Conversation

As a reader, it is instructive to find out what the author thinks of their own text, and whether and how their opinion of it disagrees with your opinion of it.

As a writer, it is instructive to find out what your readers see in your work that you did not deliberately put there. Close reading by someone who is not you may reveal your unconscious biases, or give you the choice of whether to lean into the deeper symbolism of your work.