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This is a bit uncomfortable to reveal, but let me explain. A handful of novels wait next to my bed, each partially read. On my smartphone, I'm midway through 36 audiobooks, which pales next to the 46 digital books I've set aside on my e-reader. The situation does not include the growing pile of pre-release editions near my living room table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a professional author in my own right.

Starting with Persistent Completion to Deliberate Abandonment

At first glance, these numbers might appear to corroborate recently expressed opinions about modern focus. A writer observed not long back how easy it is to distract a reader's concentration when it is divided by digital platforms and the constant updates. He stated: “Perhaps as readers' attention spans shift the writing will have to adjust with them.” However as a person who used to stubbornly get through any book I picked up, I now consider it a personal freedom to put down a story that I'm not in the mood for.

Our Short Duration and the Abundance of Choices

I don't feel that this tendency is due to a short focus – instead it relates to the sense of time passing quickly. I've consistently been impressed by the Benedictine principle: “Hold mortality each day in mind.” Another reminder that we each have a only limited time on this Earth was as sobering to me as to others. But at what different point in history have we ever had such direct availability to so many mind-blowing works of art, anytime we want? A wealth of riches meets me in every library and behind every screen, and I strive to be deliberate about where I focus my time. Might “not finishing” a story (term in the publishing industry for Did Not Finish) be not a sign of a weak intellect, but a selective one?

Selecting for Understanding and Self-awareness

Notably at a era when book production (and therefore, commissioning) is still led by a specific group and its concerns. While reading about people distinct from our own lives can help to build the ability for empathy, we additionally read to reflect on our personal lives and place in the universe. Until the titles on the shelves more accurately reflect the identities, realities and interests of possible readers, it might be quite challenging to hold their attention.

Contemporary Writing and Consumer Interest

Of course, some writers are actually successfully crafting for the “today's interest”: the concise prose of certain modern novels, the compact pieces of different authors, and the brief sections of several contemporary titles are all a wonderful example for a shorter approach and method. And there is plenty of author advice geared toward grabbing a audience: hone that opening line, polish that opening chapter, elevate the stakes (higher! higher!) and, if creating mystery, introduce a victim on the beginning. This advice is entirely solid – a possible publisher, house or audience will devote only a several limited moments determining whether or not to forge ahead. There's no benefit in being contrary, like the writer on a writing course I attended who, when confronted about the narrative of their novel, stated that “everything makes sense about three-fourths of the into the story”. Not a single writer should force their reader through a sequence of challenges in order to be grasped.

Crafting to Be Accessible and Allowing Time

Yet I certainly create to be understood, as to the extent as that is achievable. Sometimes that requires guiding the audience's attention, steering them through the narrative beat by economical point. Occasionally, I've discovered, insight demands patience – and I must grant myself (and other writers) the grace of exploring, of building, of digressing, until I discover something meaningful. One author makes the case for the novel discovering fresh structures and that, as opposed to the standard plot structure, “different patterns might enable us imagine novel methods to create our stories vital and real, persist in making our books fresh”.

Evolution of the Story and Modern Formats

Accordingly, the two viewpoints agree – the story may have to evolve to accommodate the contemporary consumer, as it has repeatedly done since it first emerged in the 18th century (as we know it today). Perhaps, like earlier novelists, tomorrow's writers will return to releasing in parts their books in publications. The upcoming such writers may even now be publishing their work, chapter by chapter, on digital platforms such as those used by many of frequent visitors. Art forms shift with the times and we should allow them.

More Than Brief Attention Spans

But do not say that all evolutions are entirely because of limited attention spans. Were that true, short story compilations and flash fiction would be regarded far more {commercial|profitable|marketable