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It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'll say it. Five books rest beside my bed, every one partially finished. Within my mobile device, I'm midway through over three dozen audio novels, which pales compared to the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've set aside on my Kindle. This doesn't account for the increasing collection of advance copies near my living room table, vying for praises, now that I work as a professional author in my own right.

Starting with Determined Reading to Intentional Setting Aside

Initially, these stats might look to confirm contemporary opinions about modern concentration. An author observed not long back how easy it is to break a reader's concentration when it is fragmented by digital platforms and the constant updates. The author stated: “Maybe as readers' focus periods shift the fiction will have to adapt with them.” But as someone who used to stubbornly finish whatever book I started, I now consider it a personal freedom to set aside a book that I'm not enjoying.

Our Short Span and the Wealth of Choices

I don't think that this habit is caused by a short attention span – instead it comes from the awareness of existence passing quickly. I've often been affected by the monastic maxim: “Hold mortality every day before your eyes.” A different reminder that we each have a only 4,000 weeks on this planet was as shocking to me as to everyone. But at what previous time in history have we ever had such direct entry to so many incredible creative works, anytime we choose? A wealth of treasures greets me in each bookshop and within each digital platform, and I aim to be intentional about where I direct my time. Might “DNF-ing” a book (shorthand in the literary community for Did Not Finish) be not just a sign of a weak intellect, but a discerning one?

Choosing for Connection and Reflection

Particularly at a time when the industry (and thus, commissioning) is still led by a certain group and its issues. Even though reading about characters unlike our own lives can help to develop the muscle for compassion, we additionally choose books to reflect on our personal journeys and position in the world. Before the books on the displays more fully depict the identities, stories and interests of potential audiences, it might be very challenging to maintain their attention.

Current Storytelling and Audience Attention

Naturally, some novelists are successfully crafting for the “today's attention span”: the concise writing of certain current books, the focused sections of different authors, and the brief parts of various recent books are all a wonderful demonstration for a more concise form and method. And there is an abundance of author advice aimed at capturing a consumer: perfect that initial phrase, enhance that start, raise the drama (more! further!) and, if crafting mystery, put a victim on the beginning. That guidance is entirely sound – a potential agent, publisher or reader will use only a few limited minutes determining whether or not to proceed. It is no benefit in being difficult, like the writer on a workshop I joined who, when challenged about the plot of their book, stated that “everything makes sense about three-fourths of the way through”. No author should subject their reader through a set of difficult tasks in order to be understood.

Creating to Be Accessible and Granting Space

Yet I certainly write to be clear, as far as that is feasible. At times that requires holding the consumer's interest, steering them through the narrative point by efficient beat. Sometimes, I've realised, insight demands patience – and I must grant me (as well as other creators) the grace of exploring, of adding depth, of digressing, until I find something true. One writer makes the case for the novel finding new forms and that, instead of the traditional narrative arc, “other forms might assist us conceive novel methods to create our tales alive and authentic, keep creating our books fresh”.

Change of the Book and Current Formats

From that perspective, each opinions align – the story may have to adapt to fit the contemporary audience, as it has continually done since it began in the 1700s (in the form today). Perhaps, like earlier novelists, coming creators will return to publishing incrementally their books in newspapers. The next these writers may even now be sharing their work, chapter by chapter, on web-based platforms like those accessed by countless of frequent visitors. Genres evolve with the era and we should let them.

Not Just Short Concentration

Yet we should not assert that any evolutions are entirely because of shorter concentration. Were that true, brief fiction compilations and very short stories would be considered considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable