Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Jul. 1st, 2014 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you all for your enthusiasm.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "concerning cats." 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 "Look at Me" (Polychrome Heroics, 20 verses).
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 "concerning cats." 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, Digg, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl, #promptcall, and #crowdfunding. 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. "Look at Me" belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and has 20 verses.
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, you get 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 "concerning cats." I'll be soliciting ideas for domestic cats, big cats, felinoid aliens, cat lovers, cat haters, cat deities, things which are called 'cat' but are not felines, raising cats, rescuing cats, strange things that cats do, belling the cat, plot twists, trees, doors, laps, cat lairs, cat houses, other places cats may be found, catnip, cat toys, cat genetics, breeds and colors, nine lives, pawprints, 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 Lewis Turco's The New Book of Forms 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 "Look at Me.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "concerning cats." 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 "Look at Me" (Polychrome Heroics, 20 verses).
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 "concerning cats." 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, Digg, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl, #promptcall, and #crowdfunding. 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. "Look at Me" belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and has 20 verses.
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, you get 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 "concerning cats." I'll be soliciting ideas for domestic cats, big cats, felinoid aliens, cat lovers, cat haters, cat deities, things which are called 'cat' but are not felines, raising cats, rescuing cats, strange things that cats do, belling the cat, plot twists, trees, doors, laps, cat lairs, cat houses, other places cats may be found, catnip, cat toys, cat genetics, breeds and colors, nine lives, pawprints, 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 Lewis Turco's The New Book of Forms 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 "Look at Me.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Yay!
Date: 2014-07-01 06:32 pm (UTC)I couldn't resist this story: http://lovemeow.com/2014/06/cat-and-lynx-become-inseparable-friends/, OK, they are both felines, but...
Maneki neko
cats in Animal Assisted Activities (the dogs usually get the spotlight but cats work in AAA and AAT too)
Cats as animal soulmates to humans: my first cat, an old-type siamese lived at my grand-parents, she bonded strongly with my Grandpa, who cared for her when she fell ill and saved her, years later, one afternon, Susi came to my grandma at a dead run, meowing and scratching when she didn't seem to understand, my oldest aunt realized Susi wanted them to follow her, they found my Granddad unconscious in the yard, he had a stroke, the doctor said that if he had not been found in a few minutes it would have been too late.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2014-07-01 06:48 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-01 06:33 pm (UTC)30 lines, Buy It Now = $15
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 06:38 pm (UTC)Catnap
http://hotlink.ellenmilliongraphics.com/ellen/baby/hugakitty.JPG
Something with a snow-cat in the north.
http://www.tornworld.net/artpageview.php?id=419
Poem
Date: 2014-07-01 07:31 pm (UTC)96 lines, Buy It Now = $48
Poem
Date: 2014-07-04 06:51 pm (UTC)Linkback Is Live!
Date: 2014-07-01 07:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 07:40 pm (UTC)Sometimes you pick a cat and sometimes it picks you.
The cat with multiple households.
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 07:57 pm (UTC)Surely a wisewoman like Fiorenza has a cat.
Victor and Igor discover a cat.... I wonder how Adam is going to react? Every good castle needs a cat, too...
Oooooh! Maryam.... a steampunk lab could be both heaven and hell for a cat...
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 03:00 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-04 09:15 am (UTC)246 lines, Buy It Now = $123
Poem
Date: 2014-07-04 07:47 pm (UTC)48 lines, Buy It Now = $20
Poem
Date: 2014-07-05 07:53 pm (UTC)48 lines, Buy It Now = $20
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 08:09 pm (UTC)Catamaran
Catatonic
Scat (as in "shoo" not as in "animal waste products")
Cat cats
A cat may look at a king
Cat with a canary
Cat got your tongue
Puss in Boots
Cat chimera
Let the cat out of the bag
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 02:59 am (UTC)134 lines, Buy It Now = $134
Crazy Cat Lady
Date: 2014-07-01 08:11 pm (UTC)Guardian cats. My cats (some more savvy than others especially my current tomcat, Huxley)always seem to sense my moods.
Cats as messengers of the gods (probably Egyptian ones!)... and cat's *thinking* they _are_ Gods!
The 'I've eaten 2 mouthfuls out of my bowl so of course it's empty and I'm starving to death' syndrome.
Cats who 'forget how to cat' (e.g. misjudging jumps) or that will just flop down _HERE_ cuz they can't be bothered
Kitteh warms
Kitteh box
BIG kittehs, and cute ikkle kittehs
The kittehs on the internet phenomenon
I think that's about my lot for now - Paula x
Re: Crazy Cat Lady
Date: 2014-07-01 08:13 pm (UTC)Re: Crazy Cat Lady
Date: 2014-07-01 08:23 pm (UTC)9 lines, Buy It Now = $5
Re: Crazy Cat Lady
Date: 2014-07-02 02:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 08:16 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 03:43 am (UTC)40 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 05:57 am (UTC)Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:44 pm (UTC)Yes, prompters customarily get a free copy of what they inspire.
>> How does that happen? <<
I send it backchannel via private message or email. I sent out prompter copies this morning, so if yours went astray, ping me and I'll resend it.
>> I may pay for it yet, but I'm considering instead putting the same money in to sponsor a poem I haven't a chance to read elsewise. <<
Yay! My donors often want to sponsor their own poems, but I do have several folks who are go the other way and sponsor different stuff so they can read more pieces.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 09:01 pm (UTC)Keeping wild cats as pets - but it being their choice
Rolling in dust, something my old cat Gizmo loved to do
Cats and dogs being best friends
Why do cats have nine lives?
Poem
Date: 2014-07-03 07:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-01 10:09 pm (UTC)A super-powered cat.. hero or villain? [or neither]
History, from the cat's perspective.
Bast and her sister Sekhmet debate human-kind's fate. [and if you can find what form the ancient Egyptians wrote poems in, your google-fu is stronger than mine.]
What the lioness said to the fawn... and why the fawn lived.
Raised by cats...
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:35 am (UTC)264 lines, Buy It Now = $132
Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-03 12:25 am (UTC)--Rogan
Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-03 07:34 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-03 07:33 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-01 10:23 pm (UTC)90 lines, Buy It Now = $45
Poem
Date: 2014-07-01 11:32 pm (UTC)40 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 12:02 am (UTC)34 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 12:26 am (UTC)3 lines, Buy It Now = $5
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-02 12:29 am (UTC)God is a cat. Bad things happen to good people because he's taking a nap.
Children's cat games: kitty in the corner, cat's cradle...
Cats licking you with those rough tongues of theirs. Some people love it, some people hate it.
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 03:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-02 02:28 am (UTC)Also: http://ng-moonmoth.livejournal.com/2245.html
Thank you!
Date: 2014-07-02 05:21 am (UTC)http://dialecticdreamer.dreamwidth.org/25680.html
Poem
Date: 2014-07-03 07:32 am (UTC)156 lines, Buy It Now = $78
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-02 02:36 am (UTC)mythological cats, such as Wampus cats
Why do cats always seem to lose or hide their toys?
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 08:18 pm (UTC)27 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:41 pm (UTC)Re: Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:46 pm (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 04:36 am (UTC)23 lines, Buy It Now = $10
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 05:20 am (UTC)32 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 09:37 am (UTC)Poem
Date: 2014-07-02 07:56 pm (UTC)10 lines, Buy It Now = $5
Poem
Date: 2014-07-06 03:48 am (UTC)66 lines, Buy It Now = $33