Poetry Fishbowl Open!
The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this page as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Like a Normal Person." 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.
I'll be soliciting ideas for freaks, radicals, activists, average folks, therapists, caregivers, first responders, clergy, outreach workers, good samaritans, volunteers, handyworkers, repairmen, teachers, parents, comares, superheroes, supervillains, other helpful people, bucking the system, taking care of yourself, being your true self, coming out of (any) closet, fighting to make things right, lending a hand, responding to emergencies, volunteering, making donations, supporting people in hard times, learning to trust others, offering crash space, helping someone move, planting trees, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, quiet rooms, genderspace, Pride marches, Triton Teen Centers, the Peace Store, charities, homeless shelters, clothing banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, sobering centers, community clinics, counseling offices, mentor circles, support groups, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, gay bars, feminist bookstores, social justice departments in schools, clubs, accommodations closets, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna, community gardens, other helper hangouts, emergency aid, intentional neighboring, altruism, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, safety pin peace signs, other activist symbols, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, sedoretu, troll romance, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
This theme is all about normalizing things that society often criticizes and tries to exclude. A few examples, which you can throw into your prompts if you wish:
"He should get therapy like a normal person."
"Just grab a fidget like a normal person."
"After the last round of body modification, we'll have normal anal sex like any other gay couple."
And here are more things people believe should be normalized. What is normal, anyway?
What are some things that people pester you about but are none of their business and you wish they'd just accept?
I have several posts you may find inspiring:
QUILTBAG Characters
Romantic Orientations in My Characters
Sexual Orientations in My Characters
Genders in My Characters
See also:
The Ace-Aro Spectrum
Nonsexual Intimacies
Five Moments of Intimacy
A previous FMI bingo card from a fest on Allbingo
If your identity has not yet been represented, or only done badly, then by all means prompt for it and I'll do my best to fill the gap.
From my March Meta Matters Challenge activities about Outcasts:
Wednesday TV Series (The Addams Family) Overview
Meta: "Why I Love Wednesday Addams" Part 1: Introduction
Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 1: Overview
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Pride Bingo Fest Card 6-1-24
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is all about live happy lesbians.
An Army of One is on building a society where whatever people are is normal.
The Blueshift Troupers span a range of personalities, quirks, and sexualities, and sometimes shift gender.
Daughters of the Apocalypse relies a lot on mutual aid for survival in a world where most of the people formerly considered normal have died off.
Eloquent Souls has some unusual soulmates.
Frankenstein's Family features two men (one of them trans) in a queerplatonic relationship, vampires, werewolves, Caldarari, and other unusual folks.
Hart's Farm is a free love community with diverse bonding methods and personality quirks.
Monster House is suburban fantasy about a diverse family with a very unusual idea of what normal is.
The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.
The Ocracies has a different definition of normal in all its many societies.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis features Shaeth, who might as well have declared himself the God of Misfits.
Path of the Paladins has asexual leads and several characters who stick out for other reasons.
P.I.E. is urban fantasy about a paranormal investigator who uses a wheelchair.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all of whom have their own quirks. Threads particularly focused on this include Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments. QUILTBAG characters include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Pain's Gray, and Hefty in the Shiv thread (and Shiv is acespec). I encourage readers to prompt for any of the large casts and complex settings that I have already developed, such as:
* the bohemian folks at Hanson Hall in Omaha, Nebraska
* the Mori no Tami and their allies at Mori no Mura in Humboldt County, California
* the hippies of Emerald Mountain Glen in Vermont
* the rescued sexbots in Thalassia
* the rescued primals now at the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana
* the Withering Heights LARP in Colorado
* the Solace polycule in Atlanta, Georgia
* the cohousing and polycule in Portland, Oregon
* the various polycules from " A Celebration and a Consolation" out east
Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully.
Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they're a very diverse group in a very conservative area.
The Steamsmith has a genderqueer lead and some other variously odd characters.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.
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 "Like a Normal Person." 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 Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, 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: Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback 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.
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 Friday 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; 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 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 "Like a Normal Person." See above for details. 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 a verse of any open linkback poem. The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Like a Normal Person." 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.
I'll be soliciting ideas for freaks, radicals, activists, average folks, therapists, caregivers, first responders, clergy, outreach workers, good samaritans, volunteers, handyworkers, repairmen, teachers, parents, comares, superheroes, supervillains, other helpful people, bucking the system, taking care of yourself, being your true self, coming out of (any) closet, fighting to make things right, lending a hand, responding to emergencies, volunteering, making donations, supporting people in hard times, learning to trust others, offering crash space, helping someone move, planting trees, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, quiet rooms, genderspace, Pride marches, Triton Teen Centers, the Peace Store, charities, homeless shelters, clothing banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, sobering centers, community clinics, counseling offices, mentor circles, support groups, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, gay bars, feminist bookstores, social justice departments in schools, clubs, accommodations closets, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna, community gardens, other helper hangouts, emergency aid, intentional neighboring, altruism, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, safety pin peace signs, other activist symbols, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, sedoretu, troll romance, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
This theme is all about normalizing things that society often criticizes and tries to exclude. A few examples, which you can throw into your prompts if you wish:
"He should get therapy like a normal person."
"Just grab a fidget like a normal person."
"After the last round of body modification, we'll have normal anal sex like any other gay couple."
And here are more things people believe should be normalized. What is normal, anyway?
What are some things that people pester you about but are none of their business and you wish they'd just accept?
I have several posts you may find inspiring:
QUILTBAG Characters
Romantic Orientations in My Characters
Sexual Orientations in My Characters
Genders in My Characters
See also:
The Ace-Aro Spectrum
Nonsexual Intimacies
Five Moments of Intimacy
A previous FMI bingo card from a fest on Allbingo
If your identity has not yet been represented, or only done badly, then by all means prompt for it and I'll do my best to fill the gap.
From my March Meta Matters Challenge activities about Outcasts:
Wednesday TV Series (The Addams Family) Overview
Meta: "Why I Love Wednesday Addams" Part 1: Introduction
Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 1: Overview
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Pride Bingo Fest Card 6-1-24
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is all about live happy lesbians.
An Army of One is on building a society where whatever people are is normal.
The Blueshift Troupers span a range of personalities, quirks, and sexualities, and sometimes shift gender.
Daughters of the Apocalypse relies a lot on mutual aid for survival in a world where most of the people formerly considered normal have died off.
Eloquent Souls has some unusual soulmates.
Frankenstein's Family features two men (one of them trans) in a queerplatonic relationship, vampires, werewolves, Caldarari, and other unusual folks.
Hart's Farm is a free love community with diverse bonding methods and personality quirks.
Monster House is suburban fantasy about a diverse family with a very unusual idea of what normal is.
The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.
The Ocracies has a different definition of normal in all its many societies.
One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis features Shaeth, who might as well have declared himself the God of Misfits.
Path of the Paladins has asexual leads and several characters who stick out for other reasons.
P.I.E. is urban fantasy about a paranormal investigator who uses a wheelchair.
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all of whom have their own quirks. Threads particularly focused on this include Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments. QUILTBAG characters include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Pain's Gray, and Hefty in the Shiv thread (and Shiv is acespec). I encourage readers to prompt for any of the large casts and complex settings that I have already developed, such as:
* the bohemian folks at Hanson Hall in Omaha, Nebraska
* the Mori no Tami and their allies at Mori no Mura in Humboldt County, California
* the hippies of Emerald Mountain Glen in Vermont
* the rescued sexbots in Thalassia
* the rescued primals now at the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana
* the Withering Heights LARP in Colorado
* the Solace polycule in Atlanta, Georgia
* the cohousing and polycule in Portland, Oregon
* the various polycules from " A Celebration and a Consolation" out east
Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully.
Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they're a very diverse group in a very conservative area.
The Steamsmith has a genderqueer lead and some other variously odd characters.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.
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 "Like a Normal Person." 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 Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, 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: Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback 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.
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 Friday 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; 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 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 "Like a Normal Person." See above for details. 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 a verse of any open linkback poem. The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.