Summer Camp Prep 2025
JUNE, 2025
WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4
*I do all my own art, so it takes longer. I originally had a little rant here about how all AI images are uninspired tripe, and how they make sites look lazy and mass-produced, but I figure you've all heard that before and everyone's opinions about it are pretty settled by now, and this isn't really the place for that anyway.
GOALS:
WEEK 1: NOURISHMENT
Week 1: Assignment 1
Think about ways the theme of Nourishment affects your world. Do people generally have what they need? What happens when they don’t?All "nourishment" is one form of energy or another. Energy is the ability to do "work": growth, change, motion, perception, consideration, and continuation of a system. Each being requires some kind of input, whether it's physical food, ideas, attention from other beings, or what-have-you. Ultimately, all "nourishment" is provided by the Omnul, sending Its consciousness into the dream to keep all of Its perspectives moving and growing along their respective time-lines (whatever form those take) and continue perceiving ItSelf, as they cannot exist without energy. It could be said that the never-ending search for consumable external energy is the cornerstone of existence itself.
Week 1: Assignment 2
Download the pledge document and fill it out with your goal for Summer Camp!DONE
Week 1: Assignment 3
If you found any outdated articles in your world, update the most important ones now! Do the same with your worldbuilding meta.I've got lots and lots and lots of old articles in my own files (I've been building these worlds for decades), and I'll be adding those, but I'm going to create all-new stuff to use as entries for this event.
And now, because I can't stand all that blank space beneath this entry, I'll show you one of my longest paintings.
Blu Kitteh
WEEK 2: ROOTS
Week 2: Assignment 1
Look at the cultures and areas you’ll focus on for Summer Camp, and think about how their* past shaped them.The idea behind my worlds is that they're supposed to span all dimensions, across all the infinite possibilities of existence itself. The truth is that I'm only one brain, with one perspective, in one world (for now). I was born in the United States, in the late 1960s, so that's where I'm coming from. While I've always tried to stretch my imagination beyond what I know so I could maybe see behind that curtain, I realize that everything I come up with is going to be flavored by my own experiences and my own culture. The worlds I imagine, no matter how wild, can only be reflections of the version of reality that I know. That's why I try to keep learning and expanding my perspective as much as I can. There's so much more out there, and I want to see it!
*Edit: I misread this question at first as "...think about how your past shaped them." Considering the scope of my project, I think my answer still stands. How has your past shaped your worlds?
Week 2: Assignment 2
Go to your world’s homepage and imagine you’re a new reader discovering the setting for the first time. What should you change to make the experience more engaging?Okay, look. There's a disturbing thing going on in the arts, and it's probably always been a thing, but I've really noticed it getting worse over the past couple-three decades. What do you even know about this "New Reader?" What kind of "experiences" does this person find "engaging?" How are you supposed to appeal to this random person? Or the next one? Or the next one? Or... See? The question is meaningless. You have no idea who this "New Reader" is or what they like. But you know what you like, right? So why are you worried about them? If you want to focus on pleasing an audience, go sign on with a marketing firm and write ad copy. If you want to be a creative writer/artist, kick that imaginary audience out of your head. They're distracting, they're never satisfied, and they'll tear the soul out of your work before you ever finish it. You don't owe them anything. Seriously. Make stuff that you enjoy instead of trying to second-guess what some faceless crowd craves this week. Hell, they don't even know what they want. The audience has no business poking their nose in your creative process. It's not about them. Not only will you get a lot more done that way, but you'll have more fun, and your finished pieces will be SO MUCH BETTER. I promise. Ahem. To answer the actual question, this is a brand new iteration of a very old project, and I'm still working out the structure, so my homepage is what I need it to be for now. When I need it to be something else, I'll change it.
Week 2: Assignment 3
Find your earliest worldbuilding project. What mistakes did you make that you want to avoid? What good ideas from those early days can you integrate into your current project? Remember to take a moment to be proud of how far you've come!My whole life has been a worldbuilding project. Early mistakes include: Biting off way more than I can chew, and allowing the ideas to bloat out of control. My world will never be finished. Good ideas include: All that bloat has blossomed, producing thousands upon thousands of seeds. My ideas are endless, and I'm having a blast just trying to keep up with all the surprises. My world will never be finished! The worst mistake was buying into the assumption that I should be working toward some kind of marketable product that fits in a box. The best idea was to let it be what it is, allow it to grow as it will, and just enjoy the ride.
WEEK 3: METAMORPHOSIS
If nothing else, this competition has inspired me to do a lot of metamorphizing of my world here, as well as my approach to site-building! As I said above, this is my third time back on World Anvil, and I feel like it's going a lot more smoothly this time--mostly, I think, because I'm forcing myself to get all the css styles working (or close enough) and make sure I have a solid plan for the content outlines before I start blasting the place with articles and stubs and images. So there have been a LOT of design changes here over the past couple of weeks, and I'm pretty happy with the structure that's taking form. Plenty more to come (looks at piles of files...dear gods, so much more...) but at least it actually feels like a coherent thing instead of a jumbled mess. Anyway, on to the assignments.Week 3: Assignment 1
What transformations and adaptations have the people in your world gone through? What changes are going on right now… and who is trying to stop them?Really? It's the Perpetuarium. Nothing changes. Ever. That's the point. There is no past or future here; it's all one endless, instantaneous present which contains all possibilities. All of them. Even the impossible ones. We are the One dreaming ItSelf as the Many. However, none of us little dreams within the Perpetuarium can see the whole thing all at once. The perception of change, the dreams of difference--indeed, the very sense of individuality and separateness--is the consequence of our limited vision. Consciousness moves through it, focusing on one event point at a time, accepting the illusion that change is something happening out there instead of within ourselves. The pretend ego-self, with its limited physical and meta-physical sensations and rudimentary interpretive abilities, can never be privy to the underlying Truth. So we vie with other pretend ego-selves to see whose pretend truth is truthier. But...the One Truth is that there is no One Truth, and anything can happen in a dream. That's where the stories come from. Isn't it marvelous?
Week 3: Assignment 2
Choose a new genre, style, or author, and take a look at their art! Write what you learned from them and what inspired you.I am currently slogging through The Gormenghast Trilogy, written and illustrated by Mervyn Peake. I’d never heard of this author before stumbling upon a documentary about his work a few months ago, and I got the book just because I wanted to see the art, but holy crap, what a ride! I say “slogging” as a compliment: it’s a damned thick read on several levels. Many pages, many words, many twists and turns, and I’m loving every bit of it. Each passage demands attention, both to keep track of what’s happening and to savor the language itself. Peake’s turns-of-phrase are enchanting. Horrifying, in places. His descriptions are vivid and disorienting. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. I’ve never read a story quite like this before. If I had to plug it into a genre, “speculative fiction” doesn’t do it justice. I’d put it somewhere between “gothic” and “surrealism” with a healthy dash of “suspense thriller” thrown in. I have no idea what to expect here from one page to the next, and while there’s certainly an overall plot that does make sense as the tale unfolds, I’m well over halfway through the book and I have given up trying to predict anything at all. I’m just letting the weirdness wash over me and I will be sorry to leave this world when it’s over. Do I even have to explain why this book is inspiring? I don’t choose my books by genre. I love authors who write the story they want to tell, instead of trying to fit their ideas into some prescribed pattern or marketing scheme. Mervyn Peake is my newest writing hero.
Week 3: Assignment 3
Read a couple of articles from the community, give them a like (and why not a sticker!), and write about what inspired you.I’ve been following a few sites for years, and I’ve discovered a lot of awesome new ones since I’ve been back, too. I tend to favor the ones with lots of stories woven in—worldbuilding info is fine as a supplement, but good ideas are a dime-a-dozen. If there’s no action, no metamorphosis, the details are just static information. Here are some of my favorite World Anvil projects.
- Qet: This one is quirky. I appreciate quirky. I’m sorry the author has dropped out.
- Cathedris: The art is amazing, the concepts are intriguing, and HOW DID THEY MAKE THE WEB PAGE DO THOSE NIFTY TRICKS?
- Manifold Sky: Geometry as a basis for philosophy and culture? Yes please!
- The Corporate States of America: I love me a good dark alternate-timeline world. (Though I wonder how "alternate" this one is, considering...)
WEEK 4: TOMORROW
Week 4: Assignment 1
Think about current events that will have an impact the on the future. Who is working to create a specific kind of future?Past, present, future—it’s all current. Every possibility is already real, and it’s all happening in one...oh, wait. We covered that already. Ad nauseum. But not everyone is aware that every future (and every past!) is within their reach, and that they just have to choose the reality they perceive. (Of course, it’s not quite that easy, as we all know, but as there will eventually be entire metaphysical treatises and textbooks on the subject, I’ll just leave that as a summary for now.) To grossly over-simplify, there are two types of people in existence: the Teeming Masses, and the Protagonists. No, really, these are official metaphysical taxonomical categories of being in the Gri’x University catalogs. The Teeming Masses can’t see much beyond their immediate expectations and assumptions, while the Protagonists have a more broad-reaching vision and awareness of what could be, for better or worse, and the strength of will to force the issue and push their limits. Now, it’s entirely possible for a member of the Teeming Masses to have a burst of insight and become a Protagonist. And it’s equally possible for a Protagonist to lose their drive, allow their enhanced sense of self to wilt away, and sink back into the Masses. I can’t possibly list all the different, infinite agendas here, and as I’ll be following my own whims about what to write for this, I guess we’ll find out which ones will rise to the top of the page...in the future!
Week 4: Assignment 2
Make sure everything’s ready—from your writing space to your writing schedule—for action before Summer Camp begins!Not sure what to say about this one...I have a desk, a chair, and a computer; if the Wi-Fi goes down, I have my library; if the power goes out, I have pens and paper and candles. I have plenty of time around (and often within!) my work schedule. I don’t want to make a bunch of stubs. In my experience, all those blanks hanging over me get overwhelming and then I won’t do anything. I’m making lists on the side where I don’t have to look at them unless I want to. I’ve been writing and arting all my life. I’ve “won” every NaNoWriMo I’ve tried (three, if we’re counting). I have my distractions under control and self-discipline is not usually a problem. I know how to do this part.
Week 4: Assignment 3
Who or what will help you achieve your goal? What will your sharing strategy be during Summer Camp?I can’t think of anyone who is going to help, and that’s fine. I don’t tend to want much help when it comes to writing. I have a writer friend I might bounce things off of, but my process doesn’t require a committee, and I don’t really like talking about my work until it's ready to speak for itself. (The Discord team in the Help/CSS channels though...you guys are awesome! Part of my goal is making it all look right, and I’d be lost without your assistance.) I also don’t anticipate sharing a whole lot. I’ll make it all public, of course, but every new article doesn't need an announcement. It’s hard enough to keep up with all the server activity. I'm sure I won't be able to resist showing off my favorites, though. I just wanna be able to say I did the thing.
Oh no! More empty space.
Here, I'll fix it.
Hope you have a great Summer Camp!