Books I Haven't Finished Enjoying Are Piling Up by My Bed. Is It Possible That's a Positive Sign?
This is somewhat embarrassing to confess, but I'll say it. Five books wait beside my bed, each partially finished. Inside my mobile device, I'm midway through thirty-six audio novels, which seems small alongside the nearly fifty Kindle titles I've abandoned on my digital device. That doesn't count the growing pile of advance copies near my living room table, competing for blurbs, now that I am a published writer myself.
Starting with Dogged Finishing to Intentional Abandonment
Initially, these numbers might appear to confirm recently expressed opinions about today's attention spans. A writer noted a short while ago how effortless it is to break a reader's focus when it is divided by online networks and the news cycle. The author stated: “Maybe as individuals' concentration evolve the writing will have to adapt with them.” Yet as a person who once would persistently get through every novel I started, I now consider it a personal freedom to stop reading a novel that I'm not enjoying.
Life's Short Duration and the Abundance of Options
I wouldn't think that this tendency is due to a limited focus – more accurately it relates to the feeling of life moving swiftly. I've often been affected by the Benedictine teaching: “Place the end every day before your eyes.” A different point that we each have a just finite period on this Earth was as shocking to me as to others. But at what previous time in human history have we ever had such immediate access to so many amazing works of art, at any moment we want? A surplus of options greets me in each bookstore and behind every digital platform, and I want to be purposeful about where I channel my time. Is it possible “not finishing” a story (abbreviation in the literary community for Incomplete) be rather than a mark of a poor focus, but a selective one?
Reading for Connection and Reflection
Especially at a time when the industry (consequently, selection) is still led by a certain group and its concerns. While exploring about people different from us can help to develop the muscle for understanding, we also read to reflect on our individual experiences and place in the world. Before the books on the racks more fully depict the identities, stories and interests of prospective individuals, it might be quite difficult to keep their interest.
Modern Storytelling and Audience Attention
Naturally, some authors are actually skillfully creating for the “today's interest”: the tweet-length style of selected recent books, the compact fragments of different authors, and the short parts of various recent books are all a excellent showcase for a shorter approach and style. Additionally there is no shortage of author guidance geared toward grabbing a reader: hone that first sentence, polish that beginning section, raise the tension (higher! higher!) and, if writing thriller, put a dead body on the first page. That suggestions is completely solid – a prospective agent, publisher or audience will devote only a a handful of limited moments determining whether or not to continue. There's no point in being obstinate, like the individual on a class I joined who, when questioned about the narrative of their novel, declared that “everything makes sense about three-fourths of the through the book”. No novelist should subject their reader through a sequence of difficult tasks in order to be understood.
Crafting to Be Understood and Granting Time
Yet I absolutely compose to be clear, as much as that is achievable. Sometimes that demands holding the reader's interest, guiding them through the plot step by succinct point. At other times, I've realised, comprehension demands patience – and I must give myself (and other creators) the freedom of exploring, of layering, of deviating, until I hit upon something meaningful. One writer makes the case for the fiction developing new forms and that, as opposed to the traditional dramatic arc, “other structures might enable us imagine new approaches to make our stories dynamic and true, persist in creating our books novel”.
Evolution of the Novel and Current Mediums
In that sense, the two perspectives agree – the story may have to change to suit the modern consumer, as it has continually done since it originated in the historical period (as we know it today). It could be, like previous authors, future writers will return to publishing incrementally their novels in publications. The next those writers may already be sharing their work, part by part, on online platforms including those used by millions of monthly visitors. Art forms evolve with the period and we should let them.
Not Just Limited Concentration
But do not say that any shifts are completely because of limited focus. Were that true, concise narrative compilations and flash fiction would be considered far more {commercial|profitable|marketable
