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It's somewhat awkward to reveal, but let me explain. Five titles wait next to my bed, every one incompletely read. On my phone, I'm midway through over three dozen audiobooks, which pales alongside the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've set aside on my digital device. This fails to account for the increasing pile of pre-release editions next to my coffee table, competing for praises, now that I am a published author myself.

Beginning with Persistent Finishing to Intentional Letting Go

Initially, these stats might appear to confirm contemporary opinions about modern focus. An author observed a short while ago how easy it is to lose a individual's attention when it is scattered by social media and the news cycle. He remarked: “Perhaps as individuals' attention spans shift the literature will have to change with them.” But as an individual who once would persistently finish any novel I began, I now consider it a personal freedom to stop reading a book that I'm not in the mood for.

The Limited Span and the Glut of Possibilities

I don't believe that this tendency is due to a short focus – instead it stems from the sense of time moving swiftly. I've often been struck by the spiritual teaching: “Keep mortality each day in mind.” A different reminder that we each have a mere limited time on this world was as shocking to me as to everyone. But at what previous time in our past have we ever had such direct access to so many amazing creative works, at any moment we want? A surplus of riches meets me in any bookshop and behind any device, and I want to be intentional about where I direct my attention. Might “abandoning” a novel (shorthand in the literary community for Did Not Finish) be rather than a sign of a limited focus, but a thoughtful one?

Choosing for Empathy and Reflection

Notably at a period when the industry (and thus, acquisition) is still controlled by a particular demographic and its quandaries. Although reading about individuals distinct from us can help to strengthen the muscle for empathy, we also choose books to think about our personal lives and role in the universe. Until the works on the displays more accurately represent the experiences, stories and concerns of potential audiences, it might be extremely difficult to maintain their focus.

Current Writing and Audience Engagement

Certainly, some writers are actually successfully writing for the “modern interest”: the concise prose of selected modern works, the focused pieces of different authors, and the short parts of numerous modern titles are all a excellent example for a briefer style and style. And there is an abundance of writing tips designed for securing a consumer: refine that first sentence, improve that beginning section, increase the drama (higher! higher!) and, if creating thriller, introduce a victim on the beginning. This advice is all solid – a prospective publisher, house or reader will devote only a a handful of limited seconds deciding whether or not to proceed. There's no benefit in being contrary, like the person on a workshop I attended who, when challenged about the storyline of their book, declared that “the meaning emerges about 75% of the into the story”. No author should subject their reader through a sequence of 12 labours in order to be grasped.

Creating to Be Accessible and Allowing Patience

But I do compose to be clear, as to the extent as that is possible. At times that needs leading the consumer's interest, steering them through the plot point by economical beat. Occasionally, I've realised, comprehension requires time – and I must allow myself (along with other creators) the permission of meandering, of adding depth, of deviating, until I hit upon something true. One writer contends for the novel developing new forms and that, rather than the traditional dramatic arc, “other patterns might enable us conceive new methods to create our narratives alive and true, continue creating our books fresh”.

Transformation of the Story and Contemporary Formats

Accordingly, both opinions agree – the story may have to adapt to accommodate the modern audience, as it has constantly achieved since it began in the 18th century (in its current incarnation now). Perhaps, like previous authors, tomorrow's creators will return to serialising their works in publications. The future such authors may even now be releasing their content, chapter by chapter, on digital platforms such as those used by millions of regular visitors. Creative mediums evolve with the times and we should allow them.

More Than Brief Concentration

But let us not say that any shifts are all because of limited attention spans. If that were the case, brief fiction compilations and very short stories would be considered much more {commercial|profitable|marketable