Works I Didn't Complete Exploring Are Stacking by My Nightstand. Could It Be That's a Good Thing?
It's somewhat awkward to admit, but let me explain. Five novels sit beside my bed, every one incompletely read. On my smartphone, I'm midway through thirty-six audio novels, which looks minor compared to the 46 digital books I've abandoned on my digital device. This fails to include the expanding collection of advance copies beside my side table, vying for praises, now that I have become a published author myself.
Starting with Determined Reading to Intentional Letting Go
At first glance, these numbers might look to support contemporary comments about today's concentration. A writer observed a short while ago how effortless it is to distract a reader's concentration when it is fragmented by digital platforms and the constant updates. The author remarked: “Maybe as readers' focus periods change the literature will have to change with them.” But as someone who previously would stubbornly finish every title I picked up, I now view it a individual choice to put down a novel that I'm not connecting with.
Our Finite Duration and the Wealth of Possibilities
I don't feel that this practice is caused by a limited focus – rather more it stems from the awareness of time passing quickly. I've consistently been impressed by the Benedictine maxim: “Place mortality daily before your eyes.” Another reminder that we each have a only 4,000 weeks on this planet was as horrifying to me as to anyone else. And yet at what previous moment in human history have we ever had such direct availability to so many incredible creative works, at any moment we desire? A wealth of options greets me in every bookshop and on every screen, and I strive to be intentional about where I focus my time. Might “DNF-ing” a novel (abbreviation in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be not just a mark of a limited mind, but a discerning one?
Selecting for Empathy and Reflection
Especially at a period when publishing (consequently, selection) is still led by a certain demographic and its issues. Even though reading about characters unlike us can help to build the muscle for understanding, we furthermore select stories to reflect on our own journeys and position in the world. Before the books on the displays more fully represent the backgrounds, realities and concerns of possible readers, it might be extremely challenging to maintain their interest.
Contemporary Writing and Reader Attention
Of course, some writers are actually successfully creating for the “contemporary interest”: the concise prose of certain modern novels, the tight fragments of additional writers, and the short parts of various modern titles are all a wonderful demonstration for a more concise approach and style. Additionally there is an abundance of writing guidance aimed at grabbing a reader: perfect that opening line, polish that start, raise the tension (higher! higher!) and, if creating mystery, introduce a victim on the first page. Such suggestions is entirely solid – a possible publisher, house or buyer will use only a a handful of limited moments choosing whether or not to continue. There is little reason in being contrary, like the writer on a writing course I joined who, when confronted about the narrative of their novel, declared that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the way through”. No author should put their reader through a sequence of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.
Crafting to Be Accessible and Granting Patience
Yet I certainly write to be understood, as much as that is possible. At times that requires guiding the audience's attention, steering them through the narrative step by economical beat. Sometimes, I've discovered, insight requires perseverance – and I must give myself (along with other writers) the permission of wandering, of building, of straying, until I find something true. An influential author argues for the story finding new forms and that, instead of the standard narrative arc, “alternative patterns might help us imagine novel approaches to craft our narratives dynamic and real, persist in producing our novels novel”.
Change of the Novel and Contemporary Mediums
In that sense, each opinions align – the story may have to evolve to fit the contemporary reader, as it has continually accomplished since it originated in the 1700s (as we know it today). Perhaps, like past novelists, coming writers will revert to serialising their novels in newspapers. The future these writers may even now be releasing their work, chapter by chapter, on web-based sites like those visited by millions of monthly visitors. Creative mediums shift with the times and we should let them.
Not Just Short Focus
But let us not say that any evolutions are all because of limited attention spans. Were that true, brief fiction anthologies and micro tales would be considered considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable
