The History of the Word Jam, My Perspective - by doreen peri
Posted: March 12th, 2005, 1:17 am
There was a time when I would hang out on the computer talking to friends using instant messenger applications. Many of my online friends were poets and we would end up writing spontaneous poetry back and forth. I would get my inspiration from their words and reply with poetry.
This is how I met LR. We first met at LitKicks ( http://litkicks.com ) when they hosted their discussion and writing boards. We recognized something we enjoyed in each others posts and began using AIM to have conversations, many of which included spontaneous verse traded back and forth.
Almost immediately, he asked me to be the archivist. For some reason, he thought our traded verses had some literary value and that later, perhaps we could assemble them and compose a book about internet romance. I'm not sure how many people would be interested in reading such a book, but I have lines upon lines upon lines of our exchanged verses saved and archived. Many of these verses, I copied from the conversations and saved as separate poems.
Later, we began writing what we termed "Poetic Conversations" on a variety of topics ranging from the philosophy of love and death, to fluff and humor and our daily work. The topics we covered are vast. I have saved all of those conversations, too. These poetic conversations were like dates and also performances to us. By this time, he had moved from Texas to Virginia and lived with me. We had only one computer then and would trade keyboards to perform and enjoy our evenings. He would type his piece about a certain topic while I played the piano. Then, we'd trade places and I would type my answer while he played the piano or flute. It was romantic. And inspiring.
We posted these pieces spontaneously online at LitKicks (for the most part, as well as other forums we went to.) Sometimes we would post them live as we typed them. Other times, we would wait until we were finished with the "conversation" and post it as a whole work... a collaboration.
We created several series, as well. For instance, the "Imaginary Letters between FScott & Zelda Fitzgerald" which got some negative and positive press from those who reacted to it online. Some apparently thought we weren't playing the characters at all and didn't enjoy the sensuality of the romance in the pieces. I don't know why. You never know how an audience will react. Others gave accolades and enjoyed this series and others which we were creating. We created a series called "Adam & Eve" and used some of it on our "Oral Sets" CD. We also created a series called "Mr. & Mrs. Claus" during our first Christmas together. And "Bonnie & Clyde" which we used portions of for one of our Cabaradio shows and also perform at other spoken word events.
Spontaneous interactive writing enthralls me! I love the dynamic of it!
During this time period when we were creating our "Poetic Conversations," LitKicks had the Action Poetry forum going on and decided to do an event called the "24-Hour Poetry Party." They took the words of many of the participants and cut them up to make a big poem which they included in the "Action Poetry" book they have published. I was proud to be a participant of that event! I wasn't too hip on having all of our words blended together, though, into a work without recognition of who wrote which words, but I thought it was a cool collaborative idea!
Time has a way of moving forward and it occurs to me that everything I've ever done in my life culminates in something new.
When we opened these forums, we created the GO! forum for spontaneous writing. There, we could continue to write spontaneously, bouncing off the inspiration of the words of others.
I must admit that I miss the online "Poetic Conversations" LR and I used to create but we will create more one day, I'm sure. I also miss the online chat programs, writing verses spontaneously like that. But maybe one day, we'll do that again.
This is my history of experience with Word Jamming with others. I thought I'd post this history because I'm feeling a little soft spot in my heart for the Word Jam and I wanted to let people know how much I love the Jams.
Today, I use the Jams as my own personal writing workshop and attempt to create cohesive pieces in many parts which can be read or performed as a whole. Plus, we are now collaborating with another website, The Scroll ( http://scroll.org ) which uses the Open Thread software like we used to use at LitKicks. I feel these Word Jam collaborations give different people different experiences and all are getting something valuable from them. I'm so pleased to see two websites working together for a collaborative effort like this! Some people enjoy stopping by and reading. Others enjoy stopping by and posting a few. Some have fun with it, like a Word Party. Others, like me, use it like a workshop.
From my travels on the internet, I've found that people from several different forums have commented on spontaneous writing in a positive way. Many have told me that they, too, have participated in this type of writing using e-mail and chat programs.
I'm delighted that we have an opportunity to host the Word Jams and I'm thrilled that so many have said they enjoy them.
This is not really an ad for the next one, but it's a week from today on Friday, March 18th, here at Studio Eight. I wanted to mention this, yes, but I really mostly wanted to type out my own history of writing spontaneously with friends and how much it inspires me.
Would you like to share your history of enjoying spontaneous writing? I'd love to hear it if you would.
This is how I met LR. We first met at LitKicks ( http://litkicks.com ) when they hosted their discussion and writing boards. We recognized something we enjoyed in each others posts and began using AIM to have conversations, many of which included spontaneous verse traded back and forth.
Almost immediately, he asked me to be the archivist. For some reason, he thought our traded verses had some literary value and that later, perhaps we could assemble them and compose a book about internet romance. I'm not sure how many people would be interested in reading such a book, but I have lines upon lines upon lines of our exchanged verses saved and archived. Many of these verses, I copied from the conversations and saved as separate poems.
Later, we began writing what we termed "Poetic Conversations" on a variety of topics ranging from the philosophy of love and death, to fluff and humor and our daily work. The topics we covered are vast. I have saved all of those conversations, too. These poetic conversations were like dates and also performances to us. By this time, he had moved from Texas to Virginia and lived with me. We had only one computer then and would trade keyboards to perform and enjoy our evenings. He would type his piece about a certain topic while I played the piano. Then, we'd trade places and I would type my answer while he played the piano or flute. It was romantic. And inspiring.
We posted these pieces spontaneously online at LitKicks (for the most part, as well as other forums we went to.) Sometimes we would post them live as we typed them. Other times, we would wait until we were finished with the "conversation" and post it as a whole work... a collaboration.
We created several series, as well. For instance, the "Imaginary Letters between FScott & Zelda Fitzgerald" which got some negative and positive press from those who reacted to it online. Some apparently thought we weren't playing the characters at all and didn't enjoy the sensuality of the romance in the pieces. I don't know why. You never know how an audience will react. Others gave accolades and enjoyed this series and others which we were creating. We created a series called "Adam & Eve" and used some of it on our "Oral Sets" CD. We also created a series called "Mr. & Mrs. Claus" during our first Christmas together. And "Bonnie & Clyde" which we used portions of for one of our Cabaradio shows and also perform at other spoken word events.
Spontaneous interactive writing enthralls me! I love the dynamic of it!
During this time period when we were creating our "Poetic Conversations," LitKicks had the Action Poetry forum going on and decided to do an event called the "24-Hour Poetry Party." They took the words of many of the participants and cut them up to make a big poem which they included in the "Action Poetry" book they have published. I was proud to be a participant of that event! I wasn't too hip on having all of our words blended together, though, into a work without recognition of who wrote which words, but I thought it was a cool collaborative idea!
Time has a way of moving forward and it occurs to me that everything I've ever done in my life culminates in something new.
When we opened these forums, we created the GO! forum for spontaneous writing. There, we could continue to write spontaneously, bouncing off the inspiration of the words of others.
I must admit that I miss the online "Poetic Conversations" LR and I used to create but we will create more one day, I'm sure. I also miss the online chat programs, writing verses spontaneously like that. But maybe one day, we'll do that again.
This is my history of experience with Word Jamming with others. I thought I'd post this history because I'm feeling a little soft spot in my heart for the Word Jam and I wanted to let people know how much I love the Jams.
Today, I use the Jams as my own personal writing workshop and attempt to create cohesive pieces in many parts which can be read or performed as a whole. Plus, we are now collaborating with another website, The Scroll ( http://scroll.org ) which uses the Open Thread software like we used to use at LitKicks. I feel these Word Jam collaborations give different people different experiences and all are getting something valuable from them. I'm so pleased to see two websites working together for a collaborative effort like this! Some people enjoy stopping by and reading. Others enjoy stopping by and posting a few. Some have fun with it, like a Word Party. Others, like me, use it like a workshop.
From my travels on the internet, I've found that people from several different forums have commented on spontaneous writing in a positive way. Many have told me that they, too, have participated in this type of writing using e-mail and chat programs.
I'm delighted that we have an opportunity to host the Word Jams and I'm thrilled that so many have said they enjoy them.
This is not really an ad for the next one, but it's a week from today on Friday, March 18th, here at Studio Eight. I wanted to mention this, yes, but I really mostly wanted to type out my own history of writing spontaneously with friends and how much it inspires me.
Would you like to share your history of enjoying spontaneous writing? I'd love to hear it if you would.
LR and I were about 2,000 miles away from each other before we met in person.