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It's slightly awkward to confess, but here goes. Five titles sit beside my bed, every one partially read. Inside my mobile device, I'm midway through 36 audio novels, which pales compared to the nearly fifty ebooks I've left unfinished on my digital device. The situation fails to count the expanding collection of early copies next to my living room table, competing for endorsements, now that I work as a professional writer myself.

Starting with Determined Finishing to Intentional Setting Aside

At first glance, these figures might seem to support recently expressed comments about today's attention spans. An author noted a short while ago how easy it is to lose a reader's concentration when it is scattered by online networks and the 24-hour news. They suggested: “Perhaps as people's attention spans change the literature will have to adapt with them.” Yet as a person who previously would stubbornly complete every title I picked up, I now regard it a personal freedom to stop reading a book that I'm not enjoying.

Our Limited Time and the Wealth of Choices

I do not think that this tendency is due to a brief concentration – instead it stems from the awareness of existence passing quickly. I've always been struck by the monastic teaching: “Place mortality every day in view.” One point that we each have a just limited time on this planet was as sobering to me as to others. And yet at what other point in history have we ever had such instant access to so many mind-blowing creative works, whenever we want? A wealth of riches greets me in each library and behind any digital platform, and I want to be intentional about where I channel my energy. Is it possible “abandoning” a book (shorthand in the literary community for Did Not Finish) be rather than a mark of a weak intellect, but a thoughtful one?

Reading for Connection and Self-awareness

Notably at a period when publishing (consequently, selection) is still led by a particular demographic and its quandaries. While engaging with about characters distinct from our own lives can help to strengthen the ability for compassion, we also read to reflect on our own journeys and role in the universe. Unless the titles on the shelves better depict the backgrounds, realities and interests of potential audiences, it might be very challenging to keep their focus.

Contemporary Writing and Audience Engagement

Certainly, some writers are indeed skillfully crafting for the “contemporary attention span”: the concise writing of certain current novels, the compact pieces of different authors, and the short chapters of various contemporary titles are all a wonderful example for a briefer form and technique. Additionally there is an abundance of author tips geared toward securing a audience: perfect that opening line, improve that start, raise the drama (more! further!) and, if writing crime, place a dead body on the opening. Such advice is completely solid – a potential publisher, house or reader will devote only a a handful of valuable minutes choosing whether or not to forge ahead. It is no benefit in being obstinate, like the person on a workshop I participated in who, when questioned about the narrative of their novel, declared that “it all becomes clear about three-quarters of the into the story”. No novelist should put their audience through a series of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Understood and Giving Patience

Yet I absolutely compose to be comprehended, as much as that is feasible. On occasion that demands guiding the audience's hand, guiding them through the plot step by economical step. At other times, I've understood, comprehension demands perseverance – and I must give myself (along with other authors) the permission of meandering, of adding depth, of straying, until I discover something true. One author argues for the fiction discovering fresh structures and that, rather than the traditional narrative arc, “other forms might assist us imagine innovative ways to make our stories vital and authentic, keep creating our works fresh”.

Transformation of the Book and Current Formats

In that sense, the two opinions agree – the novel may have to adapt to suit the modern consumer, as it has repeatedly done since it began in the 18th century (in its current incarnation currently). Perhaps, like earlier authors, coming authors will return to publishing incrementally their novels in periodicals. The future these writers may even now be releasing their writing, chapter by chapter, on web-based sites such as those visited by many of frequent readers. Genres evolve with the times and we should allow them.

Not Just Short Focus

However we should not claim that any shifts are entirely because of shorter focus. If that was so, short story compilations and flash fiction would be considered much more {commercial|profitable|marketable