Works I Haven't Finished Reading Are Accumulating by My Nightstand. Is It Possible That's a Good Thing?

This is slightly embarrassing to confess, but let me explain. Several books rest next to my bed, each partially finished. Within my smartphone, I'm some distance through over three dozen listening titles, which seems small next to the 46 ebooks I've left unfinished on my e-reader. That doesn't account for the expanding stack of early versions near my living room table, vying for blurbs, now that I am a published author personally.

Starting with Determined Completion to Deliberate Setting Aside

On the surface, these stats might look to corroborate recently expressed comments about current concentration. A writer commented not long back how easy it is to break a person's concentration when it is scattered by social media and the constant updates. They stated: “It could be as people's focus periods shift the writing will have to adapt with them.” But as a person who previously would persistently finish any title I picked up, I now view it a human right to set aside a novel that I'm not in the mood for.

The Limited Time and the Glut of Options

I do not feel that this tendency is a result of a limited concentration – rather more it comes from the feeling of time slipping through my fingers. I've consistently been affected by the spiritual maxim: “Keep death daily before your eyes.” Another idea that we each have a mere 4,000 weeks on this Earth was as horrifying to me as to anyone else. And yet at what previous time in human history have we ever had such direct access to so many mind-blowing creative works, anytime we want? A glut of treasures greets me in any library and behind each device, and I strive to be intentional about where I direct my attention. Might “not finishing” a story (shorthand in the book world for Incomplete) be rather than a sign of a poor intellect, but a thoughtful one?

Selecting for Empathy and Self-awareness

Notably at a time when the industry (and therefore, acquisition) is still controlled by a certain demographic and its concerns. While reading about characters different from ourselves can help to develop the capacity for empathy, we also select stories to think about our individual experiences and place in the society. Until the books on the shelves more accurately depict the backgrounds, lives and issues of prospective individuals, it might be extremely difficult to maintain their attention.

Modern Storytelling and Audience Interest

Certainly, some authors are actually successfully writing for the “today's interest”: the short prose of selected modern works, the focused fragments of others, and the quick chapters of numerous contemporary titles are all a impressive showcase for a briefer form and method. Additionally there is plenty of writing tips aimed at securing a audience: perfect that opening line, enhance that beginning section, raise the stakes (further! more!) and, if writing crime, put a dead body on the beginning. That advice is all solid – a potential publisher, house or buyer will devote only a few valuable minutes choosing whether or not to continue. There is no point in being contrary, like the person on a workshop I attended who, when challenged about the narrative of their manuscript, announced that “the meaning emerges about three-quarters of the through the book”. No writer should subject their reader through a set of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.

Writing to Be Accessible and Allowing Space

And I certainly compose to be understood, as much as that is possible. At times that needs leading the consumer's attention, directing them through the narrative step by succinct point. At other times, I've realised, comprehension demands perseverance – and I must give my own self (and other creators) the freedom of exploring, of building, of straying, until I discover something meaningful. One thinker makes the case for the novel developing fresh structures and that, instead of the standard narrative arc, “alternative forms might assist us envision new methods to create our narratives vital and authentic, keep creating our novels original”.

Change of the Novel and Contemporary Platforms

In that sense, the two opinions converge – the novel may have to adapt to accommodate the modern reader, as it has continually done since it first emerged in the 18th century (as we know it currently). It could be, like earlier authors, future authors will revert to serialising their novels in newspapers. The future such writers may even now be publishing their writing, chapter by chapter, on online services including those accessed by many of regular users. Creative mediums evolve with the era and we should permit them.

Beyond Short Attention Spans

However do not assert that any evolutions are completely because of limited concentration. If that was so, concise narrative collections and flash fiction would be regarded considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable