This is a bit embarrassing to reveal, but here goes. Five novels wait beside my bed, each only partly read. On my mobile device, I'm some distance through thirty-six audiobooks, which seems small next to the 46 digital books I've left unfinished on my digital device. The situation does not account for the expanding pile of early copies next to my living room table, striving for blurbs, now that I work as a professional writer in my own right.
On the surface, these stats might appear to confirm contemporary opinions about modern focus. An author commented a short while ago how easy it is to distract a individual's attention when it is fragmented by digital platforms and the news cycle. They stated: “It could be as people's attention spans shift the literature will have to adapt with them.” But as an individual who once would persistently get through any title I picked up, I now consider it a personal freedom to stop reading a book that I'm not in the mood for.
I wouldn't think that this tendency is caused by a short attention span – more accurately it comes from the sense of life moving swiftly. I've consistently been impressed by the monastic teaching: “Hold mortality every day in mind.” A different reminder that we each have a just limited time on this planet was as horrifying to me as to everyone. And yet at what previous point in our past have we ever had such direct entry to so many mind-blowing creative works, at any moment we desire? A glut of treasures awaits me in every library and behind any digital platform, and I strive to be intentional about where I direct my energy. Might “not finishing” a book (term in the publishing industry for Incomplete) be not just a sign of a weak mind, but a thoughtful one?
Notably at a time when book production (and therefore, selection) is still led by a specific group and its quandaries. While reading about characters unlike our own lives can help to build the ability for empathy, we also select stories to reflect on our personal experiences and place in the universe. Until the titles on the displays better represent the backgrounds, stories and concerns of potential readers, it might be quite hard to hold their interest.
Naturally, some authors are indeed skillfully writing for the “modern attention span”: the short writing of some modern novels, the tight sections of additional writers, and the short chapters of several recent stories are all a excellent example for a briefer form and style. And there is an abundance of author guidance designed for grabbing a audience: refine that opening line, polish that opening chapter, raise the tension (more! higher!) and, if crafting mystery, place a dead body on the first page. Such advice is completely sound – a potential representative, house or reader will use only a few valuable minutes choosing whether or not to continue. There's no point in being obstinate, like the writer on a class I joined who, when confronted about the plot of their book, stated that “the meaning emerges about three-fourths of the through the book”. No author should force their reader through a set of 12 labours in order to be grasped.
And I absolutely create to be clear, as much as that is feasible. At times that requires leading the consumer's hand, guiding them through the story beat by efficient point. Occasionally, I've discovered, understanding takes perseverance – and I must give myself (as well as other writers) the grace of meandering, of building, of deviating, until I hit upon something true. A particular writer argues for the novel finding innovative patterns and that, as opposed to the conventional dramatic arc, “other patterns might enable us envision new ways to create our stories vital and true, persist in creating our novels original”.
From that perspective, the two viewpoints converge – the fiction may have to evolve to accommodate the contemporary audience, as it has repeatedly done since it first emerged in the historical period (in its current incarnation now). It could be, like previous novelists, coming creators will return to serialising their books in newspapers. The upcoming these creators may currently be publishing their work, chapter by chapter, on online platforms like those used by millions of regular readers. Art forms evolve with the times and we should permit them.
But we should not say that every shifts are completely because of reduced concentration. If that were the case, concise narrative anthologies and flash fiction would be viewed far more {commercial|profitable|marketable
Elara is a seasoned gaming journalist with a passion for slot mechanics and player strategies.
