Books I Didn't Complete Reading Are Piling Up by My Nightstand. What If That's a Good Thing?

This is slightly uncomfortable to admit, but here goes. A handful of books sit next to my bed, every one partially finished. On my smartphone, I'm some distance through 36 audiobooks, which seems small compared to the 46 digital books I've set aside on my e-reader. That does not count the increasing stack of pre-release versions next to my living room table, competing for blurbs, now that I work as a professional writer myself.

Beginning with Dogged Completion to Purposeful Abandonment

On the surface, these numbers might seem to confirm contemporary thoughts about current attention spans. A writer observed not long back how easy it is to distract a reader's focus when it is divided by digital platforms and the news cycle. The author suggested: “Maybe as individuals' attention spans evolve the literature will have to change with them.” Yet as someone who once would doggedly complete whatever title I began, I now regard it a human right to put down a book that I'm not connecting with.

The Limited Span and the Glut of Choices

I wouldn't believe that this habit is due to a limited concentration – more accurately it comes from the feeling of time slipping through my fingers. I've always been impressed by the Benedictine maxim: “Hold death every day in view.” A different idea that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this Earth was as horrifying to me as to everyone. However at what other time in our past have we ever had such immediate availability to so many amazing creative works, whenever we want? A glut of treasures awaits me in any bookstore and on every screen, and I aim to be purposeful about where I focus my time. Is it possible “not finishing” a story (shorthand in the book world for Unfinished) be rather than a sign of a weak focus, but a selective one?

Selecting for Empathy and Reflection

Particularly at a period when book production (consequently, acquisition) is still led by a specific social class and its concerns. Even though reading about individuals different from our own lives can help to build the ability for empathy, we furthermore read to reflect on our personal journeys and role in the society. Until the books on the racks more fully reflect the backgrounds, stories and interests of prospective readers, it might be extremely hard to hold their interest.

Modern Storytelling and Reader Engagement

Certainly, some novelists are actually effectively crafting for the “modern focus”: the concise prose of some modern novels, the focused fragments of different authors, and the quick chapters of several modern titles are all a impressive example for a shorter style and style. And there is no shortage of craft tips geared toward capturing a consumer: hone that opening line, polish that beginning section, elevate the drama (more! more!) and, if creating thriller, introduce a victim on the opening. Such suggestions is entirely solid – a prospective representative, publisher or reader will spend only a several limited minutes deciding whether or not to forge ahead. It is little reason in being difficult, like the writer on a workshop I attended who, when confronted about the narrative of their book, announced that “the meaning emerges about three-fourths of the way through”. No writer should subject their audience through a sequence of challenges in order to be grasped.

Writing to Be Clear and Granting Patience

But I do compose to be understood, as much as that is feasible. At times that needs leading the reader's attention, guiding them through the plot beat by efficient beat. At other times, I've understood, comprehension requires time – and I must give my own self (as well as other creators) the permission of meandering, of layering, of straying, until I find something meaningful. An influential thinker argues for the fiction developing fresh structures and that, instead of the conventional dramatic arc, “different structures might help us conceive new methods to make our stories dynamic and true, keep producing our books fresh”.

Transformation of the Book and Contemporary Formats

In that sense, both opinions agree – the story may have to adapt to fit the today's audience, as it has constantly done since it began in the 18th century (in its current incarnation today). It could be, like past novelists, future writers will go back to releasing in parts their novels in publications. The future these authors may already be releasing their writing, part by part, on digital sites such as those visited by countless of monthly visitors. Creative mediums evolve with the times and we should allow them.

More Than Limited Concentration

However we should not say that every changes are all because of shorter focus. If that was so, short story anthologies and flash fiction would be viewed much more {commercial|profitable|marketable