Works I Didn't Complete Reading Are Stacking by My Bed. Is It Possible That's a Positive Sign?
This is a bit awkward to admit, but here goes. Several novels wait beside my bed, each incompletely read. Inside my mobile device, I'm partway through 36 audiobooks, which seems small alongside the nearly fifty ebooks I've abandoned on my Kindle. This does not account for the expanding stack of early copies near my coffee table, vying for blurbs, now that I am a published author personally.
Beginning with Dogged Finishing to Intentional Letting Go
Initially, these figures might appear to corroborate contemporary thoughts about modern focus. An author observed recently how effortless it is to distract a individual's attention when it is scattered by online networks and the news cycle. The author suggested: “Maybe as individuals' concentration change the writing will have to adapt with them.” Yet as a person who previously would persistently get through whatever title I began, I now view it a human right to put down a story that I'm not connecting with.
The Limited Time and the Wealth of Possibilities
I do not believe that this habit is a result of a short attention span – more accurately it relates to the sense of life slipping through my fingers. I've often been impressed by the monastic teaching: “Hold the end daily in mind.” A different reminder that we each have a mere 4,000 weeks on this world was as sobering to me as to everyone. But at what different time in history have we ever had such immediate entry to so many amazing masterpieces, anytime we desire? A wealth of options awaits me in every bookstore and on every screen, and I strive to be purposeful about where I direct my energy. Could “abandoning” a book (shorthand in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be not a sign of a limited focus, but a thoughtful one?
Choosing for Empathy and Reflection
Especially at a time when book production (and thus, selection) is still controlled by a specific social class and its concerns. Even though exploring about characters unlike our own lives can help to build the capacity for empathy, we also select stories to reflect on our individual journeys and place in the world. Unless the books on the racks more fully depict the identities, stories and concerns of prospective readers, it might be extremely hard to hold their attention.
Modern Storytelling and Reader Interest
Naturally, some authors are successfully writing for the “today's focus”: the tweet-length style of selected current works, the compact fragments of others, and the brief sections of several contemporary stories are all a excellent example for a more concise form and method. Furthermore there is plenty of writing advice geared toward grabbing a audience: perfect that initial phrase, enhance that start, elevate the stakes (higher! further!) and, if crafting mystery, place a victim on the first page. This advice is all sound – a potential agent, editor or reader will spend only a several precious seconds deciding whether or not to proceed. It is little reason in being contrary, like the individual on a writing course I joined who, when questioned about the narrative of their manuscript, stated that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the into the story”. Not a single author should force their audience through a set of difficult tasks in order to be understood.
Writing to Be Accessible and Giving Patience
Yet I certainly write to be understood, as far as that is possible. At times that needs holding the reader's attention, guiding them through the narrative point by efficient step. Sometimes, I've discovered, understanding demands time – and I must grant me (and other writers) the freedom of exploring, of building, of straying, until I find something true. A particular author contends for the novel developing new forms and that, instead of the standard plot structure, “other patterns might assist us conceive new approaches to create our tales vital and authentic, keep making our works original”.
Change of the Novel and Contemporary Mediums
From that perspective, each opinions converge – the story may have to evolve to fit the today's audience, as it has constantly done since it originated in the historical period (in the form today). Perhaps, like previous novelists, tomorrow's authors will revert to serialising their novels in periodicals. The next these creators may currently be sharing their writing, chapter by chapter, on online platforms including those used by countless of monthly visitors. Creative mediums evolve with the times and we should let them.
More Than Brief Concentration
However we should not claim that every shifts are all because of reduced focus. Were that true, concise narrative collections and very short stories would be viewed far more {commercial|profitable|marketable