Summer Camp 2025 PREP!

Week 1

Theme 1: NOURISHMENT in Mythic Kingdoms

For the world of Mythic Kingdoms, specifically for the Demeter story, nourishment is a key theme.

Demeter is a queen who fears she is weak, who is seenm as weak by others. But NOURISHMENT is her strength. She helps the crops go, she understands the importance of wheat.

Blood and wheat, wheat and blood. He held one, but she held the other.

This is so prominent in her character growth - this understanding the nourishment and her power is a strength - that she leverages the nourishment of the Stone Kingdom to get what she wants.

Summer Camp goals

I will be aiming for 8 prompts! I have the short story cohort at the same time, so this seems like a reasonable amount

Revisit meta and articles

If you found any outdated articles in your world, update the most important ones now! Do the same with your worldbuilding meta.

This world is pretty new, so the meta and worldbuilding articles are still accurate. Lucky me, I get to skip this step! :D

Week 2

Theme 2: ROOTS in Mythic Kingdoms

In the mythic kingdom universe, the ROOTS of the royal lines and the ROOTS of their magic have not been explored AT ALL. I think this would be a super helpful thing to dig into during the month. The deities that blessed the lines haven't been expanded at all. Since the original story itself follows the exploits of gods, I will make the actual deities of Mythic Kingdoms into archetypes.

The roots behind the cultures have also not been explored very deeply. Given that I've based the world on the Bronze age Mediterranean, it would be helpful to do some research as to how those cultures came to be.

Also, do other royal lines have their own magic? Are there other gods in addition to those worshipped by the "Greek World"?

Make a homepage?

This world currently does not have an introduction or elevator pitch AT ALL!

The elevator pitch formula

Where are we? (Genre bundle, mood, themes)
What’s going on? (One or two conflicts either stated or hinted at)
Who are we? (or who are we following?)

Genres Mythic fantasy low magic

Mood: epic heroes, ancient history, monsters, high agency

Conflicts: Hittites and Ancient Egyptians are closing in from both sides,

We follow the heroes of this world as they struggle with monsters - both animal and human

Specifically Demeter and Persephone in the first book

Week 3

Theme 3: METAMORPHOSIS in Mythic Kingdoms

Metamorphosis doesn't appear much in the Demeter myth of the mythic kingdoms. There are strong character arcs for both characters but while the characters change, I wouldn't exactly describe it as metamorphosis - more like growth.

However, there are many other ancient myths that include Metamorphosis (looking at you Ovid) which would be great to retell in this world, potentially some of them as short stories. Off hand, those which come to mind include:

Daphne & Apollo
Narcissus
Circe (sailors into pigs)
Arachne (could be a hard one...)
The birth of Echo
Medusa (also a difficult story to tell)
The Minotaur

As part of my short story course, I have been using fairy tales to learn short story structures. Many fairy tales would be interesting to reframe in this world would be Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the Beast

BEGINNING: Beauty enters the castle. She is trying to find her father and escape without detection.
MIDDLE: Obstacles like animated objects and a hunting beast stand in her way.
END: She manages to escape with her father.

BEGINNING: Beauty learns of the beast's predicament and wants to help.
MIDDLE: She interviews him about his curse, searches in the library for clues, and learns more from the staff.
END: She finally discovers the cure to his predicament - true loves kiss - and they break the curse.

BEGINNING: Beauty is captured by the beast, but repulsed by him - she judges him only by his exterior.
MIDDLE: Through several interactions, she is challenged by the beast to see his true nature, and cast off her superficial understanding of value.
END: She finally sees his value deep inside, and they share their first kiss.

BEGINNING:
MIDDLE:
END:

The Swan Princess also has a major metamorphosis theme and very ancient Greek-feeling vibes, despite the fact that it is a Russian (?) story.

For Summer Camp I can definitely consider building elements that will allow me to tell these stories in the world in the future.

Week 4

Theme 4: TOMORROW in Mythic Kingdoms

The theme of Tomorrow in the mythic kingdoms is one that conjures as much fear as it does hope, especially for those in the Greek world.

two nations who for a long time were at war - the Hittities and the ancient Egyptian middle kingdom - have recently signed a peace treaty
The Assyrians have lessened their attacks on the Hittites because of their new allies, meaning that the Hittites are looking towards the west fr expansions into the Greek world

This makes alliances especially important, which leads to another major theme of tomorrow - progeny and children. The heirs of today will be the rulers of tomorrow. This means that everything which shapes them - education, parenting, their experiences - is critical for defining who they will become and what kind of kingdom they will forge.

Assignment 2: Getting myself and my world ready for Summer Camp

When will I write during summer camp?

Well, the first thing that's for sure is that Summer Camp will be BUSY for me. I've aimed for a minimum count of 8 prompts - coper just to protect myself from going crazy with everything else that's happening.

I'm going to need to front load, I think. I may commit to sitting down on the Sunday after each reveal and choosing three prompts to tackle - which I think I can reasonably get written in an hour.