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It's a bit embarrassing to reveal, but I'll say it. A handful of titles rest by my bed, all only partly read. Inside my mobile device, I'm midway through over three dozen audio novels, which seems small compared to the forty-six digital books I've abandoned on my Kindle. The situation does not include the growing collection of advance editions beside my side table, vying for blurbs, now that I have become a professional author personally.

From Persistent Finishing to Purposeful Setting Aside

On the surface, these stats might seem to support recent opinions about today's attention spans. One novelist observed a short while ago how simple it is to distract a reader's focus when it is divided by online networks and the 24-hour news. He suggested: “Maybe as individuals' concentration shift the fiction will have to adjust with them.” But as an individual who once would persistently complete every title I picked up, I now regard it a personal freedom to set aside a book that I'm not in the mood for.

The Short Duration and the Wealth of Choices

I don't think that this practice is due to a brief focus – instead it relates to the sense of time slipping through my fingers. I've often been struck by the Benedictine teaching: “Hold death every day in view.” A different idea that we each have a only 4,000 weeks on this planet was as shocking to me as to others. However at what previous time in human history have we ever had such direct access to so many mind-blowing creative works, at any moment we choose? A surplus of options meets me in any library and behind every device, and I aim to be deliberate about where I channel my attention. Could “not finishing” a novel (abbreviation in the literary community for Did Not Finish) be rather than a sign of a weak intellect, but a discerning one?

Choosing for Empathy and Insight

Particularly at a period when publishing (consequently, acquisition) is still controlled by a specific group and its concerns. Although reading about characters unlike ourselves can help to develop the muscle for understanding, we additionally select stories to think about our personal experiences and position in the universe. Unless the works on the racks better represent the identities, stories and interests of potential individuals, it might be quite challenging to maintain their attention.

Contemporary Storytelling and Reader Engagement

Certainly, some authors are actually effectively writing for the “contemporary focus”: the concise writing of some modern novels, the focused pieces of different authors, and the short sections of several contemporary books are all a excellent demonstration for a briefer approach and style. And there is no shortage of writing guidance geared toward grabbing a reader: perfect that first sentence, enhance that start, increase the drama (more! higher!) and, if crafting thriller, place a dead body on the beginning. That advice is completely sound – a possible publisher, publisher or buyer will spend only a a handful of valuable minutes deciding whether or not to proceed. It is little reason in being obstinate, like the individual on a workshop I joined who, when challenged about the narrative of their book, declared that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the way through”. Not a single author should put their audience through a set of 12 labours in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Accessible and Allowing Space

But I certainly compose to be understood, as much as that is possible. On occasion that needs guiding the audience's interest, steering them through the story step by efficient point. At other times, I've understood, understanding requires time – and I must grant me (along with other creators) the grace of wandering, of adding depth, of deviating, until I discover something true. One thinker contends for the story discovering fresh structures and that, as opposed to the traditional dramatic arc, “other patterns might assist us conceive new ways to craft our stories vital and true, keep producing our novels fresh”.

Evolution of the Novel and Current Platforms

Accordingly, both perspectives agree – the story may have to adapt to suit the today's consumer, as it has continually done since it first emerged in the 1700s (in the form now). Perhaps, like past novelists, future authors will go back to publishing incrementally their novels in newspapers. The next such authors may already be publishing their content, chapter by chapter, on online services like those accessed by millions of frequent readers. Genres shift with the times and we should permit them.

Beyond Short Attention Spans

Yet do not say that any changes are all because of limited concentration. If that were the case, short story collections and micro tales would be viewed far more {commercial|profitable|marketable