significance of its own.
As a writer, that is exciting to see. For it is the independent life which our creation takes on, which makes it worthy of being described as art.
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