Lisa Fransson, novelist, Substacker and Circle member on making readers feel things
“Writing as well as reading, listening to, and watching stories, for me, is a form of deep communication.”
Q. Where are you on your writing journey and what are you currently writing?
My debut novel, The Shape of Guilt, was published in 2023. My second novel is currently out on submission and my favourite publisher feedback used to describe the book so far is, “a grittier Alan Garner”.
In October my next picture book in Swedish will be published and also my first literary translation from Swedish to English. Meanwhile I’m working on a short story collection alongside research for novel number three. After a year of reading and notetaking and organising bits of paper, I think I’m approaching the point when I can finally begin writing it.
Q. You are a bilingual published author, short story writer and regularly post on Substack. What does writing mean to you?
As a child I was a voluntary mute, but I found I could express myself through writing. With the written word and with enough time, I’m able to paint a scene that makes readers feel things, whereas whenever I try to speak, I stumble and stutter and sound terribly unsure of myself.
Writing as well as reading, listening to, and watching stories, for me, is a form of deep communication. I’m interested in story and how our human brains are wired for story. Right now I’m doing a course in oral storytelling, which is teaching me entirely new ways to work with story, and which I’ll be able to use in my own writing.
And Substack has been a game changer for me. I never quite got social media, but Substack is different. It promotes long-form writing with ways to genuinely connect with other writers.
Q. You've attended many of our events and shared your work with the room for feedback. What's your favourite part of a RWC evening?
When I describe RWC to people who haven’t been before, I tend to say, “It’s like an old fashioned literary salon”, which is something I always wished I could have attended. Every time I’m able to come to a session, I try to sit at a table with people I haven’t spoken to before. The connecting exercise at the beginning makes this an easy thing for those of us who don’t often come out of our cubby holes.
Q. If you could pinpoint one thing you've learned from attending RWC events, what would it be?
SJ Watson’s honesty was refreshing, how he said if he’d written the book now that made his career 15 years ago, it probably wouldn’t be published. These insights into the industry and the challenges we all face as authors are somehow reassuring. It makes for a less lonely life.
Q. Why do writers need the company of other writers?
I believe in sharing information. The wonderful thing is that, because every author has such wildly different paths, we aren’t really in competition with each other. We risk nothing by supporting each other, by reading other’s stories and sharing opportunities and challenges. This is what my Substack This Writing Life is all about, a behind the scenes look at authoring, to share lessons learned and hopefully make other authors feel less lonely.