Working: An Author’s Mission to Make Her Readers Belly Laugh

Slate Books

Slate Podcasts

Arts

3.8 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Sally Franson, the author of two novels: A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out and the brand new release Big in Sweden, which was inspired by her real-life experience as a contestant on a Swedish reality competition show. In the interview, Sally digs into the challenges of writing her second novel and the realizations that got her unstuck. She also talks about her practice of plotting novels on gigantic pieces of butcher paper, her preference for writing under a deadline, and her decision to take clowning classes as part of a mission to write side-splittingly funny fiction. After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk about reality TV, writing productivity exercises, and some of the challenges of the creative IP economy. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Sally and Isaac talk about a specific fiction device that always makes them laugh. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I became really obsessed with how can I make a reader belly laugh. And I would just go. I would just write, and I would just pray to God that I would surprise myself, you know, that I could
0:24.3	start on myself with a laugh. Welcome back to working. I'm your host, Ronald Young Jr.
0:33.6	And I am your other host, Isaac, wonderful to be chatting with you again today.
0:39.5	As always.
0:40.6	Tell me, whose voice did we hear at the top of the show?
0:43.2	That was Sally Franzen.
0:46.2	She's a novelist, her first novel, wonderful novel called The Ladies Guide to Selling Out,
0:51.8	came out a few years ago.
0:53.4	She has a new novel out called big in
0:54.8	sweden she is also got to say my best friend from graduate school and uh so you know when
1:00.8	your best friend from graduate school has a new big novel coming out you got to invite them on your
1:04.5	podcast i'm sure you have other reasons to want to talk to sally franson right now in fact i do
1:10.3	uh beyond the fact that sally's just a writer, she's very funny, she's really
1:13.8	joyous, she's taught a lot of writing, so she has a lot of great craft stuff, which
1:17.8	I think you'll hear in this interview.
1:19.5	Her current novel has a very odd genesis, which is, get ready for this, ready, Ronald?
1:25.4	Sally won a Swedish reality show competition where Americans go to Sweden to, like, discover
1:35.2	their roots.
1:36.2	It's on Swedish public television.
1:38.2	It's a huge hit over there.
1:39.9	She's like a minor celebrity in Sweden.
1:42.5	And this novel is about a fictional person going on a fictional Swedish reality show about discovering your roots.
	...

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