Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Nov. 7th, 2017 12:03 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. Please watch this post as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Outlandish Occupations." 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 "The Open Gyre" (12 verses, standalone).
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 "outlandish occupations." 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. "The Open Gyre" has 12 verses and stands alone.
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 piece of bonus material 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 "outlandish occupations." I'll be soliciting ideas for employees, employers, employment counselors, volunteers, assistants, mentors, apprentices, customers or clients, outcasts, unlikely coworkers, good/bad bosses, antagonists, black sheep, scapegoats, aliens, superheroes, supervillains, blue-plate specials, other heroes/villains, beat partners, other work relationships, working, othering, creating your own job, consulting, facing thresholds, belonging, learning on the job, questioning, debating labels, quitting, dropping out, learning what you can do, coming out, telling your own story, discovering new relationships, building a career network, mentoring novices, office buildings, mobile offices, classrooms, counseling offices, neighborhoods, plazas and other public places, alien planets, work ethic, employment, unemployment, self-employment, unions, other work-related organizations, promotions and demotions, oddjobs, genius is not public property, talent does not dictate profession, self-discovery, self-awareness, erasure, alienation, rejection, oppression, job skills, challenges of getting a job, sexual harassment, legal rights, 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 "The Open Gyre." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Outlandish Occupations." 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 "The Open Gyre" (12 verses, standalone).
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 "outlandish occupations." 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. "The Open Gyre" has 12 verses and stands alone.
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 piece of bonus material 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 "outlandish occupations." I'll be soliciting ideas for employees, employers, employment counselors, volunteers, assistants, mentors, apprentices, customers or clients, outcasts, unlikely coworkers, good/bad bosses, antagonists, black sheep, scapegoats, aliens, superheroes, supervillains, blue-plate specials, other heroes/villains, beat partners, other work relationships, working, othering, creating your own job, consulting, facing thresholds, belonging, learning on the job, questioning, debating labels, quitting, dropping out, learning what you can do, coming out, telling your own story, discovering new relationships, building a career network, mentoring novices, office buildings, mobile offices, classrooms, counseling offices, neighborhoods, plazas and other public places, alien planets, work ethic, employment, unemployment, self-employment, unions, other work-related organizations, promotions and demotions, oddjobs, genius is not public property, talent does not dictate profession, self-discovery, self-awareness, erasure, alienation, rejection, oppression, job skills, challenges of getting a job, sexual harassment, legal rights, 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 "The Open Gyre." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 06:33 pm (UTC)Danso, Cassandra, or Turq seem like they'd fit this pretty well.
Victor and Igor offer a sense of community for all the villagers, but there's always the question of occupying those who can't be tasked as easily (distractable children, for instance).
Seeing any of the Moon Door pack finding a job after years without would be cool, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 07:14 pm (UTC)Shiv and skeleton keys, or some other form of superpowered smithery.
Mallory now has a wee one... and a brand new set of grand-`ohana. Sure there's still school to be done, but it's getting to the point where she's going to want to be thinking career... with a little. The Finns may have some ideas... and yet, I suspect she's got a surprise or two of her own.
Poem
From:Poem
From:Poem
Date: 2017-11-07 07:17 pm (UTC)29 lines, Buy It Now = $15
(no subject)
From:Well ...
From:Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 07:03 pm (UTC)Starting a new career or 'making a lateral move.'
Poem
Date: 2017-11-07 11:39 pm (UTC)Hold for other prompter.
Poem
From:Unique Jobs
Date: 2017-11-07 07:12 pm (UTC)Fun fact: Sherlock Holmes may be the only Consulting Detective in the world, but Will Shortz (editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle) is likely the only person globally to have a college degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles).
Re: Unique Jobs
Date: 2017-11-07 07:20 pm (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Bletchley_Park
Re: Unique Jobs
From:Re: Unique Jobs
From:prompt ideas
Date: 2017-11-07 07:24 pm (UTC)A shifter who decides they prefer being a therapy pet to being a human so they decide to stop shifting.
Someone trying to find ways to make other planets habitable because they've given up on fixing the earth.
A teporter who's teleporting killing living matter but also destroys most poisons working as a caterer to someone who people want dead.
Re: prompt ideas
Date: 2017-11-09 03:54 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
Prompts
Date: 2017-11-07 07:27 pm (UTC)Also, I'm sure there are plenty of folks in the Lacuna who have had to get very creative about what they do in order to keep their community from collapsing. Also plenty more who were sent out there to do something unusual, which morphed into something else when they stayed behind. Is there someone out there who's figuring out how to keep the AYES and other AIs sane?
Re: Prompts
Date: 2017-11-09 07:22 am (UTC)87 lines, Buy It Now = $44
Poem
Date: 2017-11-07 07:58 pm (UTC)24 lines, Buy It Now = $10
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 08:03 pm (UTC)http://time.com/money/4792345/cat-cuddler-job-dublin-ireland/ <<<This job looks amazing. Who does the landscaping on the supervillain's private island? Or the interior design for the lairs? OR, and this is big for me, who makes the supersuits? Not everyone will be Tony Stark with a fabricator in their basement, and sewing and design are specialized skills that aren't as common as they used to be.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 03:40 am (UTC)Poem
From:Poem
From:Poem
Date: 2017-11-07 08:38 pm (UTC)Hold for original prompter.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 09:55 pm (UTC)From our conversation (and some I thought of later)
---------------------------------------------------
Toilet paper roll end gluer
Rectal thermometer tester
Facial tissue folder
Llama wrangler
Llama day care specialist
Spider wrangler
Chocolate teapot QA manager
Mother of dragons
Firefly upgrade technician
Corn maze architect
Corn maze maintenance technician
Monkey-fur dye specialist
Sunset coloration designer
Office goddess
Receptionist at a brothel
Lab worker in the Arctic circle
Owl pellet collector (and/or analyst)
Wild husky temperature taker
Martian
Professional internet troll
Occupational therapist for static AIs
Physical therapist for mobile AIs
Pet psychic
Secret shopper (I think it's weird because you're supposed to try to make people fail at their jobs, and that would make me desperately unhappy)
From https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/the-15-weirdest-jobs-in-the-world
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oshiya (People-onto-train Pushers)
Professional Mourner
Ostrich Babysitter
Gender Equality Consultant
Official Elephant Dresser
From http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/the-10-weirdest-jobs-youve-never-heard-of/news-story/cb676e419d0e65ad4f0da4f46b035ac1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pet Food Tester
Fountain Pen Repair Technician
Teddy Bear Repair Technician
IMAX Screen Cleaner
From http://www.ucreative.com/lifestyle/fifteen-strange-jobs/
-------------------------------------------------------------
Live Mannequin
from http://listverse.com/2010/03/28/10-more-strange-jobs-from-history/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Roman) Orgy planner
Funeral clown
from http://listverse.com/2009/09/24/top-10-strangest-jobs-in-history/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Knocker-up (British; a person who was hired to go around to houses and knock on the doors or windows until the occupants woke up)
Night soil collector
Poem
Date: 2017-11-09 03:52 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 10:51 pm (UTC)Career changes. Career returns.
How one becomes a supervillain.
Personal shoppers. (The LIFC one sent me down a rabbit hole of fascinating writing.)
Poem
Date: 2017-11-09 03:53 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-07 11:38 pm (UTC)Librarians for Extraordinary Collections
Poem
Date: 2017-11-08 06:48 am (UTC)227 lines, Buy It Now = $114
when I grow up, I want to be ...
Date: 2017-11-08 12:33 am (UTC)Re: when I grow up, I want to be ...
Date: 2017-11-08 03:35 am (UTC)Re: when I grow up, I want to be ...
From:Re: when I grow up, I want to be ...
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 01:22 am (UTC)* The Maldives are looking more interesting all the time. And some people looking to move bring very unique skill sets to the table.
* Okay, so it looks cool on paper to say that you can fit anything into a bubble, or speak to invertebrates, but how useful is that -really-?
Poem
Date: 2017-11-08 11:51 am (UTC)189 lines, Buy It Now = $95
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 03:06 am (UTC)Lighthouse keepers, or beekeepers.
This guy or some other librarian like him.
Poem
Date: 2017-11-09 03:55 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 03:33 am (UTC)So, how does a mad scientist get funding when they're only twelve? Odd jobs of course...
There is a road-side garage just outside of Roswell, New Mexico, with a sign advertising UFO repairs. Tourists think it's joke of course... little do they know...
The problem with getting a job, is that employers demand work experience. The problem with getting work experience is, no-one will give you a job... but what if one could steal a job? And what if there were professional job thieves, to help the unemployed, if they're desperate enough...?
Poem
Date: 2017-11-10 11:51 pm (UTC)171 lines, Buy It Now = $86
Poem
Date: 2017-11-08 04:07 am (UTC)91 lines, Buy It Now = $91
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 04:18 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-11-09 03:54 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
Retread
Date: 2017-11-08 05:48 am (UTC)Re: Retread
Date: 2017-11-17 03:48 am (UTC)68 lines, Buy It Now = $34
Clothes maketh the being
Date: 2017-11-08 07:42 am (UTC)Re: Clothes maketh the being
Date: 2017-11-08 11:35 am (UTC)Re: Clothes maketh the being
From:Re: Clothes maketh the being
From:Re: Clothes maketh the being
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-08 11:22 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-11-09 03:55 am (UTC)154 lines, Buy It Now = $77
Done for the night!
Date: 2017-11-08 11:54 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-11-11 02:43 am (UTC)Hold for original prompter.
Poem
Date: 2017-11-11 03:26 am (UTC)Hold for original prompter.