Books I Abandoned Enjoying Are Piling Up by My Bed. Could It Be That's a Good Thing?
This is slightly embarrassing to reveal, but let me explain. Several books wait beside my bed, every one incompletely consumed. On my smartphone, I'm partway through over three dozen audio novels, which looks minor alongside the forty-six digital books I've set aside on my digital device. That does not count the increasing collection of pre-release editions next to my coffee table, vying for endorsements, now that I work as a published writer myself.
From Persistent Reading to Intentional Letting Go
At first glance, these stats might appear to corroborate recent comments about today's attention spans. A writer observed recently how simple it is to distract a person's concentration when it is fragmented by online networks and the news cycle. They suggested: “It could be as readers' concentration change the writing will have to adapt with them.” But as a person who previously would persistently finish whatever novel I started, I now view it a human right to put down a novel that I'm not enjoying.
The Limited Duration and the Wealth of Choices
I don't feel that this habit is due to a short focus – instead it relates to the sense of existence passing quickly. I've often been impressed by the monastic maxim: “Hold death daily before your eyes.” A different point that we each have a mere 4,000 weeks on this planet was as horrifying to me as to anyone else. However at what different time in history have we ever had such direct availability to so many amazing masterpieces, anytime we want? A wealth of riches greets me in each library and within each screen, and I strive to be deliberate about where I direct my attention. Might “abandoning” a story (abbreviation in the book world for Did Not Finish) be not just a sign of a weak mind, but a selective one?
Selecting for Connection and Reflection
Particularly at a period when the industry (consequently, acquisition) is still dominated by a specific demographic and its issues. Although reading about characters different from our own lives can help to strengthen the muscle for compassion, we also read to think about our individual experiences and place in the universe. Unless the titles on the displays more fully reflect the backgrounds, lives and interests of possible audiences, it might be extremely difficult to maintain their attention.
Modern Storytelling and Consumer Attention
Of course, some authors are indeed skillfully writing for the “contemporary focus”: the tweet-length prose of some recent books, the tight sections of others, and the brief sections of numerous recent stories are all a impressive demonstration for a shorter approach and method. And there is plenty of author guidance designed for capturing a reader: perfect that opening line, improve that start, increase the drama (more! more!) and, if crafting mystery, introduce a victim on the beginning. That guidance is all good – a possible agent, house or audience will use only a several valuable seconds determining whether or not to continue. There is no point in being contrary, like the person on a workshop I attended who, when confronted about the storyline of their manuscript, declared that “everything makes sense about three-quarters of the through the book”. Not a single author should force their reader through a sequence of difficult tasks in order to be comprehended.
Creating to Be Understood and Allowing Time
Yet I absolutely compose to be clear, as much as that is possible. At times that requires holding the consumer's interest, guiding them through the narrative step by economical point. Sometimes, I've realised, comprehension demands time – and I must give me (and other writers) the grace of wandering, of building, of straying, until I discover something true. A particular writer makes the case for the novel developing new forms and that, rather than the conventional narrative arc, “alternative forms might help us imagine novel ways to make our stories alive and authentic, keep producing our novels novel”.
Transformation of the Novel and Modern Formats
From that perspective, each perspectives align – the novel may have to evolve to fit the modern reader, as it has continually achieved since it originated in the historical period (as we know it now). Maybe, like previous novelists, coming writers will go back to publishing incrementally their works in publications. The next such writers may already be publishing their content, section by section, on online sites including those used by countless of regular readers. Creative mediums change with the period and we should let them.
Not Just Limited Concentration
Yet we should not assert that any changes are entirely because of limited concentration. If that was so, short story compilations and micro tales would be viewed considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable
