Russ Morey asked Owen King:

Owen, I can't say enough about your highly entertaining book, We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories. I discovered your books at Inquiring Minds in New Paltz, NY. I seem to suffer from short-attention span writing. All my stories end at page 25. As a successful writer of the long form and short form, would you recommend a new writer to attempt to publish a collection of short stories as a book? Thank you!

Owen King Hi there, Russ. I'm so glad you enjoyed We're All in This Together. There are some things about that book that, in retrospect, I don't love as much as I wish I did, but there's also a lot about it that I still like.

Anyhow: setting aside the issue of publishing, which is another ball of wax altogether, I do think short stories are good place for a writer to start. It's not that they're an easier or simpler art form. They're not. Successful short stories require incredible precision. There are many fabulous novelists who can't write them.

However, short stories are manageable. They're endlessly tricky, but there's not so much narrative to keep straight. You can finish a short story and at least have a draft to work with. Once you have that draft - once you have a frame to work inside - then you can really dig in and start editing.

Hope that helps -

Best,
Owen

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