Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Dec. 4th, 2018 01:30 pmThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this space as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "alternate realities." 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.
Some of my series play into this. Fledgling Grace brings up personal changes and altered expectations, along with the alternate realms of heaven and hell. Monster House has different layers of reality between people who know or don't know about the monsters, along with their own dimensions like closetspace. One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis deals in altered realities of the chemical persuasion. Path of the Paladins similarly touches on divine realms in some entries. Polychrome Heroics features characters such as Dr. Infanta who can see altered futures, and those like Damask who have experienced major alterations of personality and/or internal dimensions like headspace. Los Conquistados is alternate history. Kande's Quest ventures into the underworld of the white demons. The Time Towers is all about actually altering reality through time travel.
In shared worlds, The Blueshift Troupers and Schrodinger's Heroes are both designed to be fanfic-friendly; The Blueshift Troupers deals in changes of self, while Schrodinger's Heroes explicitly deals with alternate realities across the dimensions. The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent Arthurian Cycle.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Summer in December Card 12-1-18
Click to read the linkback poem "Always Carry Your Goodness" (16 verses, Polychrome Heroics: Fortressa).
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 "alternate realities." 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.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "alternate realities." 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.
Some of my series play into this. Fledgling Grace brings up personal changes and altered expectations, along with the alternate realms of heaven and hell. Monster House has different layers of reality between people who know or don't know about the monsters, along with their own dimensions like closetspace. One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis deals in altered realities of the chemical persuasion. Path of the Paladins similarly touches on divine realms in some entries. Polychrome Heroics features characters such as Dr. Infanta who can see altered futures, and those like Damask who have experienced major alterations of personality and/or internal dimensions like headspace. Los Conquistados is alternate history. Kande's Quest ventures into the underworld of the white demons. The Time Towers is all about actually altering reality through time travel.
In shared worlds, The Blueshift Troupers and Schrodinger's Heroes are both designed to be fanfic-friendly; The Blueshift Troupers deals in changes of self, while Schrodinger's Heroes explicitly deals with alternate realities across the dimensions. The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent Arthurian Cycle.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Summer in December Card 12-1-18
Click to read the linkback poem "Always Carry Your Goodness" (16 verses, Polychrome Heroics: Fortressa).
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 "alternate realities." 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.