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It's slightly uncomfortable to confess, but I'll say it. Several novels wait beside my bed, all only partly read. Within my mobile device, I'm some distance through over three dozen listening titles, which pales next to the 46 ebooks I've abandoned on my digital device. This does not account for the increasing stack of early copies near my living room table, competing for endorsements, now that I have become a professional writer myself.

From Persistent Finishing to Purposeful Abandonment

At first glance, these numbers might look to corroborate recently expressed thoughts about today's focus. A writer observed a short while ago how easy it is to distract a reader's attention when it is fragmented by online networks and the constant updates. The author stated: “Perhaps as people's focus periods change the fiction will have to change with them.” But as a person who once would persistently finish every book I started, I now regard it a human right to put down a book that I'm not connecting with.

The Finite Time and the Glut of Possibilities

I don't think that this practice is due to a limited attention span – more accurately it stems from the feeling of time passing quickly. I've often been affected by the spiritual maxim: “Place death each day before your eyes.” Another reminder that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this world was as sobering to me as to everyone. But at what previous moment in history have we ever had such direct entry to so many incredible masterpieces, at any moment we desire? A surplus of treasures awaits me in each library and behind any device, and I want to be intentional about where I channel my attention. Could “not finishing” a novel (term in the publishing industry for Did Not Finish) be rather than a indication of a poor mind, but a thoughtful one?

Reading for Connection and Self-awareness

Especially at a period when publishing (and thus, acquisition) is still led by a certain group and its concerns. Although reading about people distinct from our own lives can help to strengthen the muscle for compassion, we furthermore read to think about our own experiences and role in the world. Unless the books on the shelves more fully represent the experiences, stories and issues of potential individuals, it might be quite difficult to hold their attention.

Contemporary Authorship and Reader Engagement

Certainly, some writers are indeed successfully writing for the “modern focus”: the short writing of selected current novels, the focused pieces of different authors, and the brief chapters of various modern stories are all a wonderful example for a more concise form and style. And there is no shortage of craft advice geared toward capturing a reader: refine that first sentence, improve that start, elevate the stakes (higher! further!) and, if creating crime, introduce a mystery on the first page. Such suggestions is all sound – a possible publisher, publisher or audience will use only a few limited minutes determining whether or not to continue. It is no point in being obstinate, like the individual on a class I attended who, when challenged about the narrative of their manuscript, declared that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the into the story”. No author should force their audience through a sequence of 12 labours in order to be comprehended.

Creating to Be Clear and Giving Time

And I absolutely compose to be clear, as much as that is feasible. Sometimes that needs leading the consumer's interest, directing them through the narrative step by economical beat. Occasionally, I've understood, understanding demands perseverance – and I must grant my own self (along with other creators) the permission of meandering, of building, of deviating, until I find something meaningful. An influential author argues for the novel developing innovative patterns and that, rather than the traditional plot structure, “different forms might help us conceive novel approaches to create our stories alive and true, continue producing our books fresh”.

Evolution of the Book and Modern Platforms

From that perspective, each perspectives agree – the novel may have to adapt to fit the today's audience, as it has constantly achieved since it first emerged in the historical period (in the form today). Maybe, like past writers, coming writers will return to releasing in parts their works in periodicals. The future those authors may even now be sharing their content, part by part, on digital platforms like those used by many of frequent users. Art forms evolve with the era and we should allow them.

Not Just Brief Focus

But do not claim that all evolutions are all because of limited attention spans. If that were the case, concise narrative collections and flash fiction would be regarded much more {commercial|profitable|marketable