Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Nov. 4th, 2014 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED for prompts. Thank you for your time and attention. Poem thumbnails may continue to appear.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
Click to read the linkback poem "Underfoot" (Hart's Farm, 17 verses available).
What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.
Cyberfunded Creativity
I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:
1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.
2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.
3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).
0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.
4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here. See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"
5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl. If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published. If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.
Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal. Comment with a link to where you posted. "Underfoot" belongs to the series Hart's Farm and has 17 verses available.
Additional Notes
1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."
2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function. (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.) These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.
3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity. While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category. Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those. I've also posted a list of other donor perks there. I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.
4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.
5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; three of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be three months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, you get a half-price sale for one week in one series. Everyone will get to vote on which series to feature in the sale, out of those with extra poems available.
Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I'll be soliciting ideas for friends, family, best enemies, friendly opponents, good sportsmen and gamesters, fighting fair, playing by the rules, turning enemies into allies/friends/lovers, agreeing to fight for a common cause, thinking outside the box, conflicts, old arguments, rules of engagement, cooperation, teamwork skills, playgrounds, sporting fields, battlegrounds, board rooms, cooperative games, different goals, game boards and pieces, and poetic forms in particular. But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have the first edition of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms which covers most common and many obscure forms.
I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations. Linkbacks reveal verses of "Underfoot.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
Click to read the linkback poem "Underfoot" (Hart's Farm, 17 verses available).
What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.
Cyberfunded Creativity
I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:
1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.
2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.
3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).
0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.
4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here. See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"
5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl. If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published. If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.
Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal. Comment with a link to where you posted. "Underfoot" belongs to the series Hart's Farm and has 17 verses available.
Additional Notes
1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."
2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function. (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.) These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.
3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity. While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category. Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those. I've also posted a list of other donor perks there. I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.
4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.
5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; three of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be three months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, you get a half-price sale for one week in one series. Everyone will get to vote on which series to feature in the sale, out of those with extra poems available.
Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "winning without defeating anyone." I'll be soliciting ideas for friends, family, best enemies, friendly opponents, good sportsmen and gamesters, fighting fair, playing by the rules, turning enemies into allies/friends/lovers, agreeing to fight for a common cause, thinking outside the box, conflicts, old arguments, rules of engagement, cooperation, teamwork skills, playgrounds, sporting fields, battlegrounds, board rooms, cooperative games, different goals, game boards and pieces, and poetic forms in particular. But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have the first edition of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms which covers most common and many obscure forms.
I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations. Linkbacks reveal verses of "Underfoot.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 06:54 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-05 04:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 06:57 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-05 01:42 am (UTC)43 lines, Buy It Now = $20
Poem
Date: 2014-11-07 09:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 07:09 pm (UTC)Maze and Mallory negotiate the requirements for getting SPOON assistance to get Mallory into grad school.
Poem
Date: 2014-11-07 09:05 am (UTC)502 lines, Buy It Now = $251
Poem
Date: 2014-11-09 08:09 am (UTC)282 lines, Buy It Now = $141
I've been waiting… :-)
Date: 2014-11-04 07:28 pm (UTC)Context: I'm Jewish, and grew up the only Jewish kid in elementary through middle school except for my little brother. I was called kike and had pennies thrown at me by one girl ALL THE TIME. I got fed UP, I started picking up the pennies, and putting them aside in a special pocket. I then dumped them on her head when I had enough. It was early 80s and she had permed hair. The pennies dripped out of her hair, everyone laughed, and she was actually friendly to me after that. I have Asperger's, this still does NOT make sense to me. So I need a rewrite, and give me a context on why you can embarrass someone who has been tormenting you, and they turn into friends. I think Lakia could deal with the bullies appropriately. ;-)
Re: I've been waiting… :-)
Date: 2014-11-04 07:49 pm (UTC)I'm also posting on my Facebook page.
Re: I've been waiting… :-)
Date: 2014-11-05 02:37 am (UTC)Re: I've been waiting… :-)
Date: 2014-11-05 03:11 am (UTC)84 lines, Buy It Now = $42
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 08:04 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-05 12:32 am (UTC)162 lines, Buy It Now = $81
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 08:55 pm (UTC)What about whatever's happening in 3D3N in the Lacuna? Getting the garden working will be a victory, right? Or what about swaying public opinion in the Arms in their favor?
Poem
Date: 2014-11-05 04:08 am (UTC)64 lines, Buy It Now = $32
Third prompt
Date: 2014-11-04 08:59 pm (UTC)Chester, from "Bending Forks," finds himself working out /some/ of his issues with soups because he sees the Tastee Shack employees and patrons every workday... and it gets him thinking.
Re: Third prompt
Date: 2014-11-05 12:32 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-04 09:17 pm (UTC)204 lines, Buy It Now = $102
Re: Poem
Date: 2014-11-04 11:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 09:50 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-05 08:17 am (UTC)60 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-04 11:34 pm (UTC)BOOSTED:
http://thnidu.dreamwidth.org/1329759.html
http://thnidu.livejournal.com/1438970.html
Poem
Date: 2014-11-07 08:26 pm (UTC)90 lines, Buy It Now = $45
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-05 12:23 am (UTC)I keep remembering Nathaniel's immediate reaction to Granny Whammy: "Nana!" then running over to her. This suggests he had, and knew, a grandmother - maybe his mother's mother, seeing she's the only other relative we know of for him. What if Nathaniel's grandmother somehow discovered where her daughter's kid had ended up? I doubt it'd go as well as Rosita's biological family finding her, for a given value of that going well, especially if grandmother and mother are cut from the same cloth, personality-wise. It might mean something, at least.
The prompt connected to all this? Winning back a little respect.
Oh, and I voted. 5:50 this evening on the way home from work. Voter 1616 in my ward.
Poem
Date: 2014-11-06 09:04 pm (UTC)232 lines, Buy It Now = $116
STILL trying to be good!
Date: 2014-11-05 12:56 am (UTC)Your Puppetmaster and Dr. Infanta-- a meeting, a problem, a solution where both win, and so does the everyday Joe in Terramagne, even though /they/ may not realize it, ever.
Re: STILL trying to be good!
Date: 2014-11-08 11:51 am (UTC)160 lines, Buy It Now = $80
Re: STILL trying to be good!
Date: 2014-11-08 12:24 pm (UTC)Re: STILL trying to be good!
Date: 2014-11-08 12:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-05 02:07 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-06 09:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-05 02:13 am (UTC)Prompt=not on the losing side.
Polychrome Heroics: Buttons and one or more soups more commonly on the hero side of things temporarily team up to oppose someone who's crossed from ordinary supervillainy into unforgivable territory. I can hear Buttons saying, "I'm not supermom, but it's a kid they're hurting. Not f**king allowable." Bonus points for Buttons and Junket interacting as businesspeople.
Poem
Date: 2014-11-08 05:33 am (UTC)Your prompt inspired the free-verse poem "The First Requisite of a Good Citizen." When a creeper comes to town, Buttons is happy to get a piece of him, and her college friend Junket is there to lend a hand.
186 lines, Buy It Now = $93
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-05 02:32 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-11-07 09:06 am (UTC)Done for the night!
Date: 2014-11-05 08:21 am (UTC)Re: Done for the night!
Date: 2014-11-06 05:32 pm (UTC)Re: Done for the night!
Date: 2014-11-06 09:06 pm (UTC)