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It's slightly awkward to reveal, but I'll say it. Several titles sit next to my bed, all incompletely consumed. On my smartphone, I'm midway through over three dozen listening titles, which seems small alongside the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've left unfinished on my e-reader. The situation does not count the growing stack of pre-release editions beside my side table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a published novelist in my own right.

From Dogged Completion to Purposeful Setting Aside

At first glance, these figures might seem to corroborate contemporary opinions about current concentration. One novelist observed recently how easy it is to distract a reader's attention when it is scattered by online networks and the 24-hour news. The author stated: “Maybe as readers' attention spans shift the fiction will have to change with them.” Yet as a person who used to doggedly finish whatever title I picked up, I now view it a personal freedom to stop reading a novel that I'm not in the mood for.

Life's Short Span and the Wealth of Possibilities

I do not believe that this tendency is a result of a limited concentration – rather more it relates to the awareness of life passing quickly. I've often been affected by the monastic principle: “Hold mortality daily before your eyes.” Another idea that we each have a mere finite period on this world was as sobering to me as to anyone else. But at what different point in history have we ever had such direct access to so many amazing works of art, anytime we desire? A surplus of treasures greets me in each library and on every digital platform, and I want to be purposeful about where I channel my attention. Could “not finishing” a book (term in the literary community for Unfinished) be rather than a mark of a weak intellect, but a thoughtful one?

Choosing for Connection and Insight

Notably at a period when the industry (and thus, selection) is still dominated by a particular group and its quandaries. Although reading about characters different from us can help to strengthen the capacity for compassion, we additionally read to reflect on our personal experiences and place in the universe. Before the titles on the displays more accurately represent the experiences, realities and concerns of potential readers, it might be quite challenging to keep their focus.

Current Storytelling and Consumer Interest

Certainly, some authors are actually successfully crafting for the “today's focus”: the concise style of certain modern works, the tight sections of different authors, and the brief parts of numerous contemporary books are all a impressive demonstration for a more concise form and technique. Furthermore there is an abundance of craft advice geared toward capturing a reader: perfect that first sentence, polish that opening chapter, elevate the drama (higher! further!) and, if crafting mystery, place a victim on the beginning. That guidance is all sound – a prospective agent, editor or reader will devote only a few precious minutes choosing whether or not to proceed. There is no point in being obstinate, like the writer on a workshop I joined who, when confronted about the plot of their manuscript, declared that “the meaning emerges about three-fourths of the into the story”. No author should subject their reader through a series of difficult tasks in order to be understood.

Creating to Be Clear and Granting Patience

But I certainly create to be comprehended, as to the extent as that is possible. Sometimes that requires leading the audience's interest, steering them through the plot point by succinct point. At other times, I've understood, insight demands time – and I must allow my own self (as well as other writers) the grace of meandering, of building, of straying, until I hit upon something true. A particular thinker makes the case for the novel discovering fresh structures and that, instead of the traditional narrative arc, “alternative patterns might help us conceive novel approaches to make our tales dynamic and real, continue creating our novels original”.

Transformation of the Story and Current Platforms

Accordingly, each opinions align – the story may have to evolve to suit the modern consumer, as it has continually achieved since it began in the 18th century (in its current incarnation now). Maybe, like previous authors, coming creators will go back to publishing incrementally their works in newspapers. The next such authors may even now be sharing their writing, chapter by chapter, on online platforms such as those visited by countless of monthly users. Genres change with the era and we should allow them.

Not Just Limited Focus

Yet let us not claim that any evolutions are all because of reduced attention spans. If that was so, short story anthologies and flash fiction would be regarded considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable