Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, January 4, 2011

[ysabetwordsmith]

  This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, January 4 2011 Poetry Fishbowl, which will be held in my LiveJournal. This time the theme will be "Urban Fantasy."  (You can read more about urban fantasy online.  It does not have to be contemporary; past or future city prompts are welcome.  While most urban fantasy entails slight revisions of Earth, I'm also open to prompts about cities in other fantasy settings of mine.)  I'll be soliciting ideas for urbanites, non-urbanite fish-out-of-water characters, city-dwelling monsters, urban plants and animals, objects commonly found in cities, rural objects that might be amusing to chuck into a city, urban fantasy cliches you'd like to warp, classic or neo urban fantasy plots, events that happen in cities, urban legends, urban places fun to include in a fantasy story, individual cities you'd like to visit, unusual locations within a city, hazards or benefits particular to cities, and poetic forms in particular.  

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.

<lj-cut text="New to the fishbowl? Read more about it!">
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, January 4. 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 urban fantasy -- 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!