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It's slightly embarrassing to confess, but let me explain. Several books wait beside my bed, each only partly consumed. Within my mobile device, I'm partway through thirty-six listening titles, which looks minor next to the nearly fifty ebooks I've set aside on my Kindle. The situation fails to include the growing pile of advance editions next to my side table, competing for endorsements, now that I work as a published novelist personally.

Beginning with Determined Completion to Purposeful Setting Aside

Initially, these numbers might appear to support recently expressed thoughts about current concentration. An author commented recently how easy it is to lose a person's concentration when it is scattered by digital platforms and the news cycle. He remarked: “Maybe as people's attention spans evolve the writing will have to adapt with them.” Yet as an individual who once would persistently complete every book I started, I now view it a personal freedom to stop reading a novel that I'm not connecting with.

Life's Limited Time and the Glut of Choices

I do not feel that this tendency is a result of a short attention span – rather more it comes from the awareness of life passing quickly. I've always been struck by the monastic principle: “Place mortality daily in mind.” Another reminder that we each have a mere limited time on this world was as shocking to me as to anyone else. And yet at what previous moment in human history have we ever had such instant entry to so many incredible works of art, whenever we want? A glut of treasures greets me in every bookstore and within every device, and I aim to be intentional about where I direct my energy. Is it possible “abandoning” a story (shorthand in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be not a mark of a weak focus, but a selective one?

Reading for Empathy and Reflection

Especially at a period when publishing (and therefore, acquisition) is still dominated by a particular demographic and its concerns. Even though reading about people different from our own lives can help to strengthen the ability for understanding, we furthermore choose books to think about our personal journeys and place in the society. Until the titles on the shelves better reflect the identities, realities and concerns of prospective readers, it might be quite challenging to hold their attention.

Modern Storytelling and Consumer Engagement

Of course, some novelists are skillfully writing for the “contemporary interest”: the short writing of certain recent books, the compact sections of others, and the short chapters of numerous modern books are all a impressive example for a more concise form and method. Furthermore there is an abundance of writing advice aimed at capturing a consumer: perfect that initial phrase, improve that opening chapter, raise the tension (more! more!) and, if creating thriller, introduce a mystery on the opening. Such guidance is entirely solid – a prospective publisher, editor or reader will devote only a few limited minutes choosing whether or not to forge ahead. It is little reason in being contrary, like the person on a workshop I joined who, when questioned about the narrative of their manuscript, stated that “everything makes sense about three-fourths of the into the story”. Not a single writer should put their follower through a sequence of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Accessible and Allowing Space

And I certainly write to be clear, as much as that is achievable. At times that requires guiding the audience's attention, steering them through the narrative beat by efficient step. At other times, I've discovered, comprehension demands time – and I must grant my own self (along with other creators) the freedom of wandering, of adding depth, of digressing, until I discover something true. An influential author contends for the novel finding innovative patterns and that, as opposed to the standard narrative arc, “other patterns might enable us envision new approaches to create our narratives alive and true, continue producing our novels novel”.

Evolution of the Story and Modern Platforms

From that perspective, the two opinions converge – the novel may have to evolve to fit the today's reader, as it has continually achieved since it first emerged in the 1700s (as we know it currently). Maybe, like past writers, future writers will go back to serialising their books in newspapers. The next those authors may even now be releasing their content, section by section, on online platforms such as those accessed by countless of monthly visitors. Creative mediums shift with the times and we should allow them.

Beyond Limited Focus

But we should not say that any changes are all because of shorter focus. Were that true, concise narrative compilations and very short stories would be considered far more {commercial|profitable|marketable