Skip to main content

The Power and Thrill of Naming: Story Mashups

Like PB&J, some things are better mixed together.    

I don't think I'll ever get tired of these.  You asked for it (or at least didn't decry it strenuously enough).  It's another edition of the Power and Thrill of Naming Things, an exercise in creativity.  This time, we'll keep it simple with a single, sprawling list.  A list of story mashups.

Mashup List:
  1. Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back mixed with X-Men: Apocalypse
  2. The Dark Tower mixed with Care Bears
  3. The Mistborn series mixed with Transformers: Age of Extinction
  4. Jurassic Park mixed with Independence Day
  5. The Lego Movie mixed with The Emoji Movie
  6. How to Train Your Dragon mixed with The Hobbit
  7. The Lord of the Rings mixed with The Chronicles of Narnia
  8. Out of the Silent Planet (C. S. Lewis) mixed with The Ball and the Cross (G. K. Chesterton)
  9. Casablanca mixed with Arsenic and Old Lace
  10. True Grit mixed with Hail Ceasar!
  11. The Once and Future King mixed with A Canticle for Leibowitz
  12. Dune mixed with Waterworld
  13. Mad Max mixed with Terminator
  14. Lilies of the Field mixed with The Princess Bride
  15. 2001: A Space Odessey mixed with Spaceballs
  16. Peterson's Field Guide to Birds mixed with Steve McQueen
  17. 2000 Leagues Under the Sea mixed with Hotel Transylvania
  18. Shaun the Sheep mixed with John Wayne
  19. The Redwall series mixed with The Ranger's Apprentice series
  20. The Summa Theologica mixed with The Book of Revelation
Bonus:
  • The Star Wars original trilogy but with all the characters from The Star Trek original series
  • The Star Trek original series, but with all the characters of The Star Wars original trilogy

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Creative Tool: Idea Mutation

It's mutating out of control!   Here is another wild method of improving the creativity of ideas through the process of introducing random 'mutations'.  I call it Idea Mutation. Method: Start with an idea.  Add it to a circle on the far left side of a piece of paper.  That is round 1. Make two branches off the first idea.  Each branch has a new circle.  That is round 2. For each branch, roll a 10-sided dice and select the 'mutation' from the table below. For each branch, create a 'mutated' idea incorporating that branch's mutation. Continue branching and mutation ideas for subsequent rounds (3, 4, etc.). Modifications: Include different mutations (ex. Add Thrill, More Collaborative, Clearer, etc.) Add null mutation (no changes for certain branches) Change probability of mutations (same mutation for more than one number) Examples:

Creative Tool: Idea Bracket

Let the Best Idea Win. How to generate great ideas?  Why not create an Idea Bracket ?  It is analogous to a sports league play-off.  Ideas are pitted against each other, with the winning idea moving on to the next round.  The last idea standing is the winner. I do have a few additional rules.  The Three M's : Modify, Merge, and Markup.  These rules allow for both idea modification and saving sub-winner ideas. Simple enough, right?  Let's try it out on some examples. Story Beginning Location Floating City and Haunted Graveyard merged into Floating Graveyard Screaming Wastelands modified into Blasted Wastelands Winner was Floating Graveyard and Sundered Titan merged into Floating Graveyard of Titans Artistic Inspiration Shack Brainstorming and Review Idea/Notes merged to Shack Review Ideas TCG View modified to TCG Mashup Shack Review Ideas marked for later Monster App and Walk and Song merged to Walk and Song with Monster App Priming Winner was TCG Mashup and Walk and Son

Writing Tool: Panic Cards

For writing emergencies only... In a previous post , I created a break-in-case of emergency box for days where I'm severely struggling to get my writing goal in.   In case that box is not enough, or if I'm away from my house, I've devised another emergency method to keep me from veering off my writing track. Panic Cards. What are they?  Simple.  Index cards cut in half with encouraging phrases on one side. The other side has a small, randomized reward for completing the writing task.  I made it random on purpose to increase the intrigue. To use them, I pull out the card, read the phrase of encouragement, and get the writing done.  Once the thirty minutes of writing is completed, I turn over the card and reap the reward. Silly?  Maybe.  Effective?  Time will tell.  It's better to have an emergency plan and never use it than to not have one when an emergency comes calling.