Share 'Can you explain why you wrote the notes you wrote'

Hey all,   Lately I've been trying to push outside my comfort zone, and am writing poly tonal music that is similar in style to Bartok, or perhaps Stravinsky.  I have been doing this mostly by ear, and to be honest, I could not explain how most of the harmonies function within the piece.  So, the question is how common is this?  Do fellow composers here write the same way?  My current teacher thi…