Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Oct. 6th, 2015 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm. Keep an eye on this page for more thumbnails.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "curses." 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.
You can interpret "curses" loosely from metaphysical ones to religious ones, metaphoric ones, bad things that just happen, vulgar words, and so forth.
Click here to read the linkback poem "The Thread of the Seasons" (Hart's Farm, 18 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 "curses." 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.
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.
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.
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 "curses." I'll be soliciting ideas for enemies, frenemies, nemesis, witches and wizards, soldiers, sailors, construction workers, other people who swear liberally, arguing, casting curses, breaking curses, finding hexed artifacts, learnign to swear, swearing in foreign languages, getting into trouble, deciding to help someone, getting out of trouble, enemy mine, enemies to friends, enemies to lovers, blighted lands, haunted castles, magical workrooms, evil temples, ships, battlefields, construction sites, gang hangouts, supervillain lairs, cursed artifacts, types of curses, haunted dolls, hex bags, robber traps, shapeshifting, curses that cure, family curses, dictionaries of profanity, "Curses, foiled again!" and poetic forms in particular. 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.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission. Linkbacks reveal verses of "The Thread of the Seasons" (Hart's Farm).
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "curses." 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.
You can interpret "curses" loosely from metaphysical ones to religious ones, metaphoric ones, bad things that just happen, vulgar words, and so forth.
Click here to read the linkback poem "The Thread of the Seasons" (Hart's Farm, 18 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 "curses." 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.
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.
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.
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 "curses." I'll be soliciting ideas for enemies, frenemies, nemesis, witches and wizards, soldiers, sailors, construction workers, other people who swear liberally, arguing, casting curses, breaking curses, finding hexed artifacts, learnign to swear, swearing in foreign languages, getting into trouble, deciding to help someone, getting out of trouble, enemy mine, enemies to friends, enemies to lovers, blighted lands, haunted castles, magical workrooms, evil temples, ships, battlefields, construction sites, gang hangouts, supervillain lairs, cursed artifacts, types of curses, haunted dolls, hex bags, robber traps, shapeshifting, curses that cure, family curses, dictionaries of profanity, "Curses, foiled again!" and poetic forms in particular. 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.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission. Linkbacks reveal verses of "The Thread of the Seasons" (Hart's Farm).
Yay Fishbowl when I feel AWFUL.
Date: 2015-10-06 06:46 pm (UTC)Yes, menopause or my hormonal disorder have had me bedridden for pain much of the last 2 weeks.
Go for foreign languages, go for Victor, Path of the Paladins, or even Army of One. Heat packs and my migraine level pain meds are the only things helping so far. I would LOVE sharing out the misery at the moment and then comfort. Distraction for painkillers!
Re: Yay Fishbowl when I feel AWFUL.
Date: 2015-10-07 02:33 am (UTC)150 lines, Buy It Now = $75
Prompts
Date: 2015-10-06 06:50 pm (UTC){1} Accidental curse - Character A, in a moment of temper, wishes that Character B has something happen to them. And is surprised when it actually happens. And tries to make amends.
{2} Character is dealing with a curse that is not dangerous or humiliating, just annoying. Others in life try to be supportive and helpful with mixed results. Maybe one of the effects of the curse is giving people who witness it in action the giggles.
{3} Important rule of magic - if you don't know or aren't sure what the spell or magical MacGuffin can do, you might want to consider leaving it alone and calling in an expert. Or THIS might happen. Make this survivable - it was meant to teach, not irreparably harm.
Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-06 11:16 pm (UTC)60 lines, Buy It Now = $20
Shared on Facebook and here.
Date: 2015-10-06 07:21 pm (UTC)Dreamwidth post is HERE: https://librarygeek.dreamwidth.org/3059.html
Poetry fishbowl is open!
Do you want to see poetry written to your prompt? Well, if you have a LiveJournal or Dreamwidth account, go here and see what happens! This month's theme is curses. Can they be foiled again, or do you just have a foul mouth?
Prompts
Date: 2015-10-06 08:02 pm (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 02:35 am (UTC)As for other prompts, how about a warding ritual against curses, appropriate to Hart's Farm or the Frankenstein family?
Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 02:39 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 02:45 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 03:00 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 03:02 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 09:14 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 08:32 am (UTC)332 lines, Buy It Now = $168
Re: Prompts
Date: 2015-10-07 10:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-06 08:05 pm (UTC)The "beloved enemy" side of "enemy mine."
Casting curses to cure... something, somewhat.
The first thing people learn in their nth language is typically all of the four-letter words. These get used as linguistic filler for words or conjugations they don't know.
...and right about here someone normally gets turned into a loathly worm.
Poem
Date: 2015-10-07 08:34 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 07:40 am (UTC)82 lines, Buy It Now = $41
Pair o'Prompts, and a poetic form (that might be new?)
Date: 2015-10-06 08:44 pm (UTC)Prompt two: I recently read an article in a philosophy on the importance of cultivating a heterotopic imagination, so I've been puzzling through the whole notion of Heterotopia for a couple of weeks, now. I think this would definitely tie in with haunted houses, lairs, museums, libraries, etc. Perhaps someone (or many someones) who experience space around them differently than the majority -- maybe they are a fifth dimensional being trying to interact in our three dimensional world?
That could be the result of a curse, or just lead to frustration that inspires an awful lot of cursing. :-)
Poetic form: a Sylla-drabble: a poem of 100 syllables (10 lines of iambic pentameter --or trochaic pentameter-- would do it)
Re: Pair o'Prompts, and a poetic form (that might be new?)
Date: 2015-10-07 08:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-06 10:31 pm (UTC)Act of true love, true love's kiss, and on and on. How about an act of true friendship that ends a curse?
"You will be cursed until a woman truly loves you". Enter mama, grandma, aunt, sister, BFF, whatever. It doesn't say 'romantic' love, does it? (So originally it was 'agree to marry', but whatevs.)
Poem
Date: 2015-10-07 10:02 am (UTC)23 lines, Buy It Now = $10
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 12:27 am (UTC)* For some reason I visualized this with a woman being thrown down onto the street by the force of the villain's action.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 10:11 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 05:23 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 05:22 am (UTC)126 lines, Buy It Now = $63
Re: Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 02:29 pm (UTC)Re: Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 06:39 pm (UTC)Re: Poem
Date: 2015-10-09 04:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 12:31 am (UTC)• basket full drab things with hidden treasure.
^ full of drab
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 01:06 am (UTC)Prompt the first, in whichever world you like although I can see an eccentric scientific type in Terramagne here, hmm... Anyway. The prompt is a play on the 'curses, foiled again!' line you've already used, yay WWI aviators! Heard via a cartoon somewhere in my childhood: "Curses! Aluminum foiled again!"*
Prompt the second, any world at all: "... Is that even anatomically possible?" followed by a snickerfit. So uttered after someone else's vehement bout of cussing.
Prompt the third, because it sharding well had to show up in a fishbowl with this theme: Montezuma's revenge, be that intestinal or some other, lesser-known, serious or not act of retaliation.
*or aluminium foiled again, take your pick
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 03:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-07 11:17 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 10:17 am (UTC)88 lines, Buy It Now = $44
Poem
Date: 2015-10-08 10:17 am (UTC)Done for the night!
Date: 2015-10-07 10:04 am (UTC)