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It's somewhat uncomfortable to admit, but I'll say it. Five books sit by my bed, every one only partly finished. Within my smartphone, I'm midway through 36 audiobooks, which looks minor next to the 46 ebooks I've left unfinished on my e-reader. This does not include the expanding collection of pre-release versions beside my living room table, vying for praises, now that I have become a established author in my own right.

Starting with Dogged Finishing to Deliberate Setting Aside

Initially, these numbers might seem to confirm recent comments about modern attention spans. A writer noted a short while ago how effortless it is to lose a person's concentration when it is fragmented by digital platforms and the constant updates. He suggested: “Maybe as people's attention spans shift the literature will have to adapt with them.” Yet as someone who once would doggedly finish any book I started, I now regard it a personal freedom to set aside a story that I'm not in the mood for.

The Finite Duration and the Abundance of Choices

I do not think that this practice is caused by a short attention span – instead it comes from the sense of time slipping through my fingers. I've always been impressed by the spiritual maxim: “Place mortality every day in view.” Another reminder that we each have a only limited time on this Earth was as shocking to me as to everyone. And yet at what previous point in our past have we ever had such instant availability to so many mind-blowing creative works, anytime we desire? A wealth of options awaits me in any bookstore and behind any device, and I aim to be deliberate about where I channel my time. Might “DNF-ing” a story (term in the publishing industry for Unfinished) be not a sign of a limited intellect, but a selective one?

Choosing for Connection and Insight

Particularly at a era when publishing (consequently, selection) is still controlled by a specific demographic and its concerns. While engaging with about characters different from us can help to strengthen the capacity for compassion, we also select stories to reflect on our individual lives and position in the society. Before the books on the shelves more accurately reflect the experiences, realities and concerns of possible readers, it might be extremely hard to hold their interest.

Contemporary Writing and Reader Interest

Certainly, some writers are actually effectively crafting for the “modern interest”: the tweet-length prose of selected modern works, the focused pieces of others, and the short sections of several recent books are all a excellent showcase for a shorter approach and method. Furthermore there is an abundance of writing advice designed for capturing a reader: hone that opening line, enhance that beginning section, increase the tension (further! higher!) and, if writing crime, place a dead body on the first page. That guidance is all sound – a prospective agent, editor or buyer will devote only a several limited seconds choosing whether or not to proceed. There's no benefit in being difficult, like the person on a class I attended who, when challenged about the narrative of their novel, announced that “it all becomes clear about three-quarters of the way through”. Not a single writer should put their reader through a set of challenges in order to be understood.

Creating to Be Accessible and Granting Patience

Yet I do write to be clear, as much as that is feasible. At times that demands leading the consumer's hand, steering them through the narrative point by efficient step. Sometimes, I've realised, comprehension requires patience – and I must allow me (along with other creators) the freedom of meandering, of building, of digressing, until I find something authentic. One thinker contends for the fiction discovering fresh structures and that, as opposed to the traditional dramatic arc, “other forms might help us imagine innovative methods to make our tales alive and true, keep creating our books original”.

Change of the Story and Modern Platforms

From that perspective, both opinions agree – the fiction may have to evolve to fit the modern consumer, as it has continually done since it began in the historical period (in its current incarnation today). Maybe, like past writers, coming writers will return to publishing incrementally their novels in newspapers. The upcoming these authors may currently be sharing their writing, section by section, on digital services like those visited by many of frequent readers. Art forms evolve with the times and we should allow them.

Beyond Brief Attention Spans

But we should not say that every shifts are entirely because of shorter focus. If that was so, short story collections and very short stories would be viewed far more {commercial|profitable|marketable