Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Dec. 5th, 2017 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank your for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this space as I'm still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "hearth and home." 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 "Growing Green, Growing Gold" (9 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 "hearth and home." 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. "Growing Green, Growing Gold" has 9 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.
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 "hearth and home." I'll be soliciting ideas for homemakers, couples or moresomes, odd couples, zucchini, construction workers, chimney sweeps, hosts and guests, people who work from home, outcasts, the homeless, beat partners, other work relationships, building houses, installing woodstoves or fireplaces, setting up fire circles or other outdoor hearths, building fires, cooking, crafting, grandmothering, creating your own job, facing thresholds, belonging, learning what you can do, discovering new relationships, caregiving, kinmaking, building a support network, learning what 'normal' is, woodstoves, fireplaces, fire circles, summer kitchens, outdoor brick ovens/grills, other places where fires are built, housing design, houses, apartments, vardos and other traveling residences, other types of home, neighborhoods, lairs, alien residences, intentional neighboring, fireplace tools, firewood or other fuels, household supplies, work ethic, housework, equality and inequality, emotional labor at home and at work, self-discovery, self-awareness, erasure, alienation, rejection, personal space, privacy, 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 "Growing Green, Growing Gold." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "hearth and home." 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 "Growing Green, Growing Gold" (9 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 "hearth and home." 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. "Growing Green, Growing Gold" has 9 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.
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 "hearth and home." I'll be soliciting ideas for homemakers, couples or moresomes, odd couples, zucchini, construction workers, chimney sweeps, hosts and guests, people who work from home, outcasts, the homeless, beat partners, other work relationships, building houses, installing woodstoves or fireplaces, setting up fire circles or other outdoor hearths, building fires, cooking, crafting, grandmothering, creating your own job, facing thresholds, belonging, learning what you can do, discovering new relationships, caregiving, kinmaking, building a support network, learning what 'normal' is, woodstoves, fireplaces, fire circles, summer kitchens, outdoor brick ovens/grills, other places where fires are built, housing design, houses, apartments, vardos and other traveling residences, other types of home, neighborhoods, lairs, alien residences, intentional neighboring, fireplace tools, firewood or other fuels, household supplies, work ethic, housework, equality and inequality, emotional labor at home and at work, self-discovery, self-awareness, erasure, alienation, rejection, personal space, privacy, 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 "Growing Green, Growing Gold." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-05 07:34 pm (UTC)Hold for original prompters.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 07:34 pm (UTC)Domestic felines
Chosen family
Moving in
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 07:35 pm (UTC)Hearth = sanctuary
Chestnuts (or etc) roasting on an open fire
The weather outside is frightful, but the f8re is so delightful
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:Poem
From:(no subject)
From:Poem
From:Poem
From:(no subject)
From:Thank you!
From:Poem
From:Poem
Date: 2017-12-05 07:44 pm (UTC)Hearths and homes I'd enjoy visiting
Date: 2017-12-05 08:20 pm (UTC)Monster House: Is Halloween burnout a thing? How do those affected by it recover?
Frankenstein's Family: When an early winter snowstorm hits the town, I bet there are many who'd rather freeze to death before they'd accept the hospitality of Castle Frankenstein. This no doubt will distress Victor, Igor, and their friends. How does this play itself out?
Re: Hearths and homes I'd enjoy visiting
Date: 2017-12-05 09:15 pm (UTC)48 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 09:01 pm (UTC)Hart's Farm gets an early cold snap. Time to pile in! (I'm reminded of them because somebody brought kringle to the office today, yum!)
Poem
Date: 2017-12-09 05:31 am (UTC)146 lines, Buy It Now = $73
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 09:11 pm (UTC)Intentional neighboring.
Finding place in community.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-05 11:41 pm (UTC)115 lines, Buy It Now = $58
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 09:24 pm (UTC)Rules about locks on doors, especially bedroom doors, and/or whether and when to lock outside doors
Amish barn-raisings
Salamanders and other fire elementals
This seems like a natural topic for Hart's Farm
Observant Jews have mezuzot. Do any of your cultures have something similar?
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 03:19 am (UTC)6 lines, Buy It Now = $5
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 10:37 pm (UTC)I'd like to request the zero-G rehabs to take weight off joints at the end of their cope, for Army of One, if you feel inspired.
I'd also be interested in any details of villain lairs intended to make them more comfortable, not more scary. After all, they have to live in them, it's only reasonable they have nice things in there. Especially if it's a typically "tough" villain who doesn't seem like the type to like fancy things. Oooh, Shiv has a really fancy Elsa bathroom, Fortressa has a nice spa bathroom, who else has a nice retreat in their bathing space?
For something a bit different than the current trends, what about Pat and his whole spicerack, how do they live? Together or apart? Is their house super big or rather cozy? Basically curtainfic for Pat's polycule.
[EDIT: I signal boosted for us late folks on the Tumblr.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 02:09 am (UTC)58 lines, Buy It Now = $20
idea fodder
Date: 2017-12-05 10:47 pm (UTC)Prompt ideas: [1] a day in the life of a stable hand - at the Drama Llama Stables.
[2] "baby-(soup)-proofing" a residence for someone whose superpowers manifested not during infancy but at puberty, or later, such as Marcie Maddison, or Geordie from "Proximity and Separation".
Have fun!
Re: idea fodder
Date: 2017-12-07 09:32 am (UTC)84 lines, Buy It Now = $42
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 11:51 pm (UTC)I have a great photograph in my Book of Face album of my kid crawling into the oven, and helping clean out the otherwise unreachable pile of sand that made the curve.
Somebody WORKING with wood fires and not just enjoying their warmth is that prompt.
Army of One could have an image of a fire being used for central hall or hearth in an apartment space.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 03:20 am (UTC)58 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-05 11:56 pm (UTC)Turq's gazebo is kind of on the exposed side for winter weather... what about Ansel making some structural changes to it? Like putting in a wood-burner perhaps, or a brick pizza oven so he can curl up under the fire? Maybe some canvas sidings to cut down the worst of the wind... or something else to build Turq a hearth for his home.
Hmm.. so what does Fortressa and crew do to turn their garage/lair into a home?
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 12:46 am (UTC)Poem
From:Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 12:00 am (UTC)Snuggling with someone you love.
Snuggling with someone you don't love, but need to snuggle, for reasons.
Kitchen magic.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 03:20 am (UTC)58 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 01:34 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 03:04 am (UTC)Re: Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 02:10 am (UTC)Smelting
baker and the casseroles
(did the tumblr linkbacks)
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:41 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 02:28 am (UTC)Baking too much and having to give it away.
Guest presents in case someone drops by unexpectedly.
Celebrating multiple holidays or interfaith parties.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:42 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 03:07 am (UTC)Baked goods in the freezer in case someone stops by - cupcakes or cookies to go with tea.
Blessing a new home or hearth or oven by baking bread in it, or a gift of homemade bread to someone who just moved into a new home, as a blessing of abundance.
Sharing bread and salt to bind families.
The scents that bespeak home, no matter whether one finds them in a dwelling place or a submarine.
touche'
Date: 2017-12-06 06:22 am (UTC)*SQUISH* ... thanks for that ROTFL, from both me and my partner, er, fiance'
Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 03:36 am (UTC)Ambrose and his partner
Ari wanted to learn campgrounding, now as she's grown more, it'll be up to her to do sometimes, with her own method and flair.
home is where people explain your mistakes instead of holding them against you forever
the fae in the stained glass vases or cabinets or that one little nook
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:43 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 04:49 am (UTC)* Household deities
* Kiln gods
* Celebrating holidays with found family
* Sharing food as a means of building friendship and community
* Bes
- Merle
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:43 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
Re: Poem
From:Also ...
From:Re: Also ...
From:Re: Also ...
From:Poem
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 05:09 am (UTC)Hmm... hearths are for warmth and cooking and light, and there are so very many ways that resonates with not only being home, but feeling at home.
Blessing a new home
Homecoming
Welcoming a new person or new people into your home
Decorating the home and hearth for the holidays
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:43 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 06:28 am (UTC)Talis Kimberley - Kitchen Heroes (YouTube)
Poem
Date: 2017-12-06 09:44 am (UTC)293 lines, Buy It Now = $147
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-06 09:21 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-12-08 06:13 am (UTC)614 lines, Buy It Now = $307
Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Re: Poem
From:Done for the night!
Date: 2017-12-06 09:45 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2017-12-10 02:24 am (UTC)Hold for original prompters.
Poem
Date: 2017-12-15 10:19 am (UTC)303 lines, Buy It Now = $152