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It's somewhat uncomfortable to confess, but here goes. Five books wait next to my bed, every one partially read. Within my smartphone, I'm midway through 36 listening titles, which seems small next to the 46 digital books I've left unfinished on my e-reader. This does not include the growing stack of pre-release editions near my side table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a published author myself.

Starting with Determined Completion to Intentional Letting Go

On the surface, these stats might look to confirm contemporary opinions about modern concentration. One novelist noted a short while ago how easy it is to distract a individual's focus when it is scattered by social media and the constant updates. The author remarked: “It could be as readers' attention spans shift the literature will have to change with them.” However as someone who previously would stubbornly complete any novel I began, I now consider it a human right to set aside a novel that I'm not in the mood for.

Our Finite Span and the Glut of Possibilities

I don't think that this tendency is a result of a brief attention span – instead it comes from the awareness of existence moving swiftly. I've often been affected by the Benedictine principle: “Keep the end daily before your eyes.” Another reminder that we each have a just finite period on this Earth was as shocking to me as to everyone. However at what other moment in human history have we ever had such immediate entry to so many amazing creative works, whenever we choose? A surplus of riches awaits me in every bookstore and on every device, and I aim to be deliberate about where I focus my attention. Might “not finishing” a book (term in the book world for Did Not Finish) be not a indication of a poor focus, but a discerning one?

Choosing for Understanding and Insight

Notably at a period when book production (and thus, commissioning) is still controlled by a certain demographic and its quandaries. Even though reading about people different from our own lives can help to develop the muscle for empathy, we additionally read to consider our individual experiences and place in the society. Before the works on the shelves more accurately reflect the identities, stories and concerns of possible audiences, it might be very hard to keep their interest.

Current Authorship and Reader Attention

Naturally, some authors are indeed successfully writing for the “contemporary attention span”: the short style of selected recent novels, the compact fragments of others, and the brief sections of several modern titles are all a impressive showcase for a briefer style and style. Additionally there is plenty of craft guidance geared toward capturing a consumer: perfect that initial phrase, polish that start, elevate the tension (more! further!) and, if crafting thriller, put a victim on the beginning. This advice is all sound – a prospective agent, publisher or reader will spend only a few precious minutes choosing whether or not to proceed. There is no benefit in being contrary, like the individual on a workshop I participated in who, when challenged about the plot of their book, stated that “it all becomes clear about 75% of the through the book”. No novelist should put their reader through a set of 12 labours in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Understood and Allowing Space

And I do compose to be understood, as far as that is possible. On occasion that requires holding the consumer's interest, guiding them through the story step by succinct point. At other times, I've realised, understanding demands time – and I must allow myself (and other creators) the freedom of meandering, of adding depth, of digressing, until I hit upon something true. A particular author makes the case for the story developing new forms and that, instead of the conventional dramatic arc, “alternative forms might assist us conceive novel methods to create our stories vital and real, keep producing our works fresh”.

Transformation of the Novel and Current Mediums

Accordingly, each perspectives converge – the fiction may have to adapt to fit the contemporary audience, as it has continually achieved since it originated in the 18th century (as we know it currently). Perhaps, like past novelists, coming writers will revert to publishing incrementally their novels in periodicals. The future these creators may currently be releasing their writing, section by section, on online platforms including those visited by countless of monthly visitors. Genres change with the times and we should let them.

More Than Limited Focus

But let us not claim that any changes are completely because of reduced focus. If that was so, brief fiction collections and very short stories would be viewed far more {commercial|profitable|marketable