Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Oct. 4th, 2016 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Keep an eye on this post as I'm still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "monsters." 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 "E Meglio Star Solo" (14 verses, Fiorenza the Wisewoman).
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 "monsters." 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. "E Meglio Star Solo" has 14 verses available and belongs to Fiorenza the Wisewoman.
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, there will be a bonus piece in one series.
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 "monsters." I'll be soliciting ideas for werewolves, vampires, mad scientists, Frankenstein's creature, dragons, chimerae, sea monsters, mythical beasts, lovable monsters, heraldic beasts, the misunderstood, monsters as disability pride, outcasts, nemeses, bullies, abusers, oppressors, slavers, psycho bosses, troubled relationships, supervillains, superheroes, monster hunters, fleeing in terror, questing for the beast, fighting monsters, resisting oppression, facing your demons, feeding the right wolf, genetic engineering, lairs, lonely mountains, the forest primeval, the dark, oceans, liminal zones, mad science labs, government buildings, The Tower, battlegrounds, graveyards, other mysterious areas, preternatural biology, special weapons, unusual vulnerabilities, radical transformation, wings, tails, horns, scale, fur, tentacles, the moon, cthonic symbolism, the unspeakable, the inescapable, the indestructable, things man was not meant to know, the nature of humanity (or lack thereof), what makes a monster, when the monsters are scared of the humans, hubris, 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 "E Meglio Star Solo." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Click to read the linkback poem "E Meglio Star Solo" (14 verses, Fiorenza the Wisewoman).
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 "monsters." 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. "E Meglio Star Solo" has 14 verses available and belongs to Fiorenza the Wisewoman.
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, there will be a bonus piece in one series.
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 "monsters." I'll be soliciting ideas for werewolves, vampires, mad scientists, Frankenstein's creature, dragons, chimerae, sea monsters, mythical beasts, lovable monsters, heraldic beasts, the misunderstood, monsters as disability pride, outcasts, nemeses, bullies, abusers, oppressors, slavers, psycho bosses, troubled relationships, supervillains, superheroes, monster hunters, fleeing in terror, questing for the beast, fighting monsters, resisting oppression, facing your demons, feeding the right wolf, genetic engineering, lairs, lonely mountains, the forest primeval, the dark, oceans, liminal zones, mad science labs, government buildings, The Tower, battlegrounds, graveyards, other mysterious areas, preternatural biology, special weapons, unusual vulnerabilities, radical transformation, wings, tails, horns, scale, fur, tentacles, the moon, cthonic symbolism, the unspeakable, the inescapable, the indestructable, things man was not meant to know, the nature of humanity (or lack thereof), what makes a monster, when the monsters are scared of the humans, hubris, 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 "E Meglio Star Solo." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
From Zelofheda
Date: 2016-10-04 05:58 pm (UTC)I also like the idea of the monsters being more scared of us than we are of them, but I don't have a plot bunny for that, sorry.
Re: From Zelofheda
Date: 2016-10-04 08:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:02 pm (UTC)- Self-identifying as a monster whether in a positive or negative way
- "Oh, monsters are scared, said Lettie. That's why they're monsters." - Neil Gaiman, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane"
Poem
Date: 2016-10-04 06:53 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2016-10-05 06:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:14 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2016-10-05 08:11 am (UTC)38 lines, Buy It Now = $15
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:28 pm (UTC)Can I prompt something with Clint being viewed as a monster because of his time under Loki's control?
Thank you!
Date: 2016-10-04 06:30 pm (UTC)Yay! Copy that to
>>Can I prompt something with Clint being viewed as a monster because of his time under Loki's control?<<
Drat, I've already got a freebie from LIFC in progress. But that's a good one. Anything else in mind?
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:34 pm (UTC)Antimatter vs. Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
Anything, but anything, lovable monsters or monsters in love.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:36 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2016-10-12 07:59 pm (UTC)290 lines, Buy It Now = $145
Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 06:45 pm (UTC)The monster-under-the-bed and/or the monster-in-the-closet.
The lurking shadow.
The troll in the basement (who I think has yet to get a story of their own?)
Poem
Date: 2016-10-04 08:54 pm (UTC)60 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 07:19 pm (UTC)Polychrome: Kaverns and Krakens, or Simon being overlap between the Finns and the Woods when both families have high-energy nerds.
Poem
Date: 2016-10-04 11:43 pm (UTC)128 lines, Buy It Now = $64
enfant terrible
Date: 2016-10-04 08:37 pm (UTC)Maybe it's just a matter of my not yet having caught up with canon, in which case pointers to particular poems & stories would be appreciated. But given the several centuries of her existence, there must be quite a bit of backstory that *hasn't* yet been revealed...
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 01:22 am (UTC)It may not be the correct "why", but she's a healer, and rather a powerful one, when she opts to use her powers in that mode, and I think also knowledgeable, by experience at least, of bodies and how they work and take damage and can be repaired.
Poem
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:all due respect
From:Re: all due respect
From:creative play
From:Re: creative play
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:Re: enfant terrible
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 10:11 pm (UTC)But the World as We Know It is pretty crappy, and is due to be recycled...
*Because monsters are the ones who can't be fit into boxes, and boxes are the first things to go...
Poem
Date: 2016-10-04 11:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:Yes...
From:(no subject)
From:Thoughts
From:Re: Thoughts
From:Re: Thoughts
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-04 10:44 pm (UTC)Or maybe this for a music prompt? (Well, those are the lyrics. this is the actual song.)
Poem
Date: 2016-10-04 11:44 pm (UTC)Poem
From:Prompt fodder!
Date: 2016-10-04 11:39 pm (UTC)Prompt the second: Grotesques, gargoyles and other traditional stone uglies, making friends with a human misfit or two.
Prompt the third: The abusive empath, he who was so neatly detached from his victim by Cat, gets his.
Prompt the fourth because I had to: Monster House! How's the troll in the basement? Let me guess. 'Present, just busy.' :) :) I am so quoting his lines here.
Re: Prompt fodder!
Date: 2016-10-17 02:04 am (UTC)Your prompt about Kincade inspired the free-verse poem "His Capacity for Self-Redemption." Dr. Bloch's CPR class turned into a long, detailed exploration of what education usually looks like in T-America with some accommodations for the prison context and individual needs of the students. There's even some discussion of challenges raised by ethnic variations, disabilities, and soup care.
888 lines, Buy It Now = $444
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 01:17 am (UTC)Monstrously hungry.
Shark-eating octopi (octopuses? octopodes?) and octopus-eating shark.
...more to come, looking up my saved notes...
(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 02:51 am (UTC)Recent quote: ""My mental health kitty doesn't want
to snuggle anymore, she just hisses
at me. This is so not helping."
What is a cat to do when their person and their personal monster are on and the same? Can they find a way to rebuild their relationship? Maybe there's something new that they might have in common (a delicious treat that the new werewolf couldn't smell/digest before?? a certain toy or game that wasn't feasible previously???)
(no subject)
From:Thank you!
From:Re: Thank you!
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 01:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 02:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 02:47 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2016-10-07 11:15 am (UTC)386 lines, Buy It Now = $193
Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Monster prompts
Date: 2016-10-05 02:57 am (UTC)2) Haboob is a monster. What's his vulnerability? Can Aston help? http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10703849.html
3) Tell us about Turq's mad scientist who hurt him. What's the motivation?
4) Monsters in Path of the Paladins seem to be the human clerics of that terrible God. Anything else?
Re: Monster prompts
Date: 2016-10-07 12:53 am (UTC)152 lines, Buy It Now = $76
Re: Monster prompts
From:Re: Monster prompts
From:(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-05 04:42 am (UTC)- The raging bigot who got whammied by the luck-bender into having his very own superpower
- RAT and ?Brad?, the LEOs headed down the dark path
- the mad scientist who tortured Turq
What's going on with any of them?
Poem
Date: 2016-10-07 12:54 am (UTC)Prompts
Date: 2016-10-05 04:56 am (UTC){1} The monsters that should truly frighten you are the ones who don't look like monsters at all.
{2} The monster is hiding under the bed not to scare anyone but because zir is scared and doesn't know where zir is or what these big, strange creatures are.
{3} She was a monster now and she loved it. She loved being the one who was bigger, stronger, scarier for a change.
Re: Prompts
Date: 2016-10-05 06:54 am (UTC)Re: Prompts
From:Re: Prompts
From:Done for the night!
Date: 2016-10-05 08:54 am (UTC)