Not a Lecture by Author Paul Murray
While you’re writing you can never be sure if you’re doing it right, Murray uses the phrase “not knowing the score.” We can never be certain if what we’re doing is right, or what we should be doing.
I was introduced to Paul Murray in a college English class. My teacher Sean Carswell spoke highly of his books, and it would be his first time teaching Skippy Dies and The Mark and The Void to a class. I found the writing exceptional, funny, and full of life. I’ve returned to those books in the years since, and enjoyed their company yet. While searching for interviews with Paul Murray I stumbled upon a recent “lecture” he gave at Boston College in Fall 2022. As an aspiring novelist and more generally a student of life, I believe his perspective to be helpful to all.
The introduction by Joe Nugent, who, sporting an “I’ve been Bloomed” pamphlet in his breast pocket, is a riot of erudition and camaraderie for their shared craft. Done, as only an Irishman could, it is well worth a watch.
I do not wish to transcribe Murray’s entire lecture, only to summarize my key takeaways, and I implore you to watch and listen for yourself. Link to Murray’s Burns Lecture HERE.
Takeaway 1.
“No one can tell you how to write a novel.” A daunting and liberating piece of advice. You have to be the compass and determine where you want it to point. Even then Murray says, you may not be sure if where you’re going is where you want to be. Murray concludes by paraphrasing Rumi, the path of writing a novel is one you can’t see even when you’re on it.
Takeaway 2.
While you’re writing you can never be sure if you’re doing it right, Murray uses the phrase “not knowing the score.” We can never be certain if what we’re doing is right, or what we should be doing. We can look for external validation, but ultimately each person must determine for themselves what is right or wrong, though there is never any certainty to support our choice, we can only look to the world for approval and the process will start over. Thus Murray concludes, “as a writer you’re trying to get at what it feels like to be alive, and to be alive more than anything else is about not knowing.” Being alive is to grapple with a mystery, all those questions with no definitive answer. Murray says that the best art or writing can do is pose these questions in a way to bring about a brief repose from the mystery. To this Murray refers to Robert Frost who said, “poetry is a momentary stay against confusion.”
Takeaway 3.
The most dangerous idea for a writer is to think they have it all figured out. Nobody has the answers, and if they say they do they are full of shit, or diluting themselves. “People read novels because they want to be taken somewhere, and a writer can’t provide that unless they’ve allowed themselves to be taken somewhere too.” Murray concludes this section with a quote by the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne who said, “I will say anything to you by way of conversation and nothing to you by way of counsel.” Murray’s fascination with the medallion Montaigne would wear, that said “what do I know” aligns with his understanding of the most central aspect of life, not knowing. I’ve found that whenever you stumble upon a paradox it is usually an indication of being on the right track. In life, those who embrace the mystery are best positioned to understand it. Or put another way, those who do not purport to understand life actually best do.
Conclusion.
Essentially the question is the answer.
I once wrote in a journal, begin a quest looking for answers and you’ve already left them behind. Begin a quest with the right questions, and you’ll find answers everywhere you go.
I was shocked when this sentiment was echoed by Elon during one of his podcasts with Lex Fridman. Found near the end under the “meaning of life” section. Podcast link here.
Terrence McKenna - “The fact of the matter is, nobody knows what’s going on.”