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The Wordsmith's Forge - Poetry Fishbowl Open!
The Writing & Other Projects of Elizabeth Barrette
12:35 pm February 19th, 2008
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Poetry Fishbowl Open!
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! 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.


Cyberfunded Creativity

If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are 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. 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.






2) 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 here, 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.


Additional Notes

1) I've been posting 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.

2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I've been sending copies of poems to people whose eddresses I already have. If you want to see the poem inspired by your prompt, give me your eddress; I recommend using {at} and {dot} to discourage spammers. These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.


Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's genre is speculative fiction. I am especially looking for:


  • characters

  • settings

  • speculative motifs or objects

  • events

  • poetic forms



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 first edition of Lewis Turco's The 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. I'm also going to try my hand at specialized filtering, so I can post something just for sponsors. The rest will go into my archive for magazine submission.

Service Note: My Internet connection was patchy yesterday, out today, and just came back. Hopefully it will stay intact now, but if I disappear, you'll know why.

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Current Mood: busy busy
33 comments or Leave a comment
Comments
Thread started by tonithegreat
tonithegreat From: [info]tonithegreat Date: February 19th, 2008 07:47 pm (UTC) (Link)
Could be that my connection is wonky, could be that the filters are making it so I can't get confirmation that I've commented, so please excuse this post if it is a repeat.

Speculative fiction setting: A society/place/world where the tragedy of the commons has been solved.
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ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 08:58 pm (UTC) (Link)

Feedback
Whew! That one took a while!

"The Forging of Brisingamen" is a science fiction retelling of a Norse myth. Here you get to meet my Bonos, a delightful alien race who prefer cooperation to competition, and who solve conflicts by having sex. The poem is free verse, 8 lines per stanza, with much alliteration in homage to traditional Norse poetry.
96 lines, Buy It Now: custom pricing.
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tonithegreat From: [info]tonithegreat Date: February 19th, 2008 09:51 pm (UTC) (Link)

Re: Feedback
Wow! That's exciting! Bonos have my brain firing "bonobos" and Norse poetry has me thinking of ragnorak, but I have the feeling that this is not going to be armageddonish at all. I would love to read it, and I bet I'll wish that I could afford it for repost, too.

Here's a randomish question that you may already have answered: If someone buy-it-nows your work from one of these, do you retain the rights to submit it elsewhere as well? I would think that most of your readers would hope so, but that might open up a copyright can of worms.
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ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 10:59 pm (UTC) (Link)

Re: Feedback
BULLSEYE! Woo-hoo! You got it! *grin* Yes, the Bono species is substantially inspired by bonobos, aka pygmy chimpanzees. I was intrigued by how bonobos use erotic activity (of many and creative kinds) to relieve tension and solve conflicts.

Since you donated, I've got your email address, so I sent you a copy of the poem backchannel.

Here's how the Buy It Now feature works: A donor sponsors a specific poem, which I will then post to my blog. It can be dedicated to a certain person if desired. Both the donor and I keep nonexclusive reprint rights. That means the poem can be reprinted on the donor's blog or other venue; and I can put it in a collection someday; and so forth.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
Thread started by Janet Miles, CAP-OM
janetmiles From: [info]janetmiles Date: February 19th, 2008 08:12 pm (UTC) (Link)
Character: A dolphin genegineered or borged to produce human-understandable spoken language.
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ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 10:47 pm (UTC) (Link)
I put this together with [info]haikujaguar's "musical instruments of aliens" and "musical weapons." The result is another very long free verse poem about a galactic war and how the cetaceans save Earth. "Weapons of Mass Destruction" is ... on the disturbing side.
136 lines, Buy It Now: custom pricing.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
haikujaguar From: [info]haikujaguar Date: February 19th, 2008 10:51 pm (UTC) (Link)
Tell me about the custom pricing. -_-
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 11:13 pm (UTC) (Link)
Custom pricing is for poems that are extra-long and/or extra-complicated, and thus take more time and effort to create than the ones on the standard price grid. (I've written two long poems today, and one shorter one. *gasp pant wheeze*) Prices range from about $.50 to $1.00 per line. I'll go with $.50/line for "Weapons of Mass Destruction" so that would be $68.00.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
haikujaguar From: [info]haikujaguar Date: February 19th, 2008 11:19 pm (UTC) (Link)
Hmm. A little too much for my budget at this point, to make publicly available.

So I just sent you a random donation. :)
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Thread started by Janet C.
kadiera From: [info]kadiera Date: February 19th, 2008 08:21 pm (UTC) (Link)
an event from today's news: cell phone signals on the moon.
(Reply) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 09:27 pm (UTC) (Link)
I put this together with "first contact" from [info]haikujaguar to create "Signal Moments," a free verse poem in which a cell phone dropped into a lunar toilet leads to first contact.
47 lines, Buy It Now $20.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
Thread started by M. C. A. Hogarth
haikujaguar From: [info]haikujaguar Date: February 19th, 2008 08:59 pm (UTC) (Link)
first contact

fwoosh

Form: rispetto!
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ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 19th, 2008 11:33 pm (UTC) (Link)
I have written a rispetto, "With Respect to Fwoosh," describing the symbolism across several cultures. (Um, make sure Shame doesn't have his mouth full if he's reading this over your shoulder.) It's short and sassy and just what I needed after the long serious ones. I like the rispetto form; here's the version I used:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9125664/rispetto
8 lines, Buy It Now: $5

And that's the last prompt, so I'm done until I get more. I'm going to break for supper now. I should be back online in a couple hours.
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haikujaguar From: [info]haikujaguar Date: February 20th, 2008 01:42 am (UTC) (Link)
This one, I buy!
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 01:54 am (UTC) (Link)
Thank you! I have posted the sponsored poem. ;) Also some of its artistic inspiration.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
Comment by M. C. A. Hogarth
haikujaguar From: [info]haikujaguar Date: February 19th, 2008 09:12 pm (UTC) (Link)
Oh wait, here's another good one: the musical instruments of aliens.

Hmm, I almost typed musical weapons.
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Thread started by Villiers
dianavilliers From: [info]dianavilliers Date: February 19th, 2008 11:56 pm (UTC) (Link)


Have a landscape - you may wish to populate it differently.
If you want to send me anything, my @livejournal address works
(Reply) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 01:33 am (UTC) (Link)

Poem: "Beneath Blue Eyes"
Beautiful picture! From this and [info]haikujaguar's rispetto form I created "Beneath Blue Eyes," a poem about alien ruins.


Beneath Blue Eyes


The mountains are sharp as molars, rising high
Above the plain, and cupped among them, the lakes.
Each one is round, and blue as a baby’s eye;
The crater’s rim is perfect, unmarred by breaks.
Unseeing, still, mirroring an empty sky
The water conceals its terrible keepsakes.
Every alien city lost, drowned and dead –
All questions unanswered, last words left unsaid.





Edited at 2008-02-20 01:42 am (UTC)
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
dianavilliers From: [info]dianavilliers Date: February 20th, 2008 03:19 am (UTC) (Link)

Re: Poem: "Beneath Blue Eyes"
Lovely! Thank you.
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Thread started by Beth
chibibluebird From: [info]chibibluebird Date: February 20th, 2008 03:05 am (UTC) (Link)
will you make me a poem about a cute animal that takes over the world?
starfish, maybe. or isopods!

the motif/event is probably terraforming.

my favourite form is the pantoum.

(Reply) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 04:03 am (UTC) (Link)
Isopods it is, something like these, in fact:
http://www.boosman.com/blog/2004/03/cymothoa_exigua.html
"The Song of Tongues" is a pantoum about alien isopods who replace human tongues. Sometimes, being invaded isn't a bad thing...
52 lines, Buy It Now: $20



Edited at 2008-02-20 04:06 am (UTC)
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 04:34 am (UTC) (Link)
I started with your "terraforming" idea, though it isn't specified as such in the final poem; and added [info]haikujaguar's idea of "alien musical instruments." The result is "The World That Sang," written in unrhymed triplets, a lovely little poem about a planet full of mysterious musical instruments -- with a twist at the end.
18 lines, Buy It Now: $10
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
chibibluebird From: [info]chibibluebird Date: February 20th, 2008 05:15 am (UTC) (Link)
you are fast! and thanks for the link.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
Comment by Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 05:18 am (UTC) (Link)

Winding Down
I'm planning to close the Poetry Fishbowl at midnight (Illinois time) so you've got a bit more than half an hour left if you want to post a prompt.
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Thread started by Deborah P Kolodji
dkolodji From: [info]dkolodji Date: February 20th, 2008 05:26 am (UTC) (Link)
I'm not sure what the time difference is, but just in case I've made it before midnight in Illinois.....

my prompt suggestion is:

weavers and menders of the small rips of time.....

(Reply) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 20th, 2008 06:14 am (UTC) (Link)

Yay, you made it!
I was hoping you'd catch one of my fishbowls eventually.

I put your prompt together with [info]chibibluebird's pantoum form. "The Hourglass Girls" explains why black widow spiders are busy and venomous.
28 lines, Buy It Now: $15
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
Comment by Deborah P Kolodji
dkolodji From: [info]dkolodji Date: February 20th, 2008 05:45 am (UTC) (Link)
One more for you.....

A future reaction to "Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise, 1872" by Camille Pissaro as it is viewed during a loan to an art museum on Mars.

http://www.nortonsimon.org/collections/browse_artist.asp?name=Camille+Jacob+Pissarro

(Reply) (Thread)
Thread started by John
anamacha From: [info]anamacha Date: February 23rd, 2008 09:54 pm (UTC) (Link)
This is a device in order to funnel money into your donation button, right? The cyberfunded creativity thing. So why are some of teh works paid and others you just post out here?
(Reply) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 23rd, 2008 11:48 pm (UTC) (Link)
Well, the fishbowl is partly about cyberfunded creativity and partly about inspiration. The donation button is new; this is is only the second time I've done it. The setup is based on some observations about how the market works.

1) People like getting things for free. Also, people are giving me their time and ideas. So, I always post at least one poem free, both to attract attention and to reward people who post prompts.

2) Donor perks are popular; people like getting extra things in exchange for donations. So I added a special post just for donors this time.

3) People often bug me for copies of things I've mentioned, which aren't published yet. The "Buy It Now" option allows people to pay me roughly what I'd get from an editor, and have something made available immediately, instead of having to wait for some editor to like it and publish it.

4) The more profitable a given type of writing is, the more time and energy I can afford to spend on it. So if people really love something, they can give me money and tell me what they want more of, and I'll try to aim in that direction.

5) Anything that doesn't get sold or posted as part of a fishbowl goes into my archive, and I can sell it elsewhere.

So it's a balance between free samples and paying work, basically, the intent being to give my audience a chance to interact with me in a way that puts beans on my table and poetry in their hands.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
anamacha From: [info]anamacha Date: February 24th, 2008 01:30 am (UTC) (Link)
that's really cool. Thanks for explaining your reasoning;. I'm glad you're doing this sort of thing; maybe I should look into it as well. I need SOME sort of moneymaker.

What are you using for the works behind the button? paypal?

Had I the spare money, I'd definitely share it with the cyber folks -- you, [info]haikujaguar, and a few others.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 24th, 2008 01:52 am (UTC) (Link)
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service.

Cyberfunded creativity works best for folks with a lively audience and/or good salesmanship skills. I deliberately waited about 8 months after starting my blog, so as to build up an audience and have time to try out different activities, before I posted a donation button for anything.

Yes, that's a PayPal button. It's a popular tool for cyberfunded creativity.

There's no real minimum on donations, although $1 is a sensible floor given that PayPal takes a cut out of every transaction. The cool thing about CFC is that it allows lots of people to contribute just a little bit and still accomplish something. I've made substantial donations a few times, but the last one -- since I'm desperately broke right now -- was just a couple bucks for a project very dear to my heart.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
anamacha From: [info]anamacha Date: February 24th, 2008 02:07 am (UTC) (Link)
well, I've got crap salesmanship skills, and I don't know about my audeince. Judging from my comments, it's not that lively -- I can never really predict what sort of response I'll get to my works.

I do know that a fair amount of people read my stuff when I'm in the LJ Idol competition, but I'm out of that now (I was knocked out by ONE vote in a two-way race).

That said, a number of people have friended me through the competition. There's no telling how many of those actually read me, though. I know I tend to gloss over posts that don't grab me in the first paragraph or so, through their subject or writing style.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
ysabetwordsmith From: [info]ysabetwordsmith Date: February 24th, 2008 05:01 am (UTC) (Link)
A lively audience is something that can be built up deliberately, if one is willing to work at it. When I was preparing to start a LiveJournal, I looked at the ones that I read every day, identified what hooky features I could, and asked their authors for input. Some ways of building an audience and bonding with them include:

1) Friend back most or all of the people who Friend you.

2) Post on other people's LJs and say something interesting. People often backtrack to the LJ of someone who makes a good argument or funny joke. If you don't have time to do a lot of this, just do one a day. It adds up.

3) Ask your audience questions. Get them talking with you and each other.

4) Do occasional polls asking people what they like about your blog, what they want to see more of or would like to see you cover that you haven't yet. Interactivity is very attractive.

5) Join some communties whose topics are similar to your blog theme(s). Post in them periodically. One a day is fine if you don't have time for more.

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Elizabeth Barrette
Name: Elizabeth Barrette
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"The Wordsmith's Forge" showcases the writing, editing, and other projects of Elizabeth Barrette. It also serves as a virtual living room for the discussion of diverse topics. Please pull up a cushion and join in.



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