A note on the last chapter of Small Town Super Nobody: did Jer really tell his (ex) girlfriend to her face that she was dead inside? For implying something about his little brother that wasn’t a quarter as pointed as what he says to him five minutes later?
Absolutely. He’s mature for his age, but he’s still his age. That and he’s dealing with 1.) a sibling who knows that he not only has buttons, but how to push them, and 2.) the second most devastating blow life has ever served him. He’s eighteen years old, and sure that his life is over. In summary, this is a story about a boy who is not as old as he thinks he is.
On a side note – because I’m overly fond of discussing the way I think – as I was perusing through the last few chapters, making sure I had my details lined up, I realized that “Small Town Super Nobody” operates on a 2:1 ratio of backstory to present story. Which is kind of ridiculous considering that it’s already 100% backstory for a minor character in a series I haven’t even started yet. My story planning has depth, but I mean that in a chronologically unphilosophical way.
A whole lot of nothing to say about chapter 5, except that it’s up and quite excellent:
P.S. Oh yeah, and that “Small Town Super Nobody” is now a seven chapter story.
P.P.S. And to preempt the accusations that I’m padding this story (yes, I see you over there oh Great and Powerful Oz; go back behind your curtain), I can assure you that increasing the number of chapters won’t make this story any longer than a six-chapter version. I got halfway through the scene and realized that I had hit upon not only an effective break point, but a way to make this chapter a more manageable size. I’m just cutting the same pie into a greater number of pieces.