Neural Traffic Jam

The challenge of the creative mind is sometimes being overwhelmed with ideas.  Only so much can get out your fingers at any given time.  The challenge of focusing one the Project At Hand is sometimes those other voices can jump in like Kanye.

Forebrain: OK, next scene in Way of the Shield…
Way of the Shield Brain: (quietly) I think we need a scene with the antagonists planning their next move, and…
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: HEY! I THINK THE Q-NUMBERS ARE WRONG!!
Way of the Shield Brain: …so, in that, they….
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: I SAID THE Q-NUMBERS ARE WRONG!
Forebrain: Wait, what are Q-Numbers?
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: Q-Numbers are a statistic I just made up measuring the density of intelligent species in a region of space.  And I think you have them wrong the further you get away from Earth.
Way of the Shield Brain: But we’re supposed to do…
SPACE OPERA BRAIN:  NUMBERS ARE WRONG!  FIX THEM!
Forebrain: OK, let me do some math and figure this out…
Way of the Shield Brain: But…
 Forebrain: This will just take a second…

(An hour of fiddling with Excel and equations later…)

Forebrain: Huh.  The ratio of species per million cubic light years IS totally off out there.  Well, now I should…
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: FIX IT!  MAKE MORE ALIEN HOMEWORLDS!
Forebrain: Right, but…
Way of the Shield Brain: We want to get at least a few hundred words…
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: FIX IT! FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT NOW NOW NOW!!!!!

(2am, many hours later, with some hundred-plus alien homeworlds in the 150-ly radius sphere from Earth added.)

Forebrain: There, happy?
SPACE OPERA BRAIN: You didn’t name the non-star-travelling alien species at all.
Forebrain: You really need to shut up. I’m tired.
Way of the Shield Brain: I’m cold and lonely.  Why have you forsaken me?

This is the downside to being obsessive about maps.  I’m apparently incapable of just going, “Here Be Dragons” and letting it be.  I have to define it, even if I may never actually use it in anything I write. 

(That said, the rest of the weekend actually was very good for Way of the Shield.  So don’t worry too much about that…)