Oh, I don't like how this chapter is going...

I can tell, because it is going slowly.

I can't talk about this without a spoiler, so if you don't want a spoiler, skip this post until after you read the book. Who knows, maybe I will have deleted this part of the book by the time I am done, which will give you some "behind the scenes" material to look at afterward.

I am just past the chapter where the Admiral is re-introduced to the action in the story. He has made a spectacle of himself in front of the mansion, going on about how everything was stolen from him. This is critical, because having the Admiral back escalates the conflict from a simple "How do we get this toy business going?" problem to "How do we deal with the Admiral?" - he serves as the primary antagonist for all the action in the story.

The chapter I am on is meant to do a few things:
- pit the turn of events AGAINST Millicent
- introduce a bit of backstory for the Admiral... character development

The device is newspaper articles. One describing the Admiral's outbreak in front of the mansion. Another is a "Who is this Millicent person?" bio piece, and the other an interview with the Admiral, where he gets to tell his slanted view of the story. The articles are biased in the Admiral's favor, which sets further conflict in motion (Admiral takes legal action... which will further bias against Millicent). The interview is also meant to give some background story of the relationship between the Admiral and the General when they are younger. This is meant to build some character definition, but also serves as a foundation for further backstory filling later on the part of Nobbins, whose history with both men goes back farther than we think.

The problem - I am hating this chapter. Part of it is I am not comfortable writing in newspaper style. With prose I can just go whatever flavor is comfortable to me, but in imitating a newspaper article, it has to SOUND like a newspaper article. I finally commited myself to something to simplify it - that to make the article style be more gossip rag-like. First, this let's me adopt a more loose style to the writing, but it also let's me exaggerate the conflict more.

The other reason I am having trouble, though, is that I know it is leading somewhere I haven't fully fleshed out yet. I am not sure what I am going to do after this chapter is done. If I commit to a legal battle, then I have to deal with the actions that come after - and I start to worry that the story is getting too long and tedious. I also have an alternative thread going about Millicent's own struggle trying to get the mansion and toy production under control - and it is hard to develop that storyline without fighting for time with the parallel storyline about the Admiral's fight with Millicent. So far, I have not mentally rationalized the two together.

Okay... enough for now.