Meet our new Fiction I instructor, Ben Murphy
We’re thrilled to introduce one of our new instructors!
Ben Murphy, our new instructor
Ben Murphy teaches fiction and freshman composition at North Carolina State University, and is a graduate of the NC State MFA program. He’s going to be teaching our Fiction I class at Quail Ridge Books on Monday nights starting in January. We sat down to talk with Ben about his favorite authors, his teaching philosophy, and more.
Who are some of your favorite authors? Can you give us an idea of the kinds of short stories you teach in your course?
A treacherous question! We’re only one in and already I’m invited to get lost in my obsessions… The types of writers I love are (not surprisingly) the types of writers I love to teach. Writers who can make the surreal familiar, like Kelly Link or George Saunders. Writers who are able to evoke a character just through the language they use, like Grace Paley or John Edgar Wideman or Jennifer Egan. Writers whose language is gorgeous and lush, like David Foster Wallace or Karen Russell or Ursula K. Le Guin or David Means or… Probably best to stop there.
What's your writing like? Give us an idea of your influences and style, as well as your approach to writing (for example, do you outline? or are you a pantser?)
I am compelled and excited by words, and so expend more energy on them, and less on such niggling concerns as plot and characters, than I probably should. Frequently it’s a title or an opening line which I start with, often something goofy or odd which lodges in my head. I worry at it for a couple of days, not writing, just thinking about it, and a story emerges. I’ll make a rough outline, make a note of what scenes I think the story needs, but once I start writing I’m more like a jazz musician: producing something which probably won’t be all that profitable, nor will it be experienced by many, but at the very least I’ll enjoy it.
Tell us a bit about your favorite writing exercise that you assign in your classes, to give students a taste of what to expect.
I probably like the exercises that limit students the most, that force them to focus on a particular aspect of writing, one they may not necessarily be comfortable with. Making students write a story mostly or entirely in dialogue, or that takes the form of a series of instructions, or that occurs within a timeframe of only a couple of minutes, tends to produce exciting, novel work.
At the risk of revealing my unbearable pretentiousness, I’m going to call on Stravinsky to back me up: “My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit.” Seeing what students come up with when their typical habits and gestures are stripped away and they’re forced to rely on aspects of their craft which might not be in their wheelhouse is always a thrill for me.
What's your favorite aspect of teaching creative writing?
Ben’s cat, Sgt. Snuggles.
Getting to read fiction. That may not seem all that significant – it doesn’t take much to crack a book, after all – but grading papers every day, or commenting on homework, can sap the will to dive back into more words, even though I rationally know I’ll enjoy it. Teaching creative writing compels me to read creative writing, it energizes me, reminds me how much I love getting to do what I get to do. Whether it’s reading through a published story for the fifteenth time in order to discuss it effectively (discovering something new about it in the process for the fifteenth time in a row), or getting the opportunity to read a student’s recently completed draft, it’s a pleasure to read something that was written by someone excited to write it.
What's your approach to workshop/critique?
I think the focus should be on what compels students and what interests them; I am here, after all, for you. This can sometimes be difficult to navigate, of course, as not every writer is interested in the same things. But my starting point in discussing a piece of published writing is always, “Did you like it?” and “Why?” When workshopping, the principle remains similar; I want us to be discussing what worked particularly well in a given story, what drew you forward through the story, and what slowed you down. While not every reader will appreciate or even be interested in every piece of writing, it’s valuable to understand how our work is being read and the things within it that excite different types of readers.
I believe, as well, that the relationships you form in workshop will be just as important as the critique you receive on any individual story. To the extent that I am able, I try to create an atmosphere which facilitates and encourages those relationships. It was a writing group in New York, emerging from an adult education class I took, that encouraged me to apply for MFAs. Without it, I would not be here (with Redbud, or, indeed, in North Carolina at all).
When you're not writing, what do you like to do?
Probably all the stereotypical millennial things one might expect. My wife and I like to cook and go out to eat, we enjoy television and movies, playing board games. While books were the first great love of my childhood, music was not far behind, and when I realized in high school that rock and roll was cooler than reading, music supplanted literature entirely. I studied music in college and moved to New York after graduating to pursue it (unsuccessfully, it would seem, as here I am teaching fiction and not Television (there’s a Marquee Moon joke in here somewhere, but I’m not finding it)). I play the piano and cello, and while writing has certainly regained the lead it lost sophomore year, I still do perform on occasion.
Anything else that prospective students should know about you?
Just that I appreciate the opportunity to read your work and believe getting to do so is a privilege. We channel a great deal of ourselves into anything we commit to the page and exposing that piece of ourselves to critique can be difficult. My hope is that the process will be as productive and beneficial as possible. I look forward to working with you.
Ben’s class begins Monday, January 13, 2020 at Quail Ridge. Sign up here!
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