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This is somewhat awkward to reveal, but here goes. Five titles wait by my bed, each only partly finished. Inside my mobile device, I'm midway through thirty-six audiobooks, which pales next to the forty-six digital books I've left unfinished on my digital device. This fails to account for the growing pile of pre-release versions beside my side table, competing for praises, now that I am a established author myself.

Starting with Dogged Completion to Deliberate Setting Aside

Initially, these numbers might seem to support recently expressed thoughts about current focus. An author commented a short while ago how simple it is to break a individual's attention when it is fragmented by social media and the 24-hour news. They remarked: “Maybe as people's concentration evolve the writing will have to adapt with them.” Yet as someone who used to doggedly get through every book I started, I now view it a personal freedom to stop reading a novel that I'm not connecting with.

Our Short Duration and the Abundance of Options

I do not believe that this tendency is a result of a brief concentration – rather more it comes from the feeling of existence slipping through my fingers. I've always been impressed by the monastic principle: “Keep death each day before your eyes.” One idea that we each have a only finite period on this Earth was as horrifying to me as to others. And yet at what previous moment in human history have we ever had such immediate access to so many incredible masterpieces, whenever we want? A wealth of treasures meets me in every bookstore and on any digital platform, and I want to be deliberate about where I direct my energy. Is it possible “DNF-ing” a novel (shorthand in the book world for Incomplete) be rather than a mark of a weak intellect, but a selective one?

Selecting for Empathy and Self-awareness

Notably at a era when publishing (consequently, acquisition) is still dominated by a certain social class and its issues. While exploring about individuals distinct from our own lives can help to build the capacity for compassion, we also choose books to reflect on our own experiences and position in the universe. Unless the works on the racks more fully depict the experiences, realities and issues of possible readers, it might be extremely difficult to maintain their focus.

Current Writing and Consumer Engagement

Of course, some writers are successfully writing for the “contemporary attention span”: the concise prose of some modern books, the focused sections of different authors, and the brief parts of numerous modern books are all a excellent demonstration for a shorter style and style. Furthermore there is plenty of writing guidance designed for grabbing a consumer: hone that first sentence, enhance that start, elevate the tension (further! higher!) and, if crafting thriller, put a mystery on the beginning. Such suggestions is all good – a prospective publisher, house or audience will use only a a handful of limited moments deciding whether or not to forge ahead. It is no point in being contrary, like the person on a class I participated in who, when confronted about the plot of their novel, stated that “it all becomes clear about three-quarters of the way through”. No novelist should subject their reader through a series of 12 labours in order to be comprehended.

Crafting to Be Accessible and Giving Patience

And I absolutely create to be understood, as much as that is achievable. At times that needs guiding the audience's interest, steering them through the narrative beat by economical beat. Sometimes, I've discovered, understanding takes perseverance – and I must grant me (as well as other creators) the permission of wandering, of layering, of deviating, until I discover something authentic. One writer argues for the story finding innovative patterns and that, instead of the conventional narrative arc, “different structures might enable us imagine novel methods to make our narratives dynamic and real, continue producing our books fresh”.

Change of the Novel and Contemporary Formats

From that perspective, the two opinions align – the novel may have to evolve to accommodate the modern audience, as it has continually achieved since it originated in the 1700s (in the form now). It could be, like past authors, coming writers will go back to releasing in parts their novels in periodicals. The next these writers may already be sharing their content, section by section, on web-based platforms such as those visited by millions of regular users. Art forms change with the era and we should let them.

Not Just Brief Concentration

Yet we should not assert that every changes are all because of shorter attention spans. Were that true, short story anthologies and micro tales would be regarded much more {commercial|profitable|marketable