Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Sep. 1st, 2020 12:43 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 page as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Interspecies First Aid." 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.
I'll be soliciting ideas for aliens, xenobiologists, fantasy species, nonhumans with superpowers, supervillains, superheroes, medics, first responders, social engineers, failure analysts, ethicists, activists, diverse teams, inventors, other people who deal with interspecies emergencies, rescuing, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, social engineering, making changes, cooperating, bartering, speaking, listening, taking over in an emergency, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, creating connections, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, hospitals, ambulances, battlefields, workshops, laboratories, classrooms, patch rooms, wilderness, rural areas, supervillain lairs, starships, alien planets, fantasy worlds, other places where interspecies emergencies happen, physical first aid, emotional first aid, first aid tools and supplies, improvised tools and supplies, species-specific tools and supplies, divergent drug reactions, scientific discoveries, innovation, old tools in new applications, logic vs. intuition, sea change, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, values conflict, confusion, independence, cooperation, medical neutrality, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Fries Test Bingo Card 9-1-20
Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card 6-15-20
Ladiesbingo Card 9-2-19
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races plus the dragons, all with wildly different physiology.
Feathered Nests has the humans and the Fifers.
Frankenstein's Family includes humans, werewolves, vampires, and two doctors with very creative thinking.
Monster House has human inhabitants plus a bunch of different monsters.
The Moon Door includes humans and werewolves, centered around a women's chronic pain support group.
Not Quite Kansas has humans, angels, and demons.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, superpowered humans, demihumans like centaurs, mystic shifters and other mythical beasts, elves, aliens, primal soups, and animal soups.
Or you can ask for something new.
I have a linkback poem, "The Study of Techniques" (5 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 "Interspecies First Aid." 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 Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, 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 Study of Techniques" has 5 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; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four 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.
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 "Interspecies First Aid." See above for details. 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 Study of Techniques." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Interspecies First Aid." 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.
I'll be soliciting ideas for aliens, xenobiologists, fantasy species, nonhumans with superpowers, supervillains, superheroes, medics, first responders, social engineers, failure analysts, ethicists, activists, diverse teams, inventors, other people who deal with interspecies emergencies, rescuing, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, social engineering, making changes, cooperating, bartering, speaking, listening, taking over in an emergency, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, creating connections, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, hospitals, ambulances, battlefields, workshops, laboratories, classrooms, patch rooms, wilderness, rural areas, supervillain lairs, starships, alien planets, fantasy worlds, other places where interspecies emergencies happen, physical first aid, emotional first aid, first aid tools and supplies, improvised tools and supplies, species-specific tools and supplies, divergent drug reactions, scientific discoveries, innovation, old tools in new applications, logic vs. intuition, sea change, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, values conflict, confusion, independence, cooperation, medical neutrality, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Fries Test Bingo Card 9-1-20
Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card 6-15-20
Ladiesbingo Card 9-2-19
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races plus the dragons, all with wildly different physiology.
Feathered Nests has the humans and the Fifers.
Frankenstein's Family includes humans, werewolves, vampires, and two doctors with very creative thinking.
Monster House has human inhabitants plus a bunch of different monsters.
The Moon Door includes humans and werewolves, centered around a women's chronic pain support group.
Not Quite Kansas has humans, angels, and demons.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, superpowered humans, demihumans like centaurs, mystic shifters and other mythical beasts, elves, aliens, primal soups, and animal soups.
Or you can ask for something new.
I have a linkback poem, "The Study of Techniques" (5 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 "Interspecies First Aid." 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 Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, 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 Study of Techniques" has 5 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; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four 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.
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 "Interspecies First Aid." See above for details. 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 Study of Techniques." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.
Re: Try this ...
Date: 2020-09-02 05:55 am (UTC)- call the (our) office
- Google Translate
- write out instructions, we'll translate 'em later.
The language in question uses a non-Latin alphabet.
I have also used the relevent sections of picture dictionaries and phrasebooks to go over medical stuff, either anticipated (i.e. a pregnancy), specific study (practicing for a first aid course or to requalify as a nurse) or level grinding (memroize these basic words, then we'll add by topic starting with emergencies and medical.)
We actually had a medical phrasebook in like 15 languages for awhile (at the office), but I'm not sure where that ended with all the recent mayhem...
The speechboards may be useful. (We've also made wordlists that we can translate as needed.)
Mimeing and art (if one is talented in those areas) can be helpful. So can Google Images and YouTube, if you have a smartphone and internet access...
Eventually I learned more tricks and to make sure I was Crazy-Prepared before doing /anything/:
"Can you drive me to the store?"
"Sure! But first, what store, where is it, and write English direction words (in your alphabet) next to the pictures on this paper so you can give me directions in my language* before we leave!"
*I got tired of debating if 'turn right' meant right or left. And I don't like pointless quarrels. Or driving in circles for 20mins.
"Can you call the electric company?"
"Sure! What am I asking, what is the account info, where's a copy of the bill, and how do I tell you when they are asking your permission to talk to me?"
Re: Try this ...
Date: 2020-09-02 09:31 am (UTC)That's logical.
>>I have also used the relevent sections of picture dictionaries and phrasebooks to go over medical stuff, either anticipated (i.e. a pregnancy), specific study (practicing for a first aid course or to requalify as a nurse) or level grinding (memroize these basic words, then we'll add by topic starting with emergencies and medical.)<<
Some phrasebooks do a great job with that. Lonely Planet is a favorite, but there are other good ones. Laying the basics is straightforward. But if someone has an uncommon condition that they need to learn all the jargon for, that's hard even in your native tongue. :/
>>We actually had a medical phrasebook in like 15 languages for awhile (at the office), but I'm not sure where that ended with all the recent mayhem...<<
Awesome resource. <3 Rosettas.
>>The speechboards may be useful. (We've also made wordlists that we can translate as needed.) <<
Wordlists are useful. The speechboards have the advantage of pictures, which work when someone is upset. Even nonverbal people can usually understand pictures longer before they melt down completely. (Everyone will melt down under enough stress, and medical mayhem will cause that even in people who typically don't.)
>>Mimeing and art (if one is talented in those areas) can be helpful. So can Google Images and YouTube, if you have a smartphone and internet access...<<
Also good.
Regrettably the best speechware is ruinously expensive in L-America. In T-America there are quite decent shareware versions, and free icons out the wazoo because that's a common assignment in classes, where students are asked to make a set to contribute for common use.
>>Eventually I learned more tricks and to make sure I was Crazy-Prepared before doing /anything/: <<
Learning from experience is good.
Re: Try this ...
Date: 2020-09-02 03:47 pm (UTC)Fortunatly we mostly had bilingul staff for the really complex stuff, like contracts.
(I'll also say that I prefer to start teaching 1 really basic stuff 2 emergencies and 3 medical stuff /in that order/, because if something goes wrong those are the very first things you need.)
At the low end, you look up or copy stuff out of books especially for specific issues. (Hospital pages for going to hospital, maternity ward pages for having a baby, etc.)
I did end up going over more complicated terms for specific issues (stimming and adaptive equipment mostly) on two occasions, as I got along well with the people and was more passingly familiar with the issues than the average person off the street. (Educated layman standards, not medical professional.)
Another trick with basic conversant language proficiency is to basically level-grind thru less familliar stuff. I did that with a more advanced student to practice reading/talking and prep for a possible first-aid class.
Although I don't think we ever had to do this, another option would be to ask a medical professional to make the wordlist (possibly with definitions and slang/jargon abbreviations) then go over it and add definitions. For really complex or unusual stuff, maybe have a buddy take notes on what the doctor says at the appointment. (And get a note-taker who is passably tamilliar with medical complexity as a concept, if possible...)
Its also worth mentioning that I'm not usually dealing with emergencies - its mostly prep stuff. ("No, you did not win 1 mil, thats a scam.") And people immersed in my (foreign to them) language can start picking up enough really basic stuff/tricks to communicate in about a month.
By the way, Where Women Have No Doctor has the best pictogram representation of birth control I've ever seen. And seriously, check out the DK Billingual Picture Dictionaries.
>>Regrettably the best speechware is ruinously expensive in L-America.<<
If you download Google Translate, you can use it as a prosthetic voice assuming a) you can type and b) you are using it in one of the more common languages.* Just set it to English-English, for example. It will sound kind of monotone, but...
*English/Spanish/French count, Burmese doesn't.
I'm used to operating in a 'closest thing we've got' mentality for all but the fussiest issues. Once I had to come up with the cheapest possible first aid - I took the Red Cross reccomendations, than winnowed and substituted down to about $10-15. It used the already in-the-freezer frozen peas and a towel as an ice pack, for crying out loud!
And I keep making resources, because they're customizable, and homemade is basically free. (Its also kind of fun. :) )