Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Feb. 2nd, 2016 11:49 am![[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 as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "tactile emphasis." 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, "From Silica to Silk" (18 verses, Polychrome Heroics).
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 "tactile emphasis." 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. "From Silica to Silk" belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and has 18 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 Sunday 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 "tactile emphasis." I'll be soliciting ideas for touch-dominant people, aliens whose main sense is tactile, cuddle sluts, snuggly werewolves, football players, couple dancers, other couple acts, touch-starved people, touch-avoidant people, animal therapists, massage therapists, other bodyworkers, snuggling, giving or receiving massage, grooming, holding hands, kissing, making love, sensual or pain play in kink, breastfeeding, caring for a small child, huddling against the cold, spotting someone in the gym, massage parlors, dance halls, gymnasiums, cuddle parties, bedrooms, dark places that must be navigated by touch, mountains or trees to climb, tactile toys, vestibular stimulation, grooming tools, skin hunger, touch aversion, blindfolds, textured art, fur, Microfyne, velvet, silk, other textured fabrics, 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 New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco 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 "From Silica to Silk.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "tactile emphasis." 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, "From Silica to Silk" (18 verses, Polychrome Heroics).
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 "tactile emphasis." 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. "From Silica to Silk" belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and has 18 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 Sunday 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 "tactile emphasis." I'll be soliciting ideas for touch-dominant people, aliens whose main sense is tactile, cuddle sluts, snuggly werewolves, football players, couple dancers, other couple acts, touch-starved people, touch-avoidant people, animal therapists, massage therapists, other bodyworkers, snuggling, giving or receiving massage, grooming, holding hands, kissing, making love, sensual or pain play in kink, breastfeeding, caring for a small child, huddling against the cold, spotting someone in the gym, massage parlors, dance halls, gymnasiums, cuddle parties, bedrooms, dark places that must be navigated by touch, mountains or trees to climb, tactile toys, vestibular stimulation, grooming tools, skin hunger, touch aversion, blindfolds, textured art, fur, Microfyne, velvet, silk, other textured fabrics, 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 New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco 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 "From Silica to Silk.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 06:09 pm (UTC)A pillow fight.
Horseplay, misinterpreted.
The way the world feels on a very cold day, crisp and like the air is nearly biting you.
Poem
Date: 2016-02-02 07:02 pm (UTC)Reserved for other prompter.
Starting with an image prompt:
Date: 2016-02-02 06:20 pm (UTC)Second -- hand-building with clay
Third -- A dragon building a nest from gold
Fourth -- Pterosaurs had "Fur": https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/tag/pycnofibers/
Re: Starting with an image prompt:
Date: 2016-02-03 06:16 am (UTC)64 lines, Buy It Now = $32
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 06:32 pm (UTC)(Sending you a PM with some details, hope that's ok.)
Poem
Date: 2016-02-05 08:06 am (UTC)94 lines, Buy It Now = $47
And I couldn't put the two of them together without giving Ruggiero a turn, but his tastes are completely different. "Vanilla Is a Spice" explores his relationship with Olympia.
88 lines, Buy It Now = $44
Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:prompts
Date: 2016-02-02 07:04 pm (UTC)Weighted blankets for self-soothing.
Learning to twirl or dance to put rungs on a ladder between a tactile person and a difficult concept.
Re: prompts
Date: 2016-02-03 04:42 am (UTC)492 lines, Buy It Now = $246
Re: prompts
From:Re: prompts
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 07:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 08:16 pm (UTC)Yes...
From:(no subject)
From:Yes...
From:Poem
Date: 2016-02-04 12:39 am (UTC)256 lines, Buy It Now = $128
Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
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From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 07:18 pm (UTC)Magic that can only be detected and/or manipulated by touch.
Poem
Date: 2016-02-04 05:34 am (UTC)218 lines, Buy It Now = $109
Prompts
Date: 2016-02-02 07:22 pm (UTC){1} Turq's POV - The touches were small, fleeting, and often indirect, touching the blanket wrapped around him rather than him personally. But while part of him screamed not to trust anyone, another part craved this little comfort, this moment of touch-that-doesn't-hurt-not-alone far too much to give it up.
{2} Brushing someone's hair can be relaxing for both the brusher and the brushee.
{3} The Avengers - Someone has a bad night after a mission that shakes loose some bad memories and needs the extra snuggles and the comfort of safe-not-alone cuddle pile.
{4} The Avengers - Thor fidgets with an old puzzle toy while thinking about his brother and recent events which have been both illuminating and confusing. He has no idea how to solve this puzzle (Loki has always been so much better with puzzles) - it feels like he is missing pieces and what he does have, he doesn't know how they fit.
Re: Prompts
Date: 2016-02-05 11:36 am (UTC)240 lines, Buy It Now = $120
Re: Prompts
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 08:51 pm (UTC)Polychrome: power touching power.. [in whatever context].
Sensing currents [literal and/or figurative]
Poem
Date: 2016-02-03 04:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 09:00 pm (UTC)Or, hmm, how about working to overcome touch aversion? (Bonus points if it's a romantic/sensual setting.)
Blanket forts. Because some days you just need to feel a blanket fort around you.
Poem
Date: 2016-02-04 08:52 pm (UTC)55 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 09:25 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2016-02-04 08:04 pm (UTC)60 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-02 09:33 pm (UTC)A jungle gym made of wood, metal, and rope.
A whole-cloth quilt.
Going barefoot.
Building a sand castle.
Poem
Date: 2016-02-03 11:44 am (UTC)114 lines, Buy It Now = $57
Tactile poem prompts!
Date: 2016-02-03 12:19 am (UTC)1) when sexual desire comes from Ludus, it's fun, and Philia http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-change-your-life
2) Touch-dominant and touch starved, and the compromises others may come up with to help
3) Vision problems including light sensitivity and sex
4) Don't know if you ever saw Sanctuary on SyFy with Amanda Tapping playing a Doctor specializing in Abnormals, but her character Helen has a very playful and sensual relationship with Nikola Tesla, who's a half vampire in it. :-) Anyway, here's the video prompt with lots of little scenes from their relationship and a song that really fits them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJpjFLI2CFg&index=7&list=PL29D06C03C5F9F0DA
5) Dogs are so much tactile love, they often get nicknamed Velcro to their person!
Re: Tactile poem prompts!
Date: 2016-02-04 05:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-03 02:30 am (UTC)Prompt the first: Touch-telepathy, touch-empathy, content sense i.e. metal composition, rough or more precise location of exact or near duplicates of an object, or similar powers--oooooh, that last possibility just leaped up and said pick me pick me!
Prompt the second: Demisensuality. That is, unable to engage in sensual touch (casual massage, for one example) without forming an emotional connection to the other person first.
Prompt the third: Velcro dogs are so very much a reality, hi commenter who got here before me. But so are Velcro kitties! Purry people-lover cats, be they lap kitties or just snuggle-up-nearby-and-nuzzlers.
Poem
Date: 2016-02-03 08:11 am (UTC)Reserved for other prompter.
Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-03 05:55 am (UTC)What Does a Parrot Know About PTSD? - The New York Times
Poem
Date: 2016-02-03 11:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-03 08:36 am (UTC)For some reason I see weather magic as being tactile. So... (1) weaving with light, in more than the metaphorical sense Stan uses about Lawrence's hair; (2) a team-up or match-off between Storm and Thor. For some reason I keep seeing this as a sort of re-enactment of "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better". :-)
2) Skif goes to Pennsic with the Finns, takes on a thief persona, and starts filching small non-period items.
3) Skif discovers contradance or English dance.
4) Alternatively, Stan & Lawrence discover contradance or English dance. Stan likes it because it's athletic exercise, while Lawrence enjoys the geometry of the patterns.
5) Moon Door -- do werewolves ever snuggle up together the way dogs do?
Poem
Date: 2016-02-06 09:48 pm (UTC)694 lines, Buy It Now = $347
Re: Poem
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From:Done for the night!
Date: 2016-02-03 11:53 am (UTC)