Summer Reading Challenge
Lessons, Thoughts, and Plans
Reflections and Goals
Thinking about Summercamp
So, this was the first official event I've participated in - I've done a few unofficial ones, mostly when the idea either already vibed with something I wanted or, um, I was enamored with the badge. But this was my first time doing the whole full event thing, and boy did I choose an interesting one to start with.
I kind of suspect Summercamp might be the hardest of the challenges, at least for me. I know WorldEmber is about wordcount? But I'm fairly sure I have at least one article that's close to the minimum for WE already. Summercamp is tougher because you have to work within specific article types and, of course, specific prompts.
Summer Camping Experience
Overview
It's the prompts that really get you. Some themes just aren't very prominent in some worlds but you kind of have to figure it out anyway - in my case the most difficult theme was decay, but I managed to come up with a number of articles for it anyway. I also relied a lot on wild cards, including for what is maybe my favorite article that I've ever done, Crimson Court.
But it did force me to stretch. If it weren't for Summercamp I probably wouldn't have done half the articles I did and in some cases, I wouldn't have sat down to really hammer out certain events or periods of time.
I also did a bunch of things that weren't really part of the event (even though I did them during the event). See sidebar!
What I Was Trying to Do
Originally I was aiming for only 8 articles, because I know myself well enough to know that I never, ever, ever shut up about anything ever and there was no way I was making 300 word articles and there was no way I was getting beyond eight.
But! I got to 16, in fact, thus making me twice as cool as I had realized I could be.
My rule for this event, and probably the reason I will never make Diamond ever no matter how long I'm on World Anvil, was that I would make the articles as much like my normal articles as usual - so that means art and formatting and detail just like any other article. This faltered a little for the last two or three just because I was running out of time, but I more or less managed to keep to my intent.
Future Goals
Okay! Worldbuilding goals for the next 6 months, which would bring me to February 2025.
Samael Asther
It may seem odd to give one character an entire button/plan to himself, but Samael is probably the most challenging article I will have to write. He's arguably the most consequential character in the "world," so to speak, to the point where this site is designed to reflect his design (black and gold filigree and red highlights) and also is named after the royal court of his nation.
It took me several days to pull Cain and Astaroth's articles together. I've always joked that I'd need to take a vacation from work to do his entry... and fortunately I have done that (not for this!) so the opportunity presents itself.
Foundation Documents
This is kind of what I've been theoretically working on since May, but I'm slow. Essentially all the docs that cover things that are important to establishing the world and what it's like - so that includes things like explanations of power systems (already done, heyo), major organizations or historical events that changed the world.
I generally don't count characters are foundational, but Gabriel and Samael arguably are.
Anyway specific foundation docs I need to get to:
Update Articles
I still have a bunch of articles I did... a while ago that need updating either for new/contradicted information or, most often, because of formatting. This is especially the case with the early character articles, as I've made the most extensive changes to the character template over time... not to mention all the different stylistic elements I eventually implemented.
I'd like to get that done before my vacation so that I can really focus on new content, but we'll see.
Languages
So my world has three major languages (plus common which is weird), and two of them are in partial stages of completion while the third hasn't been worked on yet. They're all built on a base from Vulgar Language, but then I do a lot of tweaking. SO. Things I must do:
Timelines
After rolling around in a state of avoidance for months, Summercamp finally forced me to go ahead and put together a general timeline. This was a great thing and made me much more comfortable as I was putting together events - I found myself confident! In ways I previously hadn't been.
That said, the world has 30,000 years of history and not nearly enough information to fill the time in, so I definitely want to work on that. Doing Samael's entry should fluff out the past 4k years, anyway, and there's a few centuries that have been reasonably well-documented due to the Caelestise-Sura War theme week. But yeah.
Timelines!
Maps
Between me and me, I hate mapping. I just find it frustrating and uninteresting at the same time, and nailing things down makes me feel like I have limited options and... it's just kind of annoying and it takes time, and blah blah whine whine,
However I do know it's necessary and, much like timelines, having a better grip on what the world looks like and where things are makes me far more confident when I'm working, so I need to go ahead and do it.
In addition to that, I have a bunch of cool mapping programs that I'm interested into getting to work on for more detailed and cool maps (for towns and buildings especially).
The Reading Challenge!
While picking out articles I try to aim for prompts that I, personally, struggled with as I think they'll be more helpful and, I guess, educational?
A tumultuous region prone to natural disasters
Okay this article was really great for me. To put my biases out there, I have a tendency to try and look for world elements that can easily and effectively generate ideas or issues - this is especially true if I'm designing a roleplaying game world or something like that, because it's important to have different hooks that you can use to come up with something in a pinch.
This article revolves around an ever-present magical storm that can't be dispelled and that warps things in its area. Immediately I thought about all the different types of stories that element could bring in, you know? Missing ships and monster invasions and etcetc. Love it.
A vehicle that, when introduced, caused social upheaval
Unfortunately I can't reply to the post, because the comments are turned off. But I really enjoyed the article - an interesting and different way of looking at what causing social upheaval means, really. Instead of being some kind of massive technological advancement, it's instead a social evolution. I always enjoy when someone does something unexpected with a prompt.
A building associated with joy and fun
A really charming description of a place that now I kind of want to visit. Vibrant descriptions of contents but also of the atmosphere and the people involved paint an immersive picture that I really enjoyed.
A myth about food
Adorable myth used to explain a cultural quirk. I really love this - I said in the comment that it's one of the more myth-y myths, because it does feel like something I'd read in like a book of fables.
A settlement considered a refuge
I'm a Cathedris fan - it was the first world that really caught my attention here, which probably isn't surprising. I'm always amazed by how innovative Stormbril is with presentation, and how interesting his ideas are. Not to mention that mindblowing CSS skill, which I envy. Anyway, this is a really nice medium-meal sized article about a city I'd love to visit, although the cliff would probably be concerning.
A unit dedicated to guarding someone or something
Okay well I said this in the comment... and also elsewhere. But I really enjoy when someone takes a prompt and does something that is not immediately obvious but still completely relevant. I kinda did it myself in another prompt (using animals instead of humans) so I'm biased, idk.
A building considered a refuge against the world
This is one of my favorite articles so far - I love when someone uses an interesting presentation and this guidebook format is really creative and fun - not to mention the ingenious use of icons.
I, myself, am not the most visually creative person in the universe but I do really respect people who use the formatting as part of the "story" so to speak - I try to do that myself specifically because I think it's such a cool addition that really makes a world come alive.
An evil spirit or divine antagonist
There's not a lot more terrifying than a murderous mist, lmao. How do you even fight something like that? Well, here's the story of a witch who sought to become a lich and instead ended up something else entirely. Great story, great concept.
A sub-culture considered larger-than-life by some
As a survivor of the Youtube beauty community from 2016- 2020 (fan, not a youtuber rofl), this post feels too real to me. Haters and intragroup rifts and drama but not too much? Lovely.
A storyteller, author or bard in your world
A fitting final article for the reading challenge: the mysterious and beautifully written writeup of a legend of a storyteller who may or may not exist.
Lessons
I think the main thing I've taken from this is... open your mind, girl. There are cool formatting things being done (for example with the guidebook entry) that I never would have thought of... and I really love presenting things in different ways that help to support the story I'm trying to tell, eg. the map-based storytelling in The Stars Where We Lay. I'm not good enough with CSS to be a Stormbril sadly (maybe in 40 years when I'm about to die), but the wheels are turning in my head now, at least.
Another thing I learned, which I should really take to heart sometime before next Summercamp, is that a great deal of information and atmosphere can be condensed into few words if you're careful with them. I have a hard time with this due to being verbose as hell, but I'll try to bear it in mind going forward... like I said, particularly for things like this where going too long can end up costing you cool badges.
I'll still never get to diamond.
(Also, I say I learned to be concise but this article is 3,000 words, so don't believe me.)
Heyo
Pandora9 SC Page
...It's my Summercamp page!
SC24 Prep
Pledge page/Where I cleaned my brain up for the challenge.
Summer Reading Challenge
Reflections, Plans and Comments on other people's stuff!
Summer Camp 24 Articles!
Index of the articles for the event.
Thank you so much for the inclusion here!! I'm honored by the words and happy to hear you liked the article :D Also I just have to say, omg your world is gorgeous! I love the theme, love the header, just great work with it :D
What a compliment coming from you. Thank you so much!
Crimson Court: Dark Isekai Fantasy focusing on Court Intrigue, Politics and Complicated Relationships. And Also Wars. Still Under Construction, beware the pits.