All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Joss WhedonRead
There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted to tell story until it was over. But then there came a time where I was like, 'No, I want to understand something through writing this that I might have not understood before. I want people to come away with something to think about.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the evolution of a writer's purpose from merely telling stories to seeking deeper understanding and provoking thought.
Joss Whedon reflects on his growth as a writer, highlighting a critical transition from simply spinning tales for entertainment to a more profound intention of exploring ideas and insights through storytelling. This change signifies a desire not only to narrate events but also to enrich the audience's understanding, encouraging them to reflect on the themes and messages conveyed in his work.
Themes
WritingStorytellingUnderstandingGrowthReflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, to inspire participants to dig deeper into their narratives, I might share this quote from Joss Whedon.
More from Joss Whedon
All quotes →Because it’s no longer enough to be a decent person. It’s no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself.
Joss WhedonRead
I designed 'Buffy' to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved. Because it's about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult.
Joss WhedonRead
My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy.
Joss WhedonRead
I loved the idea of a girl going into a dark alley, and a monster comes, and then she just aces him. It’s like, you want to see the tiny person suddenly take control. God, my whole career is basically about that!
Joss WhedonRead
Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful. When you can have everything, it's very hard to make things feel real and lived in.
Joss WhedonRead
Similar quotes
I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story.
Andrew Lloyd WebberRead
At the ballet classes I took when I first came to New York, I would see great dancers like Cynthia Gregory and Lupe Serrano. I would look at them and study what they could do, and what I couldn't do. And then I'd think maybe they should try what I could do.
Twyla TharpRead
Long before social media existed, the proto-tweets of advertising had penetrated American popular culture: 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste.' 'Where's the beef?' 'A diamond is forever.' 'Think different.' You'd be hard pressed to find a writer's craft that has more directly influenced the vernacular.
David DrogaRead
Squeeze your eyes closed, as tight as you can, and think of all your favorite autumns, crisp and perfect, all bound up together like a stack of cards. That is what it is like, the awful, wonderful brightness of Fairy colors. Try to smell the hard, pale wood sending up sharp, green smoke into the afternoon. To feel the mellow, golden sun on your skin, more gentle and cozier and more golden than even the light of your favorite reading nook at the close of the day.
Catherynne M. ValenteRead
There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.
Alexander PayneRead
Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.
Karl LagerfeldRead