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This is somewhat uncomfortable to admit, but I'll say it. Several novels sit by my bed, all only partly finished. Inside my smartphone, I'm midway through thirty-six audiobooks, which looks minor alongside the forty-six Kindle titles I've abandoned on my digital device. That does not count the growing pile of advance versions next to my side table, competing for blurbs, now that I work as a published author in my own right.

From Dogged Reading to Deliberate Letting Go

At first glance, these numbers might appear to confirm contemporary comments about today's focus. An author noted a short while ago how effortless it is to lose a individual's focus when it is divided by online networks and the news cycle. He remarked: “It could be as individuals' focus periods evolve the literature will have to change with them.” But as an individual who previously would doggedly get through whatever book I started, I now view it a individual choice to put down a book that I'm not in the mood for.

Life's Limited Duration and the Abundance of Possibilities

I don't feel that this practice is a result of a brief attention span – more accurately it comes from the feeling of life moving swiftly. I've often been affected by the monastic teaching: “Hold the end every day in view.” One reminder that we each have a just limited time on this Earth was as sobering to me as to others. But at what other point in our past have we ever had such direct availability to so many mind-blowing masterpieces, anytime we choose? A wealth of options awaits me in each bookshop and within every digital platform, and I strive to be deliberate about where I channel my attention. Is it possible “not finishing” a story (shorthand in the literary community for Incomplete) be not just a indication of a limited mind, but a selective one?

Reading for Connection and Reflection

Particularly at a time when the industry (and thus, selection) is still controlled by a particular demographic and its concerns. Although reading about people unlike ourselves can help to develop the capacity for understanding, we also choose books to reflect on our own journeys and role in the society. Unless the books on the displays more fully reflect the experiences, realities and issues of prospective individuals, it might be extremely challenging to hold their interest.

Contemporary Storytelling and Audience Interest

Certainly, some writers are actually skillfully writing for the “modern focus”: the concise prose of certain modern works, the tight sections of different authors, and the brief chapters of several recent stories are all a excellent example for a more concise style and method. And there is no shortage of writing advice designed for capturing a audience: perfect that first sentence, enhance that beginning section, elevate the tension (higher! further!) and, if creating crime, introduce a dead body on the first page. That guidance is all sound – a potential representative, house or audience will spend only a few precious minutes deciding whether or not to forge ahead. There's no point in being obstinate, like the writer on a workshop I attended who, when confronted about the plot of their novel, stated that “it all becomes clear about 75% of the into the story”. Not a single novelist should force their reader through a series of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Accessible and Allowing Time

Yet I do compose to be understood, as far as that is achievable. Sometimes that requires holding the reader's attention, directing them through the story beat by succinct point. Occasionally, I've discovered, comprehension demands perseverance – and I must grant my own self (along with other authors) the freedom of meandering, of layering, of digressing, until I hit upon something meaningful. One writer makes the case for the novel finding fresh structures and that, instead of the traditional narrative arc, “other patterns might assist us envision new ways to create our tales alive and true, persist in creating our works original”.

Change of the Story and Current Formats

From that perspective, both perspectives agree – the novel may have to evolve to suit the modern consumer, as it has continually accomplished since it first emerged in the 1700s (in its current incarnation now). It could be, like earlier writers, coming writers will revert to releasing in parts their novels in newspapers. The future such writers may currently be publishing their work, part by part, on online sites such as those visited by millions of monthly visitors. Art forms change with the period and we should allow them.

Beyond Short Focus

Yet we should not say that every shifts are completely because of reduced concentration. Were that true, short story collections and flash fiction would be regarded considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable