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It's a bit embarrassing to reveal, but here goes. Several titles wait by my bed, every one partially finished. Inside my smartphone, I'm some distance through over three dozen audio novels, which looks minor alongside the nearly fifty ebooks I've left unfinished on my e-reader. This does not account for the expanding pile of advance versions beside my living room table, striving for blurbs, now that I work as a established writer myself.

From Determined Reading to Deliberate Letting Go

At first glance, these figures might look to support recently expressed opinions about modern concentration. A writer noted not long back how effortless it is to distract a person's attention when it is fragmented by social media and the constant updates. The author remarked: “Maybe as readers' focus periods evolve the writing will have to adjust with them.” Yet as someone who used to stubbornly complete whatever book I began, I now regard it a personal freedom to set aside a book that I'm not in the mood for.

Life's Limited Time and the Abundance of Possibilities

I don't think that this practice is a result of a brief attention span – instead it relates to the awareness of time passing quickly. I've often been struck by the Benedictine principle: “Place death daily before your eyes.” One idea that we each have a mere 4,000 weeks on this world was as shocking to me as to others. However at what other moment in human history have we ever had such immediate entry to so many incredible creative works, at any moment we choose? A glut of options awaits me in every bookstore and within every screen, and I want to be intentional about where I focus my attention. Might “DNF-ing” a novel (abbreviation in the literary community for Did Not Finish) be not just a indication of a poor focus, but a selective one?

Choosing for Connection and Insight

Particularly at a time when the industry (consequently, commissioning) is still led by a particular demographic and its issues. Although exploring about people distinct from ourselves can help to develop the ability for empathy, we also read to consider our individual experiences and place in the universe. Until the books on the shelves better reflect the backgrounds, lives and concerns of potential readers, it might be very challenging to maintain their attention.

Modern Writing and Reader Engagement

Of course, some writers are actually skillfully crafting for the “modern focus”: the tweet-length style of certain current works, the focused pieces of additional writers, and the brief parts of numerous recent books are all a excellent showcase for a more concise form and style. Furthermore there is plenty of author tips aimed at capturing a consumer: perfect that first sentence, enhance that start, increase the tension (more! further!) and, if writing mystery, introduce a mystery on the first page. That suggestions is all sound – a potential representative, editor or reader will devote only a several precious minutes deciding whether or not to forge ahead. It is little reason in being difficult, like the individual on a writing course I participated in who, when confronted about the storyline of their book, declared that “the meaning emerges about 75% of the through the book”. Not a single author should put their audience through a set of challenges in order to be understood.

Creating to Be Accessible and Granting Patience

And I absolutely create to be understood, as to the extent as that is achievable. At times that requires leading the reader's hand, steering them through the narrative beat by efficient point. At other times, I've realised, insight demands perseverance – and I must allow me (along with other creators) the freedom of meandering, of adding depth, of digressing, until I hit upon something true. A particular writer contends for the fiction discovering new forms and that, as opposed to the conventional plot structure, “other structures might help us imagine innovative ways to make our narratives vital and true, keep creating our novels novel”.

Change of the Book and Contemporary Mediums

From that perspective, the two opinions align – the novel may have to adapt to accommodate the today's audience, as it has repeatedly done since it began in the 18th century (in its current incarnation now). It could be, like previous authors, tomorrow's writers will go back to releasing in parts their novels in newspapers. The upcoming those writers may already be publishing their work, part by part, on online platforms including those accessed by millions of frequent readers. Art forms evolve with the era and we should allow them.

Beyond Brief Focus

However do not say that any shifts are all because of reduced concentration. If that were the case, brief fiction compilations and very short stories would be considered far more {commercial|profitable|marketable