John Steinbeck

"The story was gradually taking shape.  It ruined a story to have it all come out quickly.  The good story lay in half-told things which must be filled in out of the hearer's own experience."

— John Steinbeck

American Novelist

1902 - 1968

The painter and writer are only half the equation.  The people who make up the audience are the other half.  They bring their own experiences to the story and interpret what they read and see based on past experiences.  If a reader doesn't like your writing, more than likely it is because of something in his past experience.  I am sure that you have read a book that you loved and most of your friends did not or visa versa.  I read a discussion recently on Goodreads.com by some people who did not like Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky which is one of my all time favorite books.  I also know people who love Moby Dick by Melville which I tried to read on four occasions and I could never finish it.  The audience and readers play a role in their enjoyment of a work of art.

Have you ever loved a book that you read, but hated the movie when you saw it?  Most readers have had that experience.  The movie does not live up to how we experienced the book.  And the reason is that we brought our own experiences to the reading, just as the screenwriter brought his experiences to the book and the movie.

Would you still write if you did not have any readers?  Would you still paint if no one saw your paintings?  I would and have.  Yes, I would love to have readers but I don't stop writing because they are few and far between.  My writing is driven by more than the need for readers.  It is driven by the need to express myself.  Why do you write or paint?  What drives you?

(Quote source: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck)

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