🔗 Share this article

This is somewhat uncomfortable to reveal, but I'll say it. Several titles rest next to my bed, each only partly finished. Within my mobile device, I'm some distance through over three dozen audio novels, which pales next to the forty-six digital books I've abandoned on my Kindle. This does not include the increasing collection of pre-release editions beside my side table, competing for endorsements, now that I am a established author in my own right.

Starting with Dogged Finishing to Intentional Setting Aside

At first glance, these numbers might look to support recent opinions about current focus. A writer observed a short while ago how simple it is to distract a individual's concentration when it is fragmented by online networks and the 24-hour news. The author stated: “It could be as readers' attention spans evolve the fiction will have to adapt with them.” But as a person who used to doggedly get through every novel I started, I now consider it a personal freedom to stop reading a story that I'm not in the mood for.

The Short Time and the Glut of Choices

I don't feel that this practice is due to a brief concentration – instead it stems from the feeling of life slipping through my fingers. I've often been impressed by the Benedictine maxim: “Keep the end each day in mind.” A different idea that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this Earth was as sobering to me as to others. And yet at what previous point in human history have we ever had such instant entry to so many amazing masterpieces, whenever we choose? A surplus of treasures meets me in any bookstore and behind every screen, and I aim to be deliberate about where I channel my energy. Is it possible “DNF-ing” a novel (abbreviation in the publishing industry for Did Not Finish) be not just a indication of a limited focus, but a selective one?

Reading for Understanding and Self-awareness

Particularly at a time when the industry (and therefore, commissioning) is still dominated by a certain social class and its issues. Although engaging with about characters different from ourselves can help to develop the muscle for compassion, we also read to consider our personal experiences and position in the world. Unless the books on the displays better depict the experiences, lives and interests of potential individuals, it might be quite difficult to keep their attention.

Modern Authorship and Audience Attention

Of course, some novelists are indeed effectively creating for the “today's interest”: the concise prose of certain current works, the focused pieces of additional writers, and the brief chapters of various contemporary stories are all a excellent example for a shorter style and technique. Furthermore there is no shortage of author advice geared toward capturing a reader: hone that opening line, polish that beginning section, elevate the drama (more! further!) and, if crafting mystery, introduce a dead body on the first page. Such advice is completely good – a potential agent, editor or buyer will use only a few limited seconds determining whether or not to forge ahead. There's little reason in being obstinate, like the person on a workshop I attended who, when confronted about the storyline of their manuscript, stated that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the through the book”. No writer should put their reader through a series of challenges in order to be understood.

Writing to Be Clear and Giving Space

And I certainly compose to be clear, as to the extent as that is achievable. At times that demands holding the audience's attention, directing them through the narrative beat by succinct beat. At other times, I've realised, comprehension demands time – and I must give myself (and other authors) the freedom of exploring, of layering, of deviating, until I discover something meaningful. An influential thinker contends for the story developing new forms and that, instead of the traditional narrative arc, “alternative patterns might assist us envision novel ways to create our narratives dynamic and true, persist in creating our works novel”.

Change of the Story and Modern Formats

In that sense, both perspectives align – the story may have to evolve to fit the modern audience, as it has constantly achieved since it first emerged in the historical period (in the form currently). Maybe, like previous authors, future creators will return to publishing incrementally their books in periodicals. The next those authors may currently be releasing their content, part by part, on online platforms such as those accessed by many of regular visitors. Creative mediums evolve with the period and we should allow them.

Not Just Short Attention Spans

But we should not assert that all shifts are entirely because of shorter focus. If that were the case, concise narrative compilations and very short stories would be considered much more {commercial|profitable|marketable