creativeStarting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "families of choice." 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 "The Marble and the Sculptor" (17 verses, One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis).
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 "families of choice." 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, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network. Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. 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. "The Marble and the Sculptor" has 17 verses available and belongs to One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis.
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 Sunday 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, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
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 "families of choice." I'll be soliciting ideas for friends, work partners, relatives, lovers, zucchini, acefolk, polyfolk, other sex/romance orientations, nemeses, problem-solvers, troubled relationships, high-conflict personalities, supervillains, superheroes, peacemakers, loving each other, finding family, leaving family, picking on people, finding flaws, creating new traditions, discussing what it means to be family, adding people to a family of choice, homes, sharehouses, intentional communities, businesses, parks, romantic locations, other places where people hang out, nonsexual intimacies, commitment, adoption, estrangement, nonmarriage bonding ceremonies, family skills, skin hunger, 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 The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco 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 "The Marble and the Sculptor." The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.
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Poem
November 8 2016, 19:07:52 UTC 4 years ago
Reserved for original prompter.
November 8 2016, 19:19:47 UTC 4 years ago
The extra family your family chooses for you.
The family that comes with home.
Poem
November 8 2016, 21:15:00 UTC 4 years ago Edited: November 8 2016, 21:15:10 UTC
190 lines, Buy It Now = $95
November 8 2016, 20:06:44 UTC 4 years ago Edited: November 9 2016, 05:43:44 UTC
Meanwhile, over on Trunnion, Spalling/V/Astin is some sort of family of choice already. The situation is somewhat tense due to its being a particularly strategic portal planet, so they're all watching the skies for clues as to what happens next. V in particular is looking for opportunities, and stuff could happen soon.
Also, I haven't heard much about Yossele and Menachem ("Clay of Life") recently. How's their little family coming along?
ETA: Voted earlier today. I will say no more now.
Thank you!
November 9 2016, 05:52:53 UTC 4 years ago
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/4118956.html
Poem
4 years ago
Poem
4 years ago
November 8 2016, 20:08:10 UTC 4 years ago
Poem
November 8 2016, 23:54:32 UTC 4 years ago
Poem
November 8 2016, 23:11:50 UTC 4 years ago
150 lines, Buy It Now = $75
November 9 2016, 00:08:49 UTC 4 years ago
Blood and water
How far does an affection bead go?
Poem
November 9 2016, 04:45:45 UTC 4 years ago
312 lines, Buy It Now = $156
November 9 2016, 01:09:30 UTC 4 years ago
Conventions (I think all but two of my chosen family are from SF fandom, and the remaining two are SF fans)
"Don't stick your dick in the crazy" (or, to be fair, "Don't let the crazy stick its dick in you") as advice, and also as compared to "Crazy is okay as long as it's *compatible* crazy."
As overheard, being explained to a hotel desk clerk, "Yes, we reserved a room with one king bed. Yes, there are three of us."
Nuns and monks, especially in enclosed (cloistered) orders
Poem
November 9 2016, 12:32:38 UTC 4 years ago
318 lines, Buy It Now = $159
Poem
4 years ago
November 9 2016, 03:37:01 UTC 4 years ago
"This is the family that counts." (Said by my near-daughter, introducing her fiance.)
"I invited the mama I wanted" (Said *to* my near-daughter by a close friend at the friend's bridal shower. She'd invited her mother-of-choice; her mother from her family of origin had assumed that she was also invited and simply shown up.)
Affinity groups as family - filkers, furries, whatever.
Betrayal within the chosen family, and the choices made by the one betrayed as to whether to tell the others or not as a matter of protecting the family as a whole. (And if you want the story behind that, as my privately.)
Poem
November 9 2016, 04:46:26 UTC 4 years ago
November 9 2016, 09:49:51 UTC 4 years ago
Dragons who 'mark' their family by sharing fire.
Family where everyone holds very different moral values but are determined to stay together.
Combining two families in a kitchen, garage, or garden.
Poem
November 9 2016, 22:06:09 UTC 4 years ago
27 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Done for the night!
November 9 2016, 12:34:43 UTC 4 years ago
Poem
November 10 2016, 10:08:26 UTC 4 years ago
436 lines, Buy It Now = $218
Poem
November 10 2016, 10:41:59 UTC 4 years ago
27 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Poem
November 10 2016, 11:21:54 UTC 4 years ago
31 lines, Buy It Now = $15
Poem
November 11 2016, 23:25:00 UTC 4 years ago
342 lines, Buy It Now = $171
Poem
November 12 2016, 02:50:22 UTC 4 years ago
Reserved for original prompter.
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