Summer Camp 2024 Wrapup

Another Summer Camp is in the books, and I'm pretty happy with how it went this year. It's only my second time through this event, and I'm happy to say that I have hit my goal of writing for 100% of the prompts again this year. I've also spent a lot of my time this year working on the overall look and design of my articles, and I've learned things that I think will improve my work all through the year. I've included a list to all of submissions in the sidebar if you are interested in checking them out - I hope you like what you see!

Celebrating Excellent Worldbuilding

There were so many wonderful articles published during Summer Camp this year that it was hard to choose only a few to call out. Below you will find the ones I've chosen, but for each article here there are ten more just as good that I didn't have the time and space to feature. I'm limiting myself to one article per prompt, and one article per author.

Ademal

"A profession that is considered dirty"

Alishahr

"An organization fighting corruption"

AmélieIS

"A faction of an organization built around belief"

Autumnkitsune

"A tumultuous region prone to natural disasters"

AsterVela

"Food often eaten by travelers"

barriesaxxy

"A vehicle that, when introduced, caused social upheaval"

Blue Fairy 74

"A geographical region that is expanding"

Callyxtus

"A sub-culture considered larger-than-life by some"

Chrispy_0

"A myth, urban legend or conspiracy theory believed by many to be true"

deleyna

"A material that is resistant to decay"

DesdemonaRose

"An animal or plant that feeds on decay"

Dragonquillca

"A building associated with joy and fun"

drunkenpanda951

"A document of spurious or controversial attribution"

elspeth87

"Slang or a language associated with a religion or belief"

George Sanders

"A storyteller, author or bard in your world"

Hallucigenia

"The practices and ceremonies of worship"

Hughpierre

"A myth or prophecy about the end of the world"

Jester%

"A building that was meant to be temporary"

JoellaKay

"A species with protective anatomy"

Jeffrey Lebowski

"A tradition that gives comfort"

kitoypoy

"A naturally sheltered place"

Kefkejaco

"A piece of tech that prevents decay"

Kittymonster

"An evil spirit or divine antagonist"

Lady Grayish

"A degenerative disease"

Lady Wynter

"A tradition that represents moral decay"

Mochimanoban

"A hybrid species intentionally bred"

Moonlight Bard

"A conflict that involved a changing environment"

Myth-X

"A displaced people in your world"

Ononomad

"A myth about food"

pa_kalsha

"A building considered a refuge against the world"

Rumengol

"A charity or other organization focused around doing good"

Scalenex

"A tradition that gives comfort"

shyredfox

"A settlement considered a refuge"

The Winter Salmon

"A leader or high-ranking person in an organization"

Tillerz

"A unit dedicated to guarding someone or something"

tlcassis

"A relic or symbol of belief"

Travakh

"A personal item that keeps you safe"

Tynen_TM

"A document that changed the course of history"

Tyrdal

"An environmental or other large-scale natural disaster"

Viewol

"A character who goes through a great change or metamorphosis"

WellsyGaming

"A technology used for defense or protection"

Worldwildbuilder

"A sickness that caused societal upheaval"

What I Learned From Summer Camp 2024

Last year during Summer Camp, I decided to write at least 300 words a day. I wanted to do this as a mental health practice, and also to help develop my writing style. I'm happy to say that I haven't skipped a day of writing since then, and I feel like it is has made me a happier person and a better writer.

When it came time to plan for Summer Camp 2024, I decided I wanted to carry that goal of self-improvement a little bit further. I had already increased my wordcount goal for Worldember 2023 (to 325 words), and I wanted to give myself a different challenge. So this year I decided to spend more time on the visual look of my articles, specifically in the area of adding art, as well as some attention to layout and design. Up to now, I've not spent a lot of time on those elements - I was focused on getting words into the articles, and planned to come back to the look of them later. Later came this month.

I didn't have the time to dive all in with CSS (I have two kids under 5 and a full-time job - that limits my options a bit). But I wanted to make sure that I included some art for every article, and I looked for other things I could do to make my articles more visually pleasing. I did achieve the goal of getting at least one image for each article, and I think I've made strides towards improving the design.

Looking Forward: Goals for the next twelve months

First and foremost, I want to continue writing daily. I'm regularly exceeding my goal wordcount, and I will probably increase that for WorldEmber again to see if I can push to the next badge level. But the important thins for me is to keep on writing.

Secondly, I want to maintain the progress I've made towards better design in my articles. That means more art, and more thought towards elements that break up the wall of text - quotes, images, headers, etc. I'm still learning the skills I need in this regard, and I'm going to take my time and pick them up as I have the opportunity. This is a marathon for me, and I intend to set a pace I can maintain indefinitely.

Last goal is a big one - I want to spend more time reading your work. Yes, you - whoever you are that is reading this, I want to read what you have written. This is somewhat selfish of me - I enjoy reading, and there is a lot of wonderful worlds here to read. I also know that there is a lot I can learn from your worlds and ideas, and I intend to soak up everything I can from them.

And with that, I'm going to say farewell. I hope you have all had a lovely Summer Camp experience, and that you are ready to tackle the next steps in your projects. Have fun, pace yourself, and never stop learning. Tata for now!