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It's a bit uncomfortable to confess, but let me explain. Five titles sit by my bed, all only partly read. Inside my smartphone, I'm some distance through thirty-six audiobooks, which pales next to the nearly fifty ebooks I've set aside on my digital device. That does not count the increasing stack of advance copies near my living room table, vying for praises, now that I am a published author in my own right.

Beginning with Determined Reading to Intentional Setting Aside

At first glance, these stats might look to confirm recently expressed opinions about modern focus. A writer observed not long back how effortless it is to lose a person's attention when it is divided by online networks and the constant updates. They stated: “Maybe as people's focus periods shift the literature will have to adapt with them.” Yet as a person who once would persistently get through any book I picked up, I now consider it a individual choice to set aside a story that I'm not enjoying.

The Finite Duration and the Glut of Choices

I do not believe that this tendency is a result of a brief attention span – instead it comes from the awareness of time moving swiftly. I've often been affected by the monastic maxim: “Hold the end daily in view.” Another idea that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this world was as sobering to me as to everyone. But at what different moment in our past have we ever had such instant entry to so many mind-blowing works of art, whenever we desire? A glut of options greets me in each bookshop and within every device, and I strive to be purposeful about where I direct my attention. Might “DNF-ing” a book (term in the book world for Unfinished) be not just a indication of a weak mind, but a selective one?

Choosing for Connection and Reflection

Especially at a era when publishing (and thus, commissioning) is still controlled by a specific demographic and its concerns. Even though reading about people different from us can help to develop the capacity for empathy, we furthermore choose books to consider our personal lives and position in the universe. Unless the works on the racks more accurately represent the backgrounds, realities and interests of prospective individuals, it might be quite difficult to hold their attention.

Contemporary Authorship and Audience Engagement

Of course, some writers are indeed skillfully crafting for the “contemporary focus”: the concise prose of some current books, the tight sections of additional writers, and the short chapters of numerous modern titles are all a wonderful demonstration for a shorter style and style. And there is no shortage of writing advice geared toward capturing a consumer: hone that first sentence, improve that beginning section, elevate the drama (more! more!) and, if writing thriller, introduce a victim on the opening. This advice is entirely solid – a prospective publisher, editor or reader will use only a several valuable minutes choosing whether or not to continue. There's no benefit in being obstinate, like the individual on a workshop I attended who, when questioned about the storyline of their book, stated that “it all becomes clear about 75% of the way through”. No novelist should force their reader through a series of difficult tasks in order to be understood.

Writing to Be Accessible and Granting Space

Yet I do create to be clear, as to the extent as that is achievable. At times that demands holding the audience's attention, directing them through the story point by succinct beat. Occasionally, I've discovered, understanding requires patience – and I must allow my own self (along with other writers) the freedom of wandering, of adding depth, of straying, until I discover something true. An influential thinker argues for the fiction finding new forms and that, rather than the traditional plot structure, “alternative forms might help us imagine novel methods to create our tales vital and real, persist in creating our books novel”.

Transformation of the Book and Modern Mediums

Accordingly, both opinions converge – the novel may have to adapt to suit the contemporary consumer, as it has repeatedly accomplished since it began in the 1700s (in its current incarnation today). Maybe, like past authors, tomorrow's creators will return to publishing incrementally their novels in newspapers. The future these writers may currently be sharing their writing, chapter by chapter, on digital sites including those visited by many of regular users. Creative mediums change with the period and we should let them.

More Than Limited Attention Spans

Yet let us not assert that any changes are completely because of limited attention spans. Were that true, short story collections and very short stories would be considered far more {commercial|profitable|marketable