Better Meta

I suppose that one of the problems in any sort of writing is people reading into it.

You might bother to put some words onto a page.
But is it to read...that is, to be read?
Or to "read into"?

I'm excluding this blog because this really is neither, and I'm not going to draw attention to the liberties I may choose to take in this exercise, but in general...

Facts, I suppose, are to be read.
Then keep people can read into what the facts tell them. Or try to think about where the facts offered might not tell the full story.

Fiction may also be read at face value.
But good fiction may well have echoes of larger themes.
You might read it for the story. You might read it for the meaning.

But the meaning should surely really be what it means to you as the star of your own life.

Men and women have different takes as well. 

Women enjoy movies about sweeping family turmoil and people dying of cancer, for reasons I don't fully understand. Men like adventure and super heroes. I would speculate that analysis of both these types of story would find exactly the same themes.
But one is obvious. One is abstract.
Abstract is generally more interesting than obvious. 

I'd take Batman over Beaches anyday.

If of course you know the person who's writing the text, you might start guessing what it means to them. And that may not be so useful.
You don't know what licence has been taken with the facts.
There is no contract with the reader.
You don't know where there is embellishment, where a turn of phrase that might accentuate a peak or trough, for the sake of readability or dramatic or comic effect.

But then you never need to understand any author's reason for writing. It's just not the point. You'd probably be wrong anyway.
There's a tendency nowadays for authors to parade themselves for six months of the year at festivals, but perhaps the ones with the most integrity for their work will not discuss it, never mind agonisingly read it in public. Let it live or die on its own.


So if you read Pride and Prejudice, you might wonder how those themes and memes play into your own romantic life.
Or you might just enjoy the story. I don't know. I've never read it.

Reading and writing is a probably a good thing to do.

'Reading into' however, takes more care.

An emotional response to a piece of writing might indicate good work.
But only if the reader is reading into it from the point of view of their own life.
Not the author's.

To put it another way, don't go meta on the author's ass. (I am from America. Howdy!). 

Go meta on your own.