How can I structure a novel to contain short stories?

I'm planning a novel where the protagonist is an author and regularly writes short stories and shares them with other characters.

I see this as a great opportunity to break out of the narrative and explore his character a little (the stories could be a metaphor different characters or could foreshadow events of the main plot). However I'm unsure about how to structure it...

Typically my chapters are around 5-7 thousand words and I anticipate the "short stories" being around 2-4 thousand. So perhaps I could do a short introduction, the short story then continue with the main plot in the second half of the chapter or would a chapter per short story be better?

What steps can I take to make this story within a story approach work? Is the idea of frequently introducing new fictional fictional characters too much to ask of a reader? What steps can I take to make sure the plot isn't too jarring?

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How can I structure a novel to contain short stories?

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