Works I Haven't Finished Enjoying Are Piling Up by My Bed. Could It Be That's a Good Thing?
It's slightly awkward to confess, but I'll say it. Five books rest by my bed, each incompletely finished. Inside my phone, I'm some distance through over three dozen listening titles, which looks minor alongside the forty-six Kindle titles I've left unfinished on my Kindle. This doesn't include the increasing collection of pre-release editions beside my living room table, vying for blurbs, now that I work as a professional writer in my own right.
Starting with Persistent Finishing to Deliberate Abandonment
Initially, these stats might look to corroborate recent thoughts about modern focus. An author observed a short while ago how easy it is to lose a reader's concentration when it is fragmented by online networks and the 24-hour news. He stated: “Maybe as people's attention spans evolve the literature will have to adapt with them.” Yet as someone who used to stubbornly complete whatever book I started, I now consider it a human right to set aside a story that I'm not connecting with.
The Short Time and the Glut of Choices
I wouldn't believe that this tendency is a result of a brief focus – more accurately it comes from the sense of life passing quickly. I've often been struck by the Benedictine principle: “Keep mortality each day in mind.” Another idea that we each have a just 4,000 weeks on this Earth was as horrifying to me as to others. And yet at what previous point in human history have we ever had such instant access to so many incredible works of art, whenever we desire? A wealth of options meets me in every bookshop and behind any screen, and I want to be deliberate about where I focus my attention. Might “DNF-ing” a book (term in the book world for Unfinished) be rather than a sign of a limited mind, but a discerning one?
Selecting for Empathy and Reflection
Especially at a period when publishing (and therefore, acquisition) is still controlled by a particular demographic and its issues. Although engaging with about individuals unlike ourselves can help to strengthen the capacity for empathy, we also read to think about our personal experiences and role in the universe. Until the works on the racks more fully represent the experiences, stories and interests of potential individuals, it might be extremely hard to maintain their attention.
Contemporary Writing and Audience Engagement
Naturally, some writers are indeed successfully writing for the “modern focus”: the tweet-length style of certain recent novels, the focused pieces of others, and the brief parts of several contemporary titles are all a impressive demonstration for a more concise approach and method. Furthermore there is an abundance of craft tips aimed at capturing a reader: perfect that initial phrase, polish that start, elevate the stakes (further! more!) and, if crafting mystery, introduce a mystery on the opening. Such guidance is all sound – a possible publisher, editor or audience will use only a a handful of precious moments choosing whether or not to forge ahead. There's no benefit in being obstinate, like the writer on a class I joined who, when questioned about the plot of their novel, stated that “the meaning emerges about three-fourths of the way through”. No novelist should subject their follower through a series of difficult tasks in order to be grasped.
Writing to Be Understood and Giving Space
But I do compose to be understood, as much as that is feasible. Sometimes that requires leading the consumer's interest, guiding them through the plot step by efficient step. At other times, I've understood, insight requires time – and I must allow me (and other writers) the freedom of meandering, of building, of deviating, until I discover something true. A particular thinker argues for the story discovering innovative patterns and that, rather than the standard plot structure, “other patterns might enable us conceive new ways to make our stories vital and true, continue creating our books novel”.
Evolution of the Story and Current Mediums
From that perspective, both perspectives converge – the novel may have to change to suit the contemporary reader, as it has continually done since it began in the 1700s (as we know it now). Perhaps, like earlier writers, tomorrow's writers will revert to publishing incrementally their novels in publications. The next these creators may even now be releasing their content, chapter by chapter, on online platforms like those accessed by millions of monthly readers. Genres evolve with the period and we should allow them.
More Than Limited Focus
But we should not say that every evolutions are entirely because of limited focus. If that was so, concise narrative collections and very short stories would be regarded far more {commercial|profitable|marketable