King Tackles Short Fiction

“I always wanted to start a book with, ‘Something is alive and well,’” author Stephen King said at Memorial Church on Tuesday. However, he was unable to offer such a prognosis for the medium being discussed that evening. “The short story is alive, but it isn’t what I’d call well.”

King, the editor of “The Best American Short Stories 2007,” was joined at the Harvard Book Store event by Heidi Pitlor, the series editor, and contributing authors Jim Shepard, Karen Russell, and Richard Russo to discuss the state of short fiction.

NO MORE ‘ASS IN THE AIR’

King said his decision to edit the collection was driven by a desire to reconnect with short fiction, to read as many stories as possible, and to garner inspiration to write new works of his own. Also important, as he said in the preface for the collection, was a hope that short stories be relocated from the “bottom shelf” in bookstores, where most have been relegated in recent years. This way, he said, he would be able to avoid dropping to his knees and “crawling with my ass in the air” to find the latest copy of a short-story magazine like “Tin House” or “Zoetrope: All-Story.”

“People who are used to being on the bottom shelf are now on the front table in Barnes and Noble,” he said proudly.

Russell said that short fiction is the most natural form of literature to her and described her relationship with stories as being very unlike the marriage of writing a novel.

“Stories are like little flings. No matter how bad things go, you get out of there pretty quickly,” she said.

The authors also discussed the reasons behind the increasing trivialization of short fiction, both by readers who don’t bother to look on that proverbial bottom shelf and by writers who keep the genre “alive” but hardly “well.”

Shepard joked that all humans are “essentially lazy” and would prefer not to work at reading. Russo echoed his sentiments and attributed the lack of interest for short fiction to the “perceived difficulty of the form.”

According to King, the breadth of available mediums contributes to the disappearance of the original manner of storytelling. Rather than just reading, people have the option of watching television and movies for the same plot, though not necessarily for the same effect.

“We’re very sophisticated as a society in deciphering visual art,” King said.

“But you can fall out of a habit of visualizing by reading,” he cautioned. “You don’t understand that language once you fall out of it.”

King, who has seen a number of his novels grace the big screen, added that big-time film producers who tell their stories through a vehicle of images and sound are often restricted by Hollywood’s expectations.

RIGHT TO WRITE

King did add some hope and praise for his colleagues, though.

“People who write short stories are gunslingers,” King said, possibly referencing The Gunslinger, star of his magnum opus book-cycle, “The Dark Tower.” “We’re out on our own, freelancers, soldiers for hire.”

“We don’t need a happy ending if we don’t want it,” he added.

As for advice for young writers, the authors shared essentially the same stance: read a lot and keep writing.

But they urged caution, as well.

“Look into other careers,” Shepard said. “Consider carefully what your mother says, and have a backup.”