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This is somewhat awkward to reveal, but let me explain. Five titles sit next to my bed, each incompletely read. Within my phone, I'm midway through over three dozen listening titles, which seems small alongside the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've left unfinished on my e-reader. This does not account for the growing collection of pre-release copies near my living room table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a published writer in my own right.

From Determined Finishing to Purposeful Abandonment

Initially, these numbers might seem to corroborate recent opinions about current attention spans. A writer commented not long back how easy it is to distract a individual's focus when it is divided by digital platforms and the constant updates. The author remarked: “Maybe as people's focus periods shift the literature will have to change with them.” However as a person who used to stubbornly get through any novel I picked up, I now regard it a personal freedom to stop reading a story that I'm not in the mood for.

Life's Finite Duration and the Abundance of Possibilities

I wouldn't think that this practice is due to a short focus – instead it stems from the awareness of time slipping through my fingers. I've consistently been struck by the monastic principle: “Keep mortality every day in mind.” A different idea that we each have a only limited time on this Earth was as sobering to me as to everyone. But at what different moment in human history have we ever had such direct availability to so many incredible masterpieces, at any moment we want? A surplus of riches awaits me in each library and behind every screen, and I want to be intentional about where I channel my time. Is it possible “DNF-ing” a novel (shorthand in the book world for Incomplete) be not a mark of a poor focus, but a discerning one?

Reading for Connection and Reflection

Particularly at a period when publishing (and thus, commissioning) is still dominated by a particular demographic and its quandaries. While engaging with about individuals distinct from ourselves can help to strengthen the capacity for compassion, we also read to consider our own journeys and role in the universe. Until the books on the racks more accurately represent the identities, realities and concerns of possible individuals, it might be extremely hard to keep their focus.

Modern Storytelling and Consumer Attention

Certainly, some novelists are actually skillfully crafting for the “modern interest”: the short prose of some current books, the tight fragments of different authors, and the quick parts of several recent titles are all a excellent showcase for a briefer style and style. And there is no shortage of writing guidance geared toward grabbing a audience: refine that first sentence, polish that opening chapter, increase the stakes (further! more!) and, if writing crime, introduce a victim on the opening. Such advice is completely sound – a potential publisher, publisher or reader will devote only a a handful of precious seconds determining whether or not to proceed. It is little reason in being difficult, like the writer on a workshop I attended who, when confronted about the plot of their manuscript, stated that “it all becomes clear about three-fourths of the way through”. No author should force their reader through a series of 12 labours in order to be grasped.

Writing to Be Clear and Granting Patience

But I absolutely write to be clear, as much as that is feasible. At times that needs leading the audience's interest, steering them through the narrative step by economical beat. Sometimes, I've realised, insight demands perseverance – and I must allow myself (as well as other creators) the permission of meandering, of adding depth, of deviating, until I find something true. A particular author makes the case for the story developing new forms and that, instead of the conventional plot structure, “different patterns might help us imagine new methods to make our narratives vital and authentic, keep creating our novels original”.

Transformation of the Book and Contemporary Formats

Accordingly, both opinions converge – the fiction may have to adapt to accommodate the modern reader, as it has constantly achieved since it began in the 1700s (in its current incarnation now). Maybe, like past writers, tomorrow's creators will revert to serialising their novels in newspapers. The next those authors may already be publishing their content, section by section, on digital services like those accessed by millions of frequent readers. Genres shift with the era and we should permit them.

Not Just Limited Concentration

However do not assert that every shifts are completely because of limited concentration. If that were the case, short story collections and very short stories would be regarded far more {commercial|profitable|marketable