I really agree with you regarding the need for an audience. I don't think I could ever consider a piece of writing that never made it off my harddrive to be truly "finished".

I find that doing so only makes the other person's interpretation seem all the more valid.

Interesting thought. Sort of a "the lady doth protest too much" kind of thing? Regardless, stories will mean different things to different people, and I don't think we can ever say that any one reading is the "true" one, although I do think it's fair to say one reading can be *better* than another. But then I am a known relativist. ;)