Writing for the attention span

I've just started to write a story. Not this one. A fiction.

I am often contemplating now why I write on Vocal: do I have a message? Sometimes. Is it for the joy? Always. Is it for engagement? Maybe, depending on what form that engagement takes.

I know for sure that I want people to read what I write and I want it to be because they want to.

When I started writing my aforementioned fiction piece, I halted mid-sentence to write this. It's probably not the best move. I'm on my own in the house and I have some rare "quiet time" where I might just be able to type something fictional uninterrupted. I've come back in from a walk and the germ of a story entered my mind whilst pacing the pavement, the opening sentence worming its way in as I approached the front door and I wanted to, nay, was compelled to, write it down.

As with most of my writing, the next sentence came and so on and so forth until a couple of paragraphs are sitting as a draft and have emerged as the start of a new tale. However, it's not a flash fiction; it's not a drabble. It's going to be a story, a few pages maybe, but not a really short one and it got me thinking:

Is it going to be too long? Should I write it for the attention span?

You see, I do write for myself but I'd be lying if I said that I don't want others to read my work: I do.

But are we tuned out of reading longer stories and should I allow for that in order to get it read?

Is there a compromise to be made between what your audience want and what you want to deliver? Art or artifice? And by that I mean, should I just write content that I think will get read or should I write according to my own artistic vision?

I know. It sounds pretentious. I don't consider myself an artist by any means but I do create and they are original pieces so I am at least some sort of craftsperson. A writer. A wordsmith. A weaver of tales.

So, should I just write shorter stuff that gets a 3 minute tag so that someone picks it up and potentially reads it?

I don't know is the truthful answer.

I know that there are great writers on this platform but I don't always read everything that they create because I just can't. Do I read out of some loyalty? If I'm honest, yes, I do. That is a driver for me, to be supportive and I am loyal too. I try to be there for others because others matter. However, I know that I can't read it all and so, I might cherry pick shorter pieces that I know I can devote time to. I don't skim them as I would a longer piece maybe.

Knowing this about myself makes me reflect on the reading experience of others. I think we'd all like to believe that with our first sentence we've snagged the reader and they feel compelled to read on but I'm not kidding myself that I'm a Booker Prize winner here. What I write, poetry or articles or reviews, aren't bad and I genuinely think some of my stories are good. (As an aside, I like to reread my work, come back to it after some time away, to view it with fresh eyes. I discussed this a little in a piece about not deleting your drafts - link at end - but I do actually like to read my own completed stories too. Fact.)

Some of you will remember my year of writing a story every day along with some others. I had a lot of support that year, like a marathon crew and I am grateful for the interaction I had.

I don't want you to think that I'm bleating about lack of engagement either although it feels like this is degenerating into that...it is not the purpose of writing this.

What I am wondering is if, in order to get engagement on Vocal, it's best to keep it short. If you do stray longer than, say, the 600 word minimum, are you at risk of turning readers off before they've even got going?

And it gets me to thinking: is this an attention span thing?

We live in a world of instant gratification - is it just too hard to devote the time? Is it too much to sit and read a longer piece when there are so many other demands on our time? Are we addicted to the quick fix, the "hit me and move on" approach?

I'd love to know your thoughts on this. For me, I'm going to write the longer story, time permitting, and publish, because I want those characters to be formed fully and the story will have a message that I want to state and explore completely. I don't want to be thinking about limits; I just want to write it.

But the question is, once it's complete, will anyone read it apart from me?

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My piece on deleting drafts got a Top Story on here and you can read it here: