Novels I Didn't Complete Exploring Are Piling Up by My Bed. Is It Possible That's a Good Thing?
It's slightly awkward to confess, but let me explain. Five books sit by my bed, every one only partly read. On my phone, I'm partway through over three dozen audio novels, which seems small next to the forty-six digital books I've left unfinished on my digital device. The situation fails to account for the increasing pile of pre-release editions beside my living room table, competing for endorsements, now that I have become a published novelist personally.
From Dogged Reading to Intentional Abandonment
Initially, these figures might appear to confirm recent comments about today's attention spans. A writer commented not long back how simple it is to break a reader's focus when it is fragmented by social media and the news cycle. They stated: “Maybe as readers' attention spans evolve the literature will have to adjust with them.” Yet as someone who once would doggedly finish any title I picked up, I now consider it a human right to set aside a story that I'm not connecting with.
Our Short Span and the Glut of Possibilities
I don't believe that this tendency is caused by a short focus – more accurately it relates to the sense of time passing quickly. I've often been affected by the Benedictine principle: “Place mortality daily in view.” One reminder that we each have a only finite period on this planet was as sobering to me as to everyone. And yet at what previous point in human history have we ever had such instant availability to so many incredible works of art, whenever we want? A surplus of options meets me in each bookshop and on every device, and I aim to be deliberate about where I channel my energy. Is it possible “abandoning” a story (shorthand in the book world for Did Not Finish) be not just a sign of a poor mind, but a selective one?
Selecting for Connection and Insight
Notably at a period when book production (and thus, selection) is still led by a particular social class and its concerns. While reading about characters distinct from ourselves can help to build the muscle for compassion, we also select stories to reflect on our own lives and place in the society. Unless the titles on the displays better represent the identities, stories and interests of potential readers, it might be quite difficult to keep their attention.
Current Writing and Reader Attention
Of course, some novelists are actually effectively creating for the “today's focus”: the concise style of certain current works, the tight sections of additional writers, and the quick parts of numerous modern books are all a wonderful demonstration for a shorter approach and technique. Additionally there is no shortage of craft guidance geared toward grabbing a audience: hone that initial phrase, enhance that opening chapter, elevate the tension (further! higher!) and, if creating thriller, place a victim on the first page. Such advice is all solid – a possible publisher, publisher or audience will use only a a handful of limited minutes deciding whether or not to proceed. There's no benefit in being contrary, like the person on a class I joined who, when confronted about the plot of their manuscript, stated that “the meaning emerges about three-quarters of the way through”. Not a single author should force their audience through a sequence of 12 labours in order to be understood.
Crafting to Be Clear and Allowing Time
But I absolutely write to be understood, as much as that is achievable. At times that demands leading the audience's hand, directing them through the plot step by economical beat. Sometimes, I've understood, comprehension requires patience – and I must grant me (as well as other creators) the permission of exploring, of layering, of digressing, until I hit upon something true. One writer contends for the fiction discovering fresh structures and that, instead of the standard narrative arc, “alternative forms might enable us envision new methods to create our narratives vital and real, keep making our novels fresh”.
Evolution of the Novel and Modern Formats
From that perspective, the two perspectives agree – the story may have to adapt to accommodate the today's consumer, as it has continually done since it originated in the 1700s (as we know it today). Maybe, like earlier writers, tomorrow's writers will revert to serialising their novels in periodicals. The future these authors may even now be sharing their work, section by section, on online platforms such as those accessed by millions of regular users. Creative mediums evolve with the era and we should allow them.
Not Just Limited Focus
However do not assert that every changes are entirely because of shorter concentration. If that was so, short story anthologies and flash fiction would be viewed considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable
