Bleeding it out

"Writing is easy, you just sit down at the typewriter, open up a vein, and bleed it out drop by drop." --Red Smith

We had a client come into work this week who is preparing to move to Kuwait. During her visit, she shared some information about Kuwait. According to her, is a very wealthy country due to their vast oil reserves, and great number of citizens live on the money generated by the sale of oil. However, by law, all citizens of Kuwait are required to hold a job. So those citizens who live off the oil simply send their servants to work for them, in their name. My husband and I were talking about this, and he mentioned (bless his Muse-like heart), "That sounds like a great idea for a book."

Of COURSE it's a great idea for a book! And immediately my brain took off in a dozen different directions--all the directions you could take that concept and develop it into a gripping story. And my writer's brain, once it got going on developing story ideas, couldn't seem to quit. It started revisiting story ideas that I have worked on in the past, some of them complete, some not. It started rethinking plots, reacquainting itself with characters, and getting so overfull with fantastic ideas I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't release the safety valve and let off some pressure.

So last night, I sat down to write some of my ideas. Surely, with my brain stuffed so full, it would be easy! But as I sat with my fingers hovering over the keyboard, I discovered that my safety valve must be faulty, because the thoughts and ideas did NOT come gushing out as I expected, as I wanted. They dripped out slowly, lethargically, reluctantly, like blood that has already begun to coagulate. I got a couple of pages written, and gave up for the day, exhausted.

I have brain constipation. My thoughts and ideas are all jammed up. Anyone have a laxative?