Summer Camp Homework 2024

And so we come to yet another Summer Camp event. Back in the depths of the plague when I somehow had more time I managed a diamond badge, completing everything with time to spare. When I tried again last year I didn't do half as well, and both times I feel the quality of the articles I produced was highly varied. This year, I'm trying something that may be a little ambitious.   Firstly, I'm aiming to hit the gold tier this time. If I can make diamond, great, but my goal is to reach gold. Second, I'll be working in my far less fleshed out world of the "New Dark AGE" which is entirely designed as a gaming setting rather than a writing playground. I believe this will help me focus a bit more making it easier to work through the prompts. Finally, I will set aside a minimum of 30 minutes each weekday to write these prompts. Not plan. Not read. Write. Will 30 minutes be enough? Probably not, but between work and parenting it's probably all I'll get.   Once this is over, in July I will come back and review all the work I've produced for camp and potentially revise it. I'm also setting myself the rule that I will not delete anything I create for camp. I hope this will make me think critically between writing sessions so my articles stay in line with the goals and themes of the world.   Initially, when I read through this homeowrk I assumed I'd be writing for Isesda again, but I think I need to distance myself from that work for a bit. The world of Isesda has become muddled to the point where my characters are no longer speaking to me. I can't blame them, their reality has become a mess through no fault of their own. But New Dark AGE is something fresher in my mind. It also aligns more with the fiction I've been reading lately (Dresden, Anita Blake, Magebreakers) so I can't say I'm not more inspired to work on it right now. Of course that means all the revisions I did to Isesda's meta aren't going to help here, but I'm going to get started on it either way.   So yeah, reviewing my world structure for this will be a good lunch break task this week. The good news is the 2 prompts that have been revealed so far, change and refuge, fit perfectly in the dark urban fantasy world I'm creating here. Change, after all, is the catalyst for all stories including those we craft together around the table and there's nothing more essential to an urban fantasy world than a refuge for the denizens of the world to retreat to when the threats that comprise their world grow too near (also it's just begging for a GM to attack it, but you better build up to that or your players will never trust a moment's peace again).   Brilliant, got 3/8 of a plan, got a world desperate for organization, wide open pastures of content to create, what's missing? Oh shit, people. Yeah so accountability is gonna be on me. I will mention this project and the competition itself on the Atomic Think Tank, but I'm not nearly as active on there as I would need to be to have them hold me to my pledge. Guess that means I've gotta develop some of this "will-power" my Green Lantern comics are always blathering on about. That's alright, I need some to help with my diet anyway.   They got that at Costco?   Now, as for making this world look as good as I want it to, I'm not gonna lie my CSS is pretty damned remedial. I know enough to get by, working with email as I do, but I'm definitely not going to be winning any awards for gorgeous worlds anytime soon. If it's between working on my worldbuilding and practicing my CSS, I know which one's more important to me. So yeah, let's just be glad it looks this good, okay? Okay. Cool.   Anyway, this article's gonna get updated next week with more assignments so I'll leave it here for now.     So... week 3's homework is inspiration, which I already overhauled as part of the review of the meta. Guess I'm lucky.   And here we are, week 4, the end of the pre-beginning. I look around my writing space, which is just my home office since I work remote. It's not a place of sanctuary or inspiration, but it is what I have right now. Piled up boxes which have never been unpacked after moving here litter the space behind me, my bookshelves overflowing already yet I've squeezed in the new stack of things from free rpg day this past weekend. I'm tired and I don't know if I can do this, but I'm ready to try. There's little more to prep right now and my CSS skills are remedial so for the time being my homepage will have to be what it is. I'd considered trying my hand at Wandering Worldsmith to further placate my ADHD, but alas that requires 4 worlds and I've only got 3 on here. But hey, I've got most of a week left, maybe I'll create one just cause. Lord knows I've got enough random scribbles in my notebook mound to do it.   Anyway, this is getting to be a bit of a ramble so I think I'll end it here for now, but for all of us preparing for camp, let's do our best!