Activity

Hello friends!

I’m excited to begin our book club about The Promise of Jesse Woods. There’s so much we can learn from this book and I look forward to seeing what everyone has to contribute.

By now, hopefully you’ve read through chapter 5. Chris Fabry did a great job getting straight to the point. This week, let’s focus on studying that. Right from the start we get an idea of what I’ll call Matt’s “obsession” — it’s what he’s looking for in life. We know what makes him feel insecure and what motivates him.

To spill the beans, Matt wants to make things right for other people so he can feel sufficient, worthy, and not have to carry the burden of their emotional pain on his shoulders.

• How does Chris Fabry show what the story is about so thoroughly right from the start? How can we learn from this?
• Is Chris Fabry showing or telling? How explicit should authors be in indicating the psychological makeup of their characters and what drives, consumes, and motivates them? Do suffer more from being “on the nose” or leaving readers in the dark as to what core obsession drives your characters and the logic behind their actions and emotions?
• Do you do a good job at getting right to the point of what your story is about, or does it take you several chapters to flesh out what’s at stake in the character’s soul?

These are my questions for this week, but please share any observations you have (even unrelated to this topic)! It’s all open game.