In this age of bite-sized opinion and constant connection, when we are encouraged to express our thoughts in emoji-strewn status updates or Tweets of 140-characters, two things have happened. One is that our attention spans have become shorter. The other is that we find ourselves longing for depth, but without the necessary time to seek it out. A short story is the perfect antidote: it doesn’t require the commitment of a novel and yet, when done well, it can provide us with all the meaningful insight of the greatest literature.

It’s partly why I co-founded Pin Drop with my friend, Simon Oldfield. At Pin Drop, we invite leading authors and actors to read short stories to live audiences. Our narrators have included everyone from Julian Barnes to Molly Parkin. Audiences respond to the intimacy and immediacy of a live experience and can often relate to the themes of a short story in a profoundly personal way - but they can also leave in time to go to dinner.

Sales of short story collections have been steadily rising since 2013 when Alice Munro, who has only ever written in the short form, was awarded the Nobel Prize.

As for me? I’ve produced two Kindle Singles on Amazon, available for 99p each. They’ve gone down pretty well, although the most frequent complaint is from irate purchasers who thought they were getting a novel.

They should probably read William Trevor: his work will never leave a reader feeling shortchanged.