Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, March 5
This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Brands / Products / Services We Wish Existed." I'll be soliciting ideas for inventors, gizmologists and Super-Gizmologists, entrepreneurs, salesclerks, store managers, advertisers, servants, service workers, reviewers, troubleshooters, explorers, first responders, teachers, clergy, leaders, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, alien or fantasy species, failure analysts, ethicists, activists, rebels, other people who offer unusual goods or services, inventing things, selling products, making improvements, advertising, serving people, surprising people, troubleshooting, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, 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, inventor workshops, makerspaces, stores, businesses, advertising agencies, cities, schools, churches, castles, manor houses, sharehouses, kitchens, laboratories, supervillain lairs, farmer's markets, liminal zones, the forest primeval, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where goods and services come in handy, inventions, gizmos and Super-Gizmos, personal services, customer service, reputation, brand names, brand development, catalogs, the buck stops here, trial and error, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, nose for trouble, 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.
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One is set in space and needs all kinds of products to survive.
Arts and Crafts America is awash in interesting art supplies and creative content.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past. What would you send back?
The Blueshift Troupers are spacefaring troubleshooters who provide problem-solving services to far-flung planets.
Clay of Life features Menachem the blacksmith and Yossele the golem traveling around to supply essential metalwork and repairs.
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races (plus the dragons) who each have a different alternative currency to replace what the dragons have taken away.
The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.
Eloquent Souls is about soulmarks and soulbonds. What kind of services might arise from that?
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania, along with a pack of werewolves, a couple of vampires, and a mummy. Crina has a knack for inventing new things.
Gloryroad Crossing is a village where adventurers come to buy artifacts and information. Won't this be fun?
The Ocracies has a wide variety of countries crammed together, each with a totally different government. Some rely a lot on trade.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks, which is mostly a service-oriented religion.
Path of the Paladins is trying to rebuild a world after divine mayhem. They need resources, but also services.
Peculiar Obligations features Quakers in organized crime, offering an unusual array of goods and services.
P.I.E. involves preternatural investigations, a type of service; but since Brenda uses a wheelchair, other products may come into play.
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. Gizmos and Super-Gizmos, gizmologists and Super-Gizmologists, lots of goods and services that make their world a better place.
Practical Magics features the use of magical products and processes for everyday purposes.
Quixotic Ideas is a fantasy world with a positive tone, where magic integrates with modern life. It has many goods and services that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere.
Schrodinger's Heroes are responsible for saving the world from alternate dimensions, using a variety of devices.
The Steamsmith is a skilled inventor of steamwork artifacts.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal verses of any open linkback poem.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) 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, March 5. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, 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.
Perks: 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 donations total $100 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; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four 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 piece of bonus material.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in unusual goods or services -- 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!
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
An Army of One is set in space and needs all kinds of products to survive.
Arts and Crafts America is awash in interesting art supplies and creative content.
The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past. What would you send back?
The Blueshift Troupers are spacefaring troubleshooters who provide problem-solving services to far-flung planets.
Clay of Life features Menachem the blacksmith and Yossele the golem traveling around to supply essential metalwork and repairs.
A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races (plus the dragons) who each have a different alternative currency to replace what the dragons have taken away.
The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.
Eloquent Souls is about soulmarks and soulbonds. What kind of services might arise from that?
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania, along with a pack of werewolves, a couple of vampires, and a mummy. Crina has a knack for inventing new things.
Gloryroad Crossing is a village where adventurers come to buy artifacts and information. Won't this be fun?
The Ocracies has a wide variety of countries crammed together, each with a totally different government. Some rely a lot on trade.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks, which is mostly a service-oriented religion.
Path of the Paladins is trying to rebuild a world after divine mayhem. They need resources, but also services.
Peculiar Obligations features Quakers in organized crime, offering an unusual array of goods and services.
P.I.E. involves preternatural investigations, a type of service; but since Brenda uses a wheelchair, other products may come into play.
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. Gizmos and Super-Gizmos, gizmologists and Super-Gizmologists, lots of goods and services that make their world a better place.
Practical Magics features the use of magical products and processes for everyday purposes.
Quixotic Ideas is a fantasy world with a positive tone, where magic integrates with modern life. It has many goods and services that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere.
Schrodinger's Heroes are responsible for saving the world from alternate dimensions, using a variety of devices.
The Steamsmith is a skilled inventor of steamwork artifacts.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal verses of any open linkback poem.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) 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, March 5. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, 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.
Perks: 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 donations total $100 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; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four 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 piece of bonus material.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in unusual goods or services -- 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!