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This is somewhat uncomfortable to reveal, but here goes. Several titles wait beside my bed, all only partly finished. Within my mobile device, I'm midway through 36 audiobooks, which pales alongside the 46 digital books I've set aside on my digital device. That doesn't include the expanding stack of early versions beside my side table, competing for praises, now that I work as a established writer personally.

From Persistent Reading to Deliberate Letting Go

At first glance, these numbers might seem to support contemporary comments about current focus. An author noted recently how effortless it is to lose a person's focus when it is divided by online networks and the 24-hour news. They suggested: “Maybe as individuals' attention spans evolve the literature will have to adjust with them.” Yet as an individual who once would doggedly complete whatever book I began, I now consider it a human right to put down a story that I'm not connecting with.

Our Finite Span and the Wealth of Options

I wouldn't think that this habit is due to a brief concentration – instead it relates to the feeling of life moving swiftly. I've often been affected by the spiritual maxim: “Keep death daily in view.” A different point that we each have a mere finite period on this planet was as sobering to me as to everyone. But at what different point in our past have we ever had such immediate access to so many mind-blowing creative works, anytime we desire? A wealth of riches meets me in every bookstore and within every screen, and I strive to be deliberate about where I focus my time. Could “DNF-ing” a story (shorthand in the literary community for Unfinished) be not a indication of a limited focus, but a selective one?

Selecting for Understanding and Reflection

Especially at a era when publishing (and thus, commissioning) is still controlled by a specific group and its issues. While reading about individuals unlike our own lives can help to strengthen the ability for compassion, we furthermore select stories to reflect on our individual experiences and place in the society. Unless the titles on the racks better reflect the experiences, lives and interests of prospective readers, it might be quite difficult to maintain their attention.

Modern Writing and Reader Interest

Certainly, some authors are skillfully creating for the “today's interest”: the tweet-length writing of certain recent works, the tight pieces of others, and the short parts of numerous contemporary books are all a impressive demonstration for a shorter approach and technique. Furthermore there is plenty of writing tips aimed at capturing a consumer: hone that opening line, polish that start, raise the tension (higher! higher!) and, if creating mystery, put a dead body on the first page. That suggestions is completely solid – a potential representative, publisher or audience will use only a few valuable moments determining whether or not to proceed. There's no point in being contrary, like the individual on a workshop I participated in who, when confronted about the storyline of their novel, declared that “everything makes sense about three-fourths of the through the book”. No novelist should force their audience through a set of difficult tasks in order to be understood.

Creating to Be Understood and Granting Patience

And I certainly create to be understood, as to the extent as that is achievable. At times that requires leading the reader's interest, steering them through the narrative point by efficient point. Sometimes, I've discovered, comprehension requires time – and I must allow me (and other authors) the permission of wandering, of layering, of digressing, until I hit upon something authentic. One author argues for the fiction discovering innovative patterns and that, rather than the conventional narrative arc, “alternative forms might assist us imagine innovative methods to create our tales alive and true, keep making our books novel”.

Change of the Book and Modern Platforms

In that sense, both viewpoints converge – the story may have to adapt to accommodate the today's consumer, as it has continually achieved since it originated in the 1700s (in its current incarnation now). It could be, like past authors, coming writers will revert to publishing incrementally their works in newspapers. The future those authors may currently be releasing their writing, part by part, on online services including those visited by many of frequent readers. Art forms change with the period and we should permit them.

Not Just Limited Concentration

But let us not claim that all changes are completely because of limited attention spans. Were that true, concise narrative collections and micro tales would be viewed considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable