SummerCamp 2024 Prep Article

SummerCamp Pledge and Obstacles

I, Hunter Hendrick, pledge to light up the forge of Creation during the World Anvil SummerCamp 2024 writing challenge. I pledge to dig deeper into my world of creation. My goal is to complete 32 prompts during the summer camp. I pledge to have fun and stay healthy. My obstacles are few but they are; avoiding the perfectionism squirrel, not avoiding all human interaction, my job, avoiding any other squirrels, the mental toll of reasearching for worldbuilding as well as the addictiveness of being alone in my own head.   I LOVE ANNIE STEIN!!!! THANK YOU ANNIE!!!!    

WEEK ONE - CHANGE

Assignment 1

Tumultuous times are interesting moments to set stories in, whether they be due to natural disasters, sickness, conflicts, or others. Characters face unusual challenges, infrastructure breaks down, and society as a whole can change. Change can be big and small—from the size of a small community or city to the entire universe—, and it can be positive and negative.  

May you live in interesting times. — Apocryphal Chinese proverb

  There is much change throughout the historical records of Ancient Power. Characters gaining responsibilities and titles, Locations added, locations discovered. All change!   How much time do you have to write? Good question! This is probably going to be a year in which I would want to do more but can't. How much of Summer Camp can you realistically complete, based on that? Gold is probably the best I can do based on available information.   Your Summer Camp goals are for you to set, and it's important to have realistic expectations. If you set too high of a goal, you could burn out—and nobody wants that!  

Assignment 2 and 3 - Pledge and Categories

Done! Filled in Pledge   A great way to make writing faster is to prepare your world so you don't have to think about anything other than writing. Organization is a very important part of any project: as your world expands, it can get quite unwieldy unless you use a proper category structure. Take some time to review your category tree and tagging system and re-organize them if necessary. The best category trees are those that follow the themes and focus points of your setting. Check this post about organization and this one about categories for some advice!   Haven't yet finished articles but organization is looking terrific online. IRL, different stoy! I do not use tags.

TIPS for a successful Summer Camp

Find a support group so you’re not alone in the challenge. It doesn't matter where. Just find a group!   Find a writing schedule if you can. A regular schedule will help you be consistent—remember that WorldEmber is a marathon, not a sprint!   Tidy up your writing space if you find it helpful. This could include your room, your desk, but also your browser tabs, bookmarks, and desktop icons!   If you can, prepare a DO NOT DISTURB sign for your door, to preserve your writing time!   Now would be th ideal time to work on playlists and whatever else you require for a writing session. Is it snacks and drinks? Patience? Cozy socks? Drugs? Devices for your family to shut up?   Makre sure to SCHEDULE BREAKS!!! And STRETCH! And HYDRATE! And BATHROOM BREAKS! And do your normal life things!   Meditate? Or just mind calming techniques?   When you’re done, take a break to clear your head… because SummerCamp is coming!  

Assignment 4

Assignment 4 Take a look at your meta, primer, and any other high-level document and update it according to the current state of your world.   All good!  

WEEK TWO - REFUGE

Assignment 1

Where do you go when everything around you changes? A refuge can be a literal place (like a building or a city), but it can also be anything that keeps you safe or comforts you. The change someone takes refuge from can also be small in the grand scheme of things—sometimes, small changes can have deep consequences on a specific person or group.   Consider what kinds of refuge would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.   Refuge is not a common theme in the World of Ancient Power. I don't know how this theme will fit into my world. Maybe I'll have some more ideas during SummerCamp!    

Assignment 2

ACCOUNTABILITY   Summer Camp is a 1-month worldbuilding marathon, and it can be hard to achieve your goal if you don't have an accountability system! There are lots of individual strategies here, but the point is having someone who can keep you accountable for your progress is a great way to keep going. But even if you don't want or need an accountability buddy, having a community to share your progress and you amazing creations is great too! Sharing your stuff can increase your motivation, and it will also help you improve if you're open to feedback. Find a community. My community is any Twitch streamer that is co-working.  

Assignment 3

First impressions are important to get readers hooked to your world—but looks are important even if your world is just for your RPG group (or yourself). If you don't keep styling and layout in mind, your articles will quickly become too dense and hard to read to be useful. You may even struggle to read your own articles later on if you're not careful! So give future you a hand and use this week to improve the styling and layout of your world: check these tips to get started! And during Summer Camp, while styling shouldn't be the priority, keep this in mind to make your articles well-structured.   Find ways to improve styling and layout in your world!   Already in the middle of it. This will take months but I am trying all the same.  

Assignment 4

If you’re a CSS wizard, maybe take the time now to give it a polish!   Not an expert or even advanced. Barely a beginner.  

WEEK THREE - BELIEF

Religious belief is a foundational element for many cultures, but belief doesn't have to be about religion! Beliefs can be about superstition, urban legends and myths, people you believe in, and more. Essentially, anything and anyone that inspires people, for good or ill.

Assignment 1

Consider what kind of beliefs would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.   Belief is a large part of Anceint Power. it almost is Anceint Power!  

Assignment 2

Inspiration comes from many different places, and you're the one who knows what makes your creativity flow. But whatever it is, now's your chance to gather any inspiration sources you need! Look for music that fits your world, spend some time with the people (and pets) you love, and take in your surroundings when you go for a walk. After all, there's no better source of inspiration than the real world!Create a bank of inspirations! Quotes, music, description of experiences and shower thoughts, etc. Create a bank of inspirations! Quotes, music, description of experiences and shower thoughts, etc. I have gotten inspiration from many sources. Many are from Disney and other infamous television (TV shows and movies and soundtracks) in pop culture.

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.” and “Dreams only exist to be made to come true.” - Walter Elias Disney

  Walt Disney has said much on Imagination.  

“Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination.”

 

“I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be 6 or 60.”

Walt Disney said this and I do believe that weather we are 6 or 99 or 100+, there's a child in all of us.  

“I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in Disneyland. I want them to feel they’re in another world.”

As worldbuilders, I thin kwe can get behind this statement substituting Disneyland for our own worlds.  

Assignment 3

Find art and pictures that inspire you, and grab a map if you don't have one (and need one). If you've been working on this world for a while, you might not need new inspiration sources. Still, take a look at your old ones to get a refresher. And who knows, just like how your world and meta changes over time, your inspiration sources might also need an update!   All good. Do need maps but that's something in the process.

Assignment 4

Check your inspirations again. Are they still relevant? Can you find any that better represent the current state of your project?   All good.  

WEEK FOUR - DECAY

Most things decay over time, but, just like all other themes, decay can be understood in a multitude of ways. There's physical decay, but there's also moral decay—both often go hand-in-hand with old organizations, and physical decay can be used as a metaphor for moral decay. And decay isn't always a bad thing - an evil empire might crumble so something better can flourish. Think about how people in your world try to prevent decay too!  

Assignment 1

Consider what kind of changes would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.   Decay is more of a background part of my world. But yeah, I should do bring some into the foreground.  

Assignment 2

Having an optimal writing environment is as important as preparing your world and setting realistic goals. Your environment includes your desk, room, and any other space you write in. But it also involves time! Consider using some kind of focus mode in your devices to avoid distractions, and talk to anyone you live with so they respect your writing time. If you like special tea when you write, stock up for a month. Tidy your office, make a “do not disturb” sign, and think about any other last-minute strategies to optimize your writing space and time! All set and ready for SC2024!  

Assignment 3/4

It's the fourth week, so your world should now be ready for Summer Camp. But take a moment to look at your world's homepage. The World Anvil community is very active during Summer Camp, so you can expect to get new readers to your world! The homepage is your chance to hook this new audience and draw them into the world. If you think your homepage is already the best it can be, do the same with your world introduction article and even author page. These are both important pages for people looking to learn more about you and your world, so it's important to keep them up to date! If you have other pillar pages in your world, make sure they're up to date too.   Assignment 3 - Review your world homepage to hook potential readers!   Assignment 4 - Take a look at your author profile and pillar articles on your world and polish them!   Already have a good homepage and introduction page! But I do need to work on my author bio page because I am horrible at remembering to do that!