The Wordsmith's Forge

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! This is the perk for the Poetry Fishbowl meeting the $250 goal four times. Today's theme is "Eloquent Souls." 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.

This series is fantasy romance about soulmates, soulmarks, and soulbonds. These features don't solve everything, but they do make life more interesting. In this setting, most people have soulmates. They argue over whether everyone has a soulmate, or only some people; and whether each person has only one, or multiple possibilities. A soulbond can take various forms. It is most often sexual/romantic, but it can be platonic, sensual, and so on. The first words a soulmate will say appear on a person's skin, usually but not always in the soulmate's handwriting. These things can be welcome or unwelcome, depending on the context. Most people manage to deal with them, but sometimes things get ... complicated.

There are also some notes for this setting, appearing under "Soul Song". They explain a bit about how soulmarks and soulbonds work in this setting. You can use these as inspiration for your prompts. If you want to keep your poem price toward the lower end, using things I've already researched will save me time so I'm less likely to need extra research fees.


I have some lists you may find inspiring. Are you tired of straight white abled etc. soulfic? Mark ALL the souls!

* Genders in My Characters

* My Characters with Disabilities

* Romantic Orientations in My Characters

* Sexual Orientations in My Characters


Here are some references about soulmate, soulmark, and soulbond tropes, which may or may not be how things work in this setting, but are good for asking questions:

* https://fanlore.org/wiki/Soulmates

* https://fanlore.org/wiki/Soulbond_(trope)

* https://fanlore.org/wiki/Soulmate_Marks

* https://tropedia.fandom.com/wiki/False_Soulmate

* http://marianperera.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-soulmate-trope.html

* https://jennamoreci.tumblr.com/post/645486562079113216/the-thing-about-the-soulmate-trope-is-that-it

* https://www.reddit.com/r/aromantic/comments/o9lcbf/time_to_give_some_aromantic_spins_on_some_romance/

* https://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/magical-mondays-baby-my-heart-could-still-fall-as-hard-in-every-soulbond-au/#more-41936

* https://r-evolve-art.tumblr.com/post/144380748003/master-list-of-soulmate-aus

* https://snakebitten-tropes-n-cliches.tumblr.com/post/165455666775/soulmate-austropesideas

* https://posts-from-rainy-days.tumblr.com/post/172712205880/soulmate-auprompt-list/amp

* https://www.writerswrite.co.za/101-romance-tropes-for-writers/

* https://web.archive.org/web/20141008130907/http://colleenhouck.com/blog/2014/06/27/80-barriers-to-love-a-list-of-ideas-to-keep-romantic-tension-high/

* https://www.mantelligence.com/date-ideas/

* https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/advice/g1033/romantic-first-date-ideas/

* https://www.theknot.com/content/date-ideas

* https://vanillagrass.com/how-to-write-romance-soulmate-or-fated-lovers-trope/


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Valentines Bingo Card 2-1-22


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 "Eloquent Souls." 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.


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 Dreamwidth 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) 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.


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 "Eloquent Souls."  I'll be soliciting ideas for soulmates, odd couples or moresomes, soul scholars, adolescents, friends and family, people on the ace-aro spectrum, polyfolk, clergy, librarians, blanks, other people interested in soulbonds, soul academies, colleges, San Francisco, Paris, Rome, other romantic cities, beaches, flower gardens, promenades, candlelit restaurants, other romantic places, soulmarks coming in, soulmarks changing, searching for soulmates, meeting each other, falling in love, making a relationship work, studying soulbonds, discovering problems, finding creative solutions, asking questions, soulmarks, soulbonds, multiple soulmarks, unusual soulmarks, flickering soulmarks, glister, unconventional relationships, bond interference, sad tattoos, skin bridges, liminal times, taglines, the Words, friendship, teamwork, inspiration, the subconscious, unforseen circumstances, personal growth, 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.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.