Poem: "bowls of rice"

I'm glad you like this. I enjoy watching this character evolve.

>>The more I read about her, the more I like her. I really, really love how she is developing.<<

Same here.

She has a very graceful, deliberate air about her, slowly unfolding. Writing her is like watching someone do Tai Chi. Interestingly, I can see quite clearly what she's doing in any given scene, but it's hard for me to see ahead or predict what she'll do next. That's rare, so it holds my attention.

>> I'd like to know how you as an author 'relate' to her, Elizabeth : does she 'show up' on her own, do you decide that she does somehow fit a prompt or something in between? <<

Somewhere in between. She hasn't followed me home yet, or shown any sign of noticing me -- but I wouldn't be surprised by either. She has more depth and solidity compared to average characters. She's the kind of character who pops up with a bit of inspiration when she wants to; I can go looking for her on purpose, with a pretty good chance (but not a guarantee) of finding her.

With prompts, there's a kind of 'click' if they connect to something previously established, like a setting or a character or a series. Sometimes they'll stick together within a context just established in that fishbowl; other times they reach back or out to something else. I knew the gaki prompt was going to spawn and spawn all day, and the compassionate feeding tidbit was in a reference that I read early on. Then right at the end, I thought of the Origami Mage, and it was "Aha! That's who would be feeding a hungry ghost." And the whole poem pretty much wrote itself at that point.

If I wanted to, I could probably sit down with Japanese-Chinese-Buddhist-origami resources and browse through them until relevant bits sprouted into poems. At some point I may do that just to diversify the forms a bit; I like other Asian poetry, but the fishbowl prompts run to haiku chains because they tend to be complex little stories. Any time I've got a strong source behind a given character or setting, I can use that to spark new material. It's just a matter of flipping through the original, looking for bits that catch my attention, and asking, "What would this do over here?"

That's why I need a live net connection to make the best of a fishbowl -- I often get prompts that touch on a culture or field that I'm passing familiar with but want to research further. I'll go find an article or few and skim them for details. That prompt from janetmiles led me to a book that talked about gaki in some detail, a couple other articles, and then I went hunting for Buddhist quotes. Though to be fair, the punchline from "The Wind Eaters" was one I already had memorized; with the conclusion for "bowls of rice" I only knew that I needed something about 'compassion' or 'mercy' there.

Happy to be of service! I really enjoy the audience interaction too. It's one of the main appeals in cyberfunded creativity.

That is so awesome. Thanks everso for sharing!

It never really occurred to me before, but I think the strong worldbuilders are more visible to people in other worlds. This isn't the first time I've been spotted -- and described or hailed -- but usually it's by characters belonging to someone I'm pretty close to. I'll have to keep an eye out for more examples.

>>I like the haiku format a lot.<<

The haiku chain seems to be a prevailing form for this storyline, because it captures the Asian flavor while allowing narrative development. At some point I'll probably sit down and work up some other forms for sake of diversity, because there are other Asian ones that I really like.

>> I am also very intrigued by your ongoing characters.<<

It has taken a while for the Poetry Fishbowl to develop to this stage, but I really like it. I wonder if these will start building a following the way some web-serials do on the fiction side.

>> I wonder if at some point in the future you could publish an entire chapbook of Origami Mage stories, or the Italian pizza-scientist, or the ink-scryer. <<

*grin* I've already been approached by a publisher regarding the Origami Mage set. We're going to see how that series builds up. I think it's going to get big enough to make a good chapbook.

The others ... I don't know. It depends on how popular they turn out to be. One possibility would be to bundle some of the sets together, if they aren't big enough individually. I've got 2 of the ink-scryer. I think there were 4 of the Sugar-Sea poems (the cockroaches and the manta rays). 2-3 dogsbody poems. 3 about the paranoid shapeshifting starships and IT(s). A couple from a post-technological future. A couple set on Botannia. Hmm, plus the Queen Choufa series from years ago; I've recently placed a couple of those, and I think there are at least four of them. Those add up.

>>I'd enjoy that.<<

Input is always welcome!

Yay! I'm glad you found it so touching.