Books I Haven't Finished Reading Are Piling Up by My Nightstand. What If That's a Benefit?
It's slightly embarrassing to admit, but I'll say it. Five titles wait next to my bed, all incompletely consumed. Within my mobile device, I'm some distance through 36 audiobooks, which pales next to the nearly fifty ebooks I've set aside on my e-reader. This doesn't count the growing pile of early copies near my coffee table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a published writer myself.
From Determined Finishing to Purposeful Setting Aside
At first glance, these numbers might seem to corroborate recently expressed comments about current attention spans. One novelist noted not long back how simple it is to lose a individual's attention when it is divided by social media and the 24-hour news. They suggested: “Perhaps as individuals' focus periods change the fiction will have to adjust with them.” However as a person who used to doggedly complete any book I began, I now view it a personal freedom to stop reading a book that I'm not enjoying.
Our Short Time and the Glut of Options
I don't think that this practice is a result of a limited attention span – more accurately it stems from the sense of existence moving swiftly. I've always been impressed by the monastic maxim: “Keep the end each day in mind.” A different idea that we each have a just limited time on this Earth was as horrifying to me as to anyone else. And yet at what other moment in history have we ever had such direct availability to so many mind-blowing creative works, at any moment we choose? A glut of options greets me in every bookstore and behind every digital platform, and I aim to be intentional about where I channel my attention. Is it possible “not finishing” a novel (abbreviation in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be rather than a sign of a weak mind, but a thoughtful one?
Reading for Understanding and Reflection
Especially at a time when the industry (and therefore, commissioning) is still controlled by a certain social class and its quandaries. Although exploring about people distinct from us can help to build the ability for empathy, we furthermore choose books to think about our personal journeys and place in the society. Unless the titles on the shelves more fully depict the experiences, stories and issues of prospective individuals, it might be quite hard to maintain their attention.
Modern Storytelling and Consumer Engagement
Naturally, some authors are successfully writing for the “today's attention span”: the concise writing of certain modern works, the compact fragments of different authors, and the short chapters of several recent stories are all a wonderful showcase for a more concise form and style. Furthermore there is plenty of craft guidance designed for securing a reader: refine that opening line, polish that start, increase the drama (more! higher!) and, if writing crime, place a dead body on the first page. This guidance is entirely sound – a prospective representative, publisher or reader will use only a a handful of valuable minutes choosing whether or not to continue. There's no benefit in being contrary, like the individual on a workshop I participated in who, when questioned about the plot of their book, announced that “it all becomes clear about 75% of the way through”. No novelist should put their audience through a set of 12 labours in order to be comprehended.
Creating to Be Clear and Granting Space
But I do compose to be comprehended, as far as that is feasible. At times that demands holding the consumer's attention, steering them through the story beat by economical point. At other times, I've discovered, comprehension demands patience – and I must allow my own self (as well as other authors) the freedom of exploring, of building, of deviating, until I find something authentic. An influential author argues for the fiction finding fresh structures and that, instead of the conventional dramatic arc, “different structures might assist us conceive innovative methods to make our narratives alive and true, persist in making our novels fresh”.
Evolution of the Novel and Current Formats
In that sense, the two viewpoints agree – the novel may have to change to suit the modern reader, as it has constantly done since it first emerged in the historical period (in its current incarnation currently). It could be, like earlier authors, tomorrow's writers will go back to serialising their works in periodicals. The future those writers may even now be publishing their writing, section by section, on digital services including those accessed by many of monthly users. Genres shift with the times and we should let them.
Beyond Short Concentration
Yet do not assert that any shifts are entirely because of shorter attention spans. Were that true, concise narrative anthologies and micro tales would be considered considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable
