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The July [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is open with a theme of "Heroism -- Real or Perceived."  Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration.


What I Have Written




From My Prompts



ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you 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 "anything goes." 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.

Note that our internet connection has been bad for well over a month. Sometimes it's down completely, other times things like Dreamwidth and searches won't run. So I'm losing a lot of work time and may only have access for half a day or less. Given this limitation, there's a higher chance of actually getting things written for prompts that use characters, settings, etc. that are already established.

Two poems recently attracted attention with regards to extending their story arcs, so anyone can ask for a followup to these:
"Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" -- Victor is displeased with Ghenadie shirking work assigned as fines.
"An Interest in the Affairs of Your Government" -- Frank the Crank accidentally gets elected to the City Council in Mercedes.

Stuck for ideas? You can find prompts by ...
* browsing planned poems for Aquariana and the Maldives, The Big One, Broken Angels, Calliope and Vagary, Officer Pink and Turq, Pips and Joshua, or Shiv. (Some of these I've already done, so they're not all up to date, but others I haven't done yet.)
* browsing my Serial Poetry page for favorite threads or characters.
* browsing my QUILTBAG list, Romantic Orientations in My Characters, Sexual Orientations in My Characters, Gender Identities in My Characters, or My Characters with Disabilities for favorites.
* naming a poetic form you'd like to see written.
* picking a prompt from my current bingo cards: Western Bingo Card 7-1-25
* picking some from the Bingo Generator prompt lists.
* looking up fun tropes on Fanlore.
* choosing an unusual word.
* plugging a favorite topic into your search engine and choosing a picture that looks interesting.
* anything short. I could especially use short poems today as other prompts are likely to run long.
* standalone ideas, if you're a fan of that rather than series.

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 "anything goes." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things of any type. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.

ExpandNew to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )
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[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Surprises and Celebrations."

I write mostly gentle fiction (with warnings when I skirt more aggressive elements, of course) which doesn’t exclude drama. With the theme of “surprises and celebrations,” readers can offer negative surprises. The range for prompt ideas is as wide as the readers can explain. “Cold Cash is surprised when he is brought in for questioning by the Feds after the attempt to kidnap the Cort twins,” is a legitimate prompt idea. It is not, however, planned for the story arc.
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The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED.  Thank you 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 "Weaponized Incompetence and Malicious Compliance!" 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 activists, rebels, traitors, exes, abuse survivors, refugees, runaway youth, slaves or other captives, slavers, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, leaders, bosses, employees, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, alien or fantasy species, failure analysts, ethicists, other people who get into untenable situations, protesting, dragging your feet, breaking things, causing problems because you were told to, planning, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like someone left the gate open, adventuring, hitchhiking, quitting school, divorcing, disowning, betraying, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, bartering, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, slave ships, slave quarters, abusive homes, trails, sailing ships, campervans or RVs, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, residential school-concentration camps, homeless shelters, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where the intolerable happens, unhappy relationships, crappy jobs, educational abuse, responsibility without authority is abuse, protest rallies, slavery or captivity, locks or chains, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Western Bingo Card 7-1-25

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

Weaponized incompetence has two modes:
* One is shirking a fair share of work by pretending to be bad at it: for instance, copper-digging men who try to con women into doing all the emotional labor. (Take care to distinguish this from people who don't know how to do things because they were never taught, or people who are genuinely bad at a category of thing.)
* The other is a form of activism, and indeed, one of the leading forms of resistance in slavery: doing work slowly, sloppily, breaking tools, playing dumb, etc. It's exactly how black people got a reputation for being stupid and lazy, because their ancestors were unwilling to be exploited and fought back in subtle ways.

Malicious compliance is following an order to the letter, expecting that to cause problems. It is a form of protest most often used when pointing out a flaw or proposing a better solution would be ignored or even punished.


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One is developing its own neurovariant culture after rebelling against the Galactic Arms.

The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past, touching on slavery and rebellion.

Not Quite Kansas includes demons, who are masters of malicious compliance.

The Ocracies has a wide variety of countries crammed together, each with a totally different government. Sometimes people leave their homeland to find something they like better.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evili.

Peculiar Obligations mixes Quakers and pirates, among other things. It's another setting where people strive against slavery.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. The supervillains are the most likely to practice weaponized incompetence and malicious compliance. Among the more relevant threads are Danso and Family, Dr. Infanta, Fortressa, Iron Horses, Shiv, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

ExpandRead more... )
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[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort.   Leave prompts, get ficlets!
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The June [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Good vs. Bad."  Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration.


What I Have Written



From My Prompts




ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
If you want to suggest themes for upcoming Poetry Fishbowls, now is the time.  I plan to set up the poll tomorrow (Friday).  You can put your theme ideas in a comment below the Call for Themes post
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[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "recovering from nightmares."


For each person who sends at least one prompt, I’ll write a story, send it via private message or (for too long fills) an email, then write a brief thumbnail summary and post that in reply to the comment, and move on.

The prompt call will be open until around midnight local time on late Tuesday/early Wednesday, which gives everyone time to join in
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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
We've reached the end of scheduled themes for the Poetry Fishbowl project. It's time to brainstorm some new themes! These are a few that I've jotted down earlier, ones that I've thought up or people have suggested, to give you an idea what kind of stuff might be suitable:

* Angels and Demons
* Apocalyptic Visions
* Emotional Regulation
* Faeries and Fey
* Fixit
* Pirates, Rascals, and Rogues
* Time Travel
* Westerns

What other themes would you like to see me write about? What would you like to buy? Suggest them in a comment below this post.

ExpandRead more... )
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The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you 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 "Gentleness Is Strength." 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 caregivers, first responders, clergy, outreach workers, philanthropists, an anonymous benefactor, activists, volunteers, teachers, parents, comares, strongmen, tough guys, superheroes, supervillains, other gentle and strong people, caregiving, feeding each other, babysitting, brushing or braiding hair, catching someone who's falling, lifting heavy things, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, offering crash space, helping someone move, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, Triton Teen Centers, the Peace Store, charities, homeless shelters, clothing banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, sobering centers, mentor circles, support groups, gyms, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, social justice departments in schools, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, community gardens, other helper hangouts, self-control, intentional neighboring, altruism, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, activist symbols, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Pride Fest Bingo Card 6-2-25


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

The Blueshift Troupers travel the galaxy helping colonies solve problems.

Clay of Life depends on the friendship between a blacksmith and a golem.

Daughters of the Apocalypse relies a lot on kindness for survival.

Frankenstein's Family has diverse subgroups interacting, of which the vampires in particular are gentle with others.

The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis is about Shaeth learnng how to take care of his new followers.

Path of the Paladins balances gentleness and strength.

Peculiar Obligations is about Quakers and pirates learning to help each other.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people helping people. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is fantasy with a gentle angle.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they take care of each other.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

ExpandRead more... )
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The [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is running Saturday, May 17-Sunday, May 18 with a theme of "Facing Darkness." Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration!


What I Have Written:



From My Prompts: 


ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "recovery and rebuilding."

Most of my readers are familiar with the way this works: send a prompt, I write a gentle fiction story (I warn for swear words, implied violence, sex, et al) and if I were any good at embroidery any more, I’d embroider “EARNED happy ending” instead fo “Home, sweet home,” and have it framed. With those very loose limitations, ask for the story that you, the reader, want to see.

ExpandRead more... )
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The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you 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 "Ethical Supervillains." 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 supervillains, superheroes, supernaries, blue-plate specials, wild young things, tricksters, contraries, rebels, adventurers, damsels/gentlemen in distress, mentors, historians, explorers, partners, teachers, leaders, teammates, ethicists, psychologists, folklorists, activists, queerfolk, other responsible rebels, using superpowers, building gizmos or super-gizmos, doing magic, breaking rules, refusing to stop just because solving a problem is illegal, exploring new territory, upsetting predictions, inventing things, trusting your best enemy, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, researching, revising theories, parenting, teaching, adventuring, asking for help and getting it, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, experiments changing paradigms, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, supervillain lairs, Triton Teen centers, SPOON bases, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, schools, kitchens, campfires, libraries, laboratories, apothecary shops, makerspaces, farmer's markets, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, radical activism, radical trust, The Care and Feeding of Supervillains, gizmos or super-gizmos, zoomwagons, zipcycles, dirgecraft, dendropolycarbonate, magical artifacts, quests, enchantments, potions, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, inventions that change everything, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Colors Fest Bingo Card 5-1-25


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.

Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.

The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.

Not Quite Kansas has a helpful demon.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Antimatter & Stalwart Stan are a cross-cape couple, and Antimatter essentially does science-based magic. Aquariana knows Steel, a supervillain whale; and the Kraken thread crosses this one with Thalassia. Berettaflies shows Stylet trying to clean up his act some. The Big One features several supervillains helping out during and after the earthquake. Calliope stumbles into partnership with the supervillain Vagary. Cuoio and Chiara are principled supervillains. Dr. Infanta is a supervillain or superhera depending who you ask. Fortressa is a supervillain with an all-female team. Officer Pink features centaurs and mystic shifters. Pain's Gray belongs to a gang of supervillains in Motor City. Shiv is surprisingly ethical despite his rough past. In Trichromatic Attachments, Tarnish is a supervillain.

Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.

Or you can ask for something new.

Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.

ExpandRead more... )
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[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest.

The whole purpose of the “Feathering the Nest” prompt call is to write short stories that focus on comfort and care, rather than heavy plot or high conflict incidents. So, to give the reader just the story that they’re in the mood for, reply to this post and suggest an idea.
[---8<---]
Reply to this post with at least one idea and I’ll write the story. For each prompt, I’m confident in offering a thousand word story, plus more for those who boost the signal. That’s easy! Just point people from your corner of the internet to this page and mention it in your prompt. Each signal boost will add at least one hundred words. (Boosting to FB, X, and elsewhere on DW adds a full page, for example.) I tend to be generous with word counts, rounding down when listing them, which gives me more room to write to suit the reader’s preferences.
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The April [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Empowerment."  Com give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration! 


What I Have Written




From My Prompts



ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Apologies." Leave a comment under that post with your prompt, and get a ficlet!

So, let’s take the idea of apologies and run with it. Tell me a setup, and I’ll write an aftermath and apology.
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The 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 "Cozy Coping Skills." 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 caregivers, first responders, counselors, clergy, outreach workers, activists, volunteers, teachers, parents, college students, bohemians, comares, superheroes, supervillains, other people who teach or use coping skills, meditating, crafting, playing music, forest bathing, relaxing, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, offering crash space, helping someone move, BookCrossing, yarnbombing, planting trees, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, Triton Teen Centers, the Peace Store, charities, homeless shelters, sobering centers, mentor circles, support groups, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, life skills or family departments in schools, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, parks, community gardens, other peaceful hangouts, self-compassion, healthy touch, intentional neighboring, altruism, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, safety pin peace signs, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, homemaking, hygge, hot tea or cocoa, comfort food, interspecies relationships, vivaria, trial and error, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


34 Fuzzy Products To Make Your Life A Bit Cozier
35 Cozy Things For Every Room In Your Home
100 Simple Cozy Moments to Enjoy
150 Random Acts of Kindness
200 Coping Skills by Topic


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Aesthetics Bingo Card 4-1-25


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One has neurodiverse characters coping with life in space.

Arts and Crafts America largely copes with challenges using creativity.

The Blueshift Troupers take care of themselves and each other while traveling the galaxy helping colonies solve problems.

Clay of Life has a lot of cozy coping moments between a blacksmith and a golem.

Daughters of the Apocalypse requires coping skills for survival.

Frankenstein's Family encourages coziness and companionship over torches and pitchforks.

The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers, who are good at coping skills.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about self-care and people helping people. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is fantasy with a high level of competence and compassion.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they take care of each other.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

ExpandRead more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Feathering the Nest today, which always has a theme of fluff and comfort. Leave a prompt in a comment under that post, and get a ficlet!


Today’s prompt call is meant to give readers what they want, in a story or scene long enough to rea while drinking a favorite beverage. I do tend to overshoot, but I consider that added value, rather than a problem.

So ask.

Reply to this post with a fluffy scene or a problem that needs a supportive listener instead of a sledgehammer or a blank check. Recent discussion has been about mentoring and “good answers” to tough questions, and if the setup can be explained in the first hundred words, that leaves the remaining nine hundred plus for the juicy center of a sun-ripened watermelon, or the soft, engrossing flavors of a sweet potato pie. Melodies repeat. Heartbeats are a favorite soothing device far back beyond recorded history.

ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
The March [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Destruction."  Come give us prompts or claim some for your own inspiration.


What I Have Written




From My Prompts


ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Now what?"

I picked up someone else’s coffee by accident and took a sip. Now what? Jules contacted his “backup resource” when the reservation snafu shook him. Now what? (That question will be answered tomorrow, rest assured!) Wayne is facing his college graduation ceremony. Now what? And so on.

Sometimes, the simplest things can leave someone flat-footed, with no idea how to proceed.

Be as serious, specific, sarcastic, or silly as you, the reader, want to read.

This is a plot-focused prompt call, so please keep in mind “problems that can’t be solved by hitting.” Let’s use Jules’ situation as an example: hitting the annoying clerk wouldn’t solve the problem of getting his money back, and the ‘where to sleep’ issue would become ‘county jail,’ at a bare minimum. That’s not a great solution. So, if the setup includes violence, I’ll mention it indirectly, and include a warning of “implied or discussed violence, off-stage.” Then I’ll write merrily along, because there’s just TOO LITTLE of this kind of storytelling in mainstream media
.

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