8 November: Fusion

Fusion

As the earth turns so nothing stays in its original form. Through history merchants travelled the high seas carrying with them food and spices from foreign lands. Hey presto, the beginnings of fusion food which we know and love so much now. Today I fancy doing some baking. I was going to do chocolate chip cookies but are missing some ingredients.. So instead I am making chocolate chip shortbread. Yummy!

Think of fusion where the arts are concerned. How often have you listened to a song and recognized the tune from elsewhere. Take an example; the song 'Yes We Have No Bananas'. An old song with fun lyrics, but the tune was borrowed for the song 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean'. Also the song 'This Night' by the great Billy Joel (I'm a fan) uses a bit of Beethoven's Sonata no 2 Pathetique. People in the music industry mix and match all the time.

So to writing. What about that? Well there are certain rules to follow as we all know but how about a bit of brainstorming fun. We've all heard of the strategy, what if … well let's take it a stage further. Pick three books (can be any genre) and three poems. Then look at the words on the first page or in the first verse and throw them into a mixing bowl. Put together what comes out in snatches and replace a few names verbs and adjectives. The genre can be altered too and your stories are endless.

Here's a for instance. If I chose my poems to be 'Daffodils', Ode To Autumn; 'How Do I Love Thee' all very famous. And my books to be 'Little Women, ' A Tale of Two Cities and The Great Gatsby All well known titles. Ok let's' mix.

Christmas won't be Christmas this year. It was the worst that could have happened. I count the times gone by as I remembered  wandering lonely through a season of mist and the advice my Father had given me. See what I mean? Okay,it needs work but  a challenge. Pick some different stories/poems and carry the story on. The result could be interesting.