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This is slightly uncomfortable to admit, but I'll say it. Five novels wait by my bed, all partially read. On my smartphone, I'm some distance through thirty-six audiobooks, which seems small alongside the 46 ebooks I've set aside on my digital device. This doesn't include the increasing pile of early versions near my coffee table, vying for blurbs, now that I work as a published novelist personally.

From Persistent Reading to Deliberate Setting Aside

At first glance, these figures might appear to support contemporary comments about modern focus. A writer observed not long back how easy it is to break a reader's concentration when it is scattered by social media and the news cycle. The author stated: “Maybe as readers' concentration shift the literature will have to change with them.” Yet as a person who previously would doggedly finish any title I started, I now view it a human right to set aside a novel that I'm not connecting with.

Life's Finite Time and the Abundance of Choices

I don't feel that this tendency is a result of a short concentration – rather more it comes from the awareness of life slipping through my fingers. I've consistently been affected by the monastic teaching: “Hold death every day in view.” One reminder that we each have a mere 4,000 weeks on this world was as shocking to me as to everyone. But at what previous time in our past have we ever had such instant availability to so many mind-blowing creative works, whenever we want? A wealth of options awaits me in any bookstore and on every screen, and I want to be purposeful about where I focus my time. Could “DNF-ing” a story (term in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be rather than a sign of a poor intellect, but a selective one?

Choosing for Empathy and Insight

Notably at a era when the industry (consequently, acquisition) is still dominated by a certain social class and its issues. While reading about individuals distinct from ourselves can help to strengthen the muscle for understanding, we furthermore read to think about our personal experiences and role in the universe. Until the titles on the displays better reflect the identities, stories and interests of prospective readers, it might be extremely difficult to keep their focus.

Modern Storytelling and Reader Engagement

Of course, some authors are effectively crafting for the “modern focus”: the concise prose of selected current books, the tight fragments of different authors, and the brief chapters of various recent books are all a excellent example for a shorter style and method. And there is an abundance of author tips aimed at securing a consumer: hone that opening line, enhance that beginning section, elevate the tension (higher! more!) and, if writing thriller, introduce a mystery on the first page. Such guidance is all good – a potential representative, house or audience will spend only a a handful of limited seconds determining whether or not to forge ahead. There's no point in being obstinate, like the writer on a workshop I joined who, when questioned about the storyline of their book, announced that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the way through”. Not a single novelist should subject their follower through a series of challenges in order to be grasped.

Crafting to Be Understood and Giving Patience

And I do write to be comprehended, as much as that is possible. Sometimes that needs leading the audience's hand, guiding them through the story beat by succinct step. Sometimes, I've understood, understanding demands patience – and I must give myself (along with other creators) the grace of wandering, of layering, of digressing, until I find something meaningful. One author contends for the story discovering new forms and that, as opposed to the standard dramatic arc, “different forms might enable us envision innovative approaches to make our stories alive and real, continue making our works original”.

Transformation of the Novel and Contemporary Mediums

From that perspective, the two viewpoints converge – the story may have to change to fit the today's audience, as it has constantly done since it first emerged in the 1700s (in the form now). It could be, like past authors, future writers will revert to releasing in parts their novels in periodicals. The next these authors may already be releasing their work, part by part, on digital sites like those accessed by many of regular users. Art forms shift with the era and we should allow them.

More Than Limited Focus

However do not say that any changes are entirely because of reduced attention spans. If that was so, concise narrative collections and flash fiction would be considered considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable