🔗 Share this article

It's slightly awkward to admit, but let me explain. Five novels sit beside my bed, every one partially consumed. Within my phone, I'm some distance through over three dozen audio novels, which pales compared to the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've set aside on my digital device. The situation doesn't account for the increasing stack of early copies near my coffee table, competing for endorsements, now that I have become a established author myself.

Starting with Persistent Finishing to Deliberate Abandonment

On the surface, these numbers might appear to confirm recent thoughts about current attention spans. An author noted recently how easy it is to distract a reader's attention when it is scattered by social media and the 24-hour news. He stated: “Perhaps as individuals' focus periods evolve the fiction will have to change with them.” However as a person who once would persistently get through every book I began, I now view it a human right to set aside a story that I'm not enjoying.

Our Short Time and the Abundance of Possibilities

I do not feel that this practice is due to a limited attention span – more accurately it comes from the awareness of time moving swiftly. I've often been impressed by the spiritual maxim: “Keep death daily in mind.” A different idea that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this planet was as horrifying to me as to everyone. And yet at what other time in history have we ever had such instant availability to so many incredible masterpieces, at any moment we choose? A surplus of riches awaits me in every library and on any screen, and I strive to be intentional about where I direct my attention. Is it possible “not finishing” a story (abbreviation in the book world for Incomplete) be rather than a sign of a weak intellect, but a selective one?

Reading for Connection and Insight

Especially at a era when publishing (consequently, commissioning) is still dominated by a certain social class and its concerns. Even though exploring about individuals different from ourselves can help to develop the muscle for compassion, we furthermore read to reflect on our personal experiences and place in the world. Until the titles on the shelves more fully depict the experiences, realities and concerns of possible audiences, it might be very challenging to maintain their focus.

Current Writing and Consumer Interest

Certainly, some authors are actually skillfully creating for the “modern focus”: the short style of certain recent books, the tight fragments of others, and the quick parts of several contemporary books are all a excellent demonstration for a more concise style and style. Furthermore there is no shortage of author advice geared toward capturing a reader: refine that initial phrase, polish that opening chapter, increase the drama (further! further!) and, if creating thriller, introduce a victim on the first page. Such suggestions is all sound – a potential representative, publisher or audience will use only a few valuable seconds determining whether or not to continue. It is little reason in being obstinate, like the person on a workshop I participated in who, when confronted about the storyline of their manuscript, announced that “everything makes sense about 75% of the way through”. Not a single author should force their follower through a series of 12 labours in order to be comprehended.

Writing to Be Clear and Giving Time

But I absolutely create to be understood, as much as that is achievable. At times that demands guiding the audience's hand, directing them through the story point by economical point. At other times, I've understood, comprehension requires perseverance – and I must give myself (as well as other creators) the permission of exploring, of building, of deviating, until I discover something meaningful. A particular thinker makes the case for the story discovering new forms and that, as opposed to the standard dramatic arc, “other forms might assist us conceive new ways to make our tales alive and real, continue making our works novel”.

Change of the Novel and Contemporary Mediums

From that perspective, the two perspectives converge – the novel may have to adapt to suit the contemporary audience, as it has continually achieved since it began in the 1700s (as we know it currently). Perhaps, like earlier writers, future writers will revert to releasing in parts their works in periodicals. The upcoming those authors may even now be publishing their content, chapter by chapter, on digital platforms such as those accessed by millions of frequent readers. Creative mediums change with the period and we should let them.

Not Just Short Concentration

However we should not claim that any evolutions are entirely because of limited attention spans. If that were the case, short story anthologies and flash fiction would be viewed much more {commercial|profitable|marketable