Novels I Didn't Complete Enjoying Are Stacking by My Bed. Is It Possible That's a Positive Sign?

It's a bit uncomfortable to reveal, but here goes. Several titles rest beside my bed, all incompletely consumed. On my phone, I'm midway through 36 audiobooks, which looks minor next to the 46 ebooks I've set aside on my digital device. This fails to account for the increasing stack of pre-release editions beside my living room table, striving for blurbs, now that I have become a established author in my own right.

Starting with Determined Completion to Purposeful Letting Go

Initially, these numbers might seem to corroborate recently expressed opinions about today's concentration. A writer observed recently how easy it is to distract a reader's concentration when it is divided by online networks and the constant updates. He stated: “Maybe as readers' concentration change the literature will have to adapt with them.” Yet as someone who previously would stubbornly get through whatever book I picked up, I now consider it a human right to set aside a novel that I'm not connecting with.

Our Short Duration and the Glut of Possibilities

I wouldn't think that this habit is caused by a short focus – more accurately it comes from the awareness of life moving swiftly. I've always been struck by the Benedictine principle: “Hold mortality each day in view.” Another reminder that we each have a just finite period on this world was as shocking to me as to others. However at what other time in our past have we ever had such instant availability to so many mind-blowing creative works, anytime we choose? A surplus of options awaits me in each library and within any digital platform, and I aim to be intentional about where I focus my attention. Is it possible “not finishing” a novel (term in the publishing industry for Did Not Finish) be not just a mark of a limited mind, but a selective one?

Choosing for Understanding and Insight

Particularly at a time when publishing (consequently, selection) is still dominated by a certain demographic and its issues. Although engaging with about individuals unlike ourselves can help to develop the muscle for understanding, we additionally choose books to reflect on our own experiences and role in the society. Unless the books on the racks more fully reflect the identities, lives and interests of potential readers, it might be extremely hard to keep their focus.

Modern Authorship and Consumer Attention

Of course, some writers are skillfully crafting for the “modern focus”: the tweet-length prose of selected current novels, the focused pieces of different authors, and the brief chapters of various recent books are all a wonderful example for a more concise form and method. And there is an abundance of writing tips geared toward securing a consumer: perfect that first sentence, polish that opening chapter, increase the drama (more! higher!) and, if crafting mystery, place a mystery on the beginning. Such guidance is all good – a prospective publisher, publisher or reader will devote only a several valuable moments determining whether or not to proceed. There is no benefit in being obstinate, like the individual on a writing course I joined who, when challenged about the storyline of their manuscript, announced that “it all becomes clear about 75% of the through the book”. No author should force their audience through a series of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.

Writing to Be Understood and Giving Patience

But I do compose to be clear, as far as that is achievable. At times that requires guiding the reader's interest, guiding them through the plot step by efficient beat. Occasionally, I've discovered, comprehension requires patience – and I must allow me (along with other creators) the permission of wandering, of layering, of deviating, until I discover something meaningful. One thinker contends for the story discovering innovative patterns and that, instead of the traditional dramatic arc, “other forms might help us conceive novel approaches to craft our narratives vital and real, continue producing our novels fresh”.

Transformation of the Story and Contemporary Mediums

In that sense, the two opinions agree – the novel may have to adapt to fit the today's reader, as it has constantly accomplished since it first emerged in the historical period (as we know it today). Maybe, like earlier authors, tomorrow's writers will go back to serialising their novels in publications. The next these creators may already be publishing their writing, section by section, on web-based platforms such as those accessed by countless of regular users. Art forms shift with the times and we should allow them.

Beyond Brief Concentration

But we should not assert that all changes are completely because of limited concentration. If that was so, brief fiction anthologies and very short stories would be considered considerably more {commercial|profitable|marketable