Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, August 3
NAME OF THING: August Poetry Fishbowl
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE: You give me a prompt and I write a poem based on it. This month's theme is "fortunetelling, forecasts, and futures."
WHO IS ELIGIBLE (preferably this should be available to anyone!): Everyone. Come one, come all! Bring some friends.
DATE/TIME WINDOW: Tuesday, August 3. Active window varies but a typical range is about noon to midnight.
This is an advance announcement for the August 3, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "fortunetelling, forecasts, and futures." (Fortunetelling predicts a person's future. All types of divination are welcome. Forecasts are predictions of future events or trends such as the weather, stock market, or fashions. Futures are possible timelines branching from the present; people like to study the future and imagine different futures.) I'll be soliciting ideas for fortunetellers, forecasters, fortune seekers, people who think fortunetelling/forecasting is hogwash, people flung into the future, divination tools, equipment for making forecasts, bizarre things about which forecasts could be made, sample fortunes told, plot twists involving predictions, turning points that affect the future, descriptions of various futures, places where fortunetelling happens, places you'd never expect to find a fortuneteller, and poetic forms in particular.
Bear in mind that previous fishbowls have generated an assortment of futures, and alternate histories from which futures could be derived. The intelligent manta rays and cockroaches of " The Sugar Sea," the dogsbodies from "Pawsoldiers," the humans from " Passing Time" -- if you want to see any of these again, they are also fair game.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
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.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, August 3. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, objects, plots, settings, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair. I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in futuristic explorations -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE: You give me a prompt and I write a poem based on it. This month's theme is "fortunetelling, forecasts, and futures."
WHO IS ELIGIBLE (preferably this should be available to anyone!): Everyone. Come one, come all! Bring some friends.
DATE/TIME WINDOW: Tuesday, August 3. Active window varies but a typical range is about noon to midnight.
This is an advance announcement for the August 3, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "fortunetelling, forecasts, and futures." (Fortunetelling predicts a person's future. All types of divination are welcome. Forecasts are predictions of future events or trends such as the weather, stock market, or fashions. Futures are possible timelines branching from the present; people like to study the future and imagine different futures.) I'll be soliciting ideas for fortunetellers, forecasters, fortune seekers, people who think fortunetelling/forecasting is hogwash, people flung into the future, divination tools, equipment for making forecasts, bizarre things about which forecasts could be made, sample fortunes told, plot twists involving predictions, turning points that affect the future, descriptions of various futures, places where fortunetelling happens, places you'd never expect to find a fortuneteller, and poetic forms in particular.
Bear in mind that previous fishbowls have generated an assortment of futures, and alternate histories from which futures could be derived. The intelligent manta rays and cockroaches of " The Sugar Sea," the dogsbodies from "Pawsoldiers," the humans from " Passing Time" -- if you want to see any of these again, they are also fair game.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
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.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, August 3. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, objects, plots, settings, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair. I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in futuristic explorations -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!