Summer Camp 2021 Imaginaerium: Day 5

Hello everyone!

For today's Imaginaerium, we are going to peer into the brilliant minds of the Anvilites who are taking part of Summer Camp and see what advice they have for us. One of WA's greatest assets is its amazing community, so lets get better together.
Today, we'll talk to the one, the only, the father of the forge: Dimitris, who is doing Summer Camp along with us this year!

Tell us about yourself!

My name is Dimitris, I am a web developer, photographer and designer from Greece. I have a BA(Hons) in Digital Design, MSc in Computer Science and an MPsy in Social Psychology.
Suffice it to say, I love education (and chocolate). I have been working since I was 16 years old as a Developer
I count among my proudest achievements :
1. Being the youngest Lifeguard in Greece, at the age of 17
2. Having shaken the hand of one of the most amazing worldbuilders to have ever existed (Sir Terry Pratchett while he was trying to buy some carrots),
3. An YCN (Young Creatives Network) Excellence Award,
4. Having worked as a photographer for the most famous alt lifestyle website out there
5. According to my friends, having rubbed oil on the back of a very famous Hollywood actress has to make the list as well
The last 3 years I have been developing World Anvil for the most amazing community in the whole of the interwebs.
... Did I mentioned I like cheese? I really do - and cake .. damn I am hungry now.

What world/s are you working on for Summer Camp?

This year I will be working on my world Lyra, on my RPG system and setting. Lyra is a science fantasy world of flying ships, exploration and epic heroes in the Age of Sail. Delve into ancient temples and uncharted jungles, forge your own kingdom, protect the world from the emerging threats of the Evernight, or liberate the oppressed of the old Empire as a sky pirate! ... and I am quite HYPED about it.

Check it out here:

What is your past experience with Summer Camp?

Well, I organized it for 3 years now, I took part in 2020, and got a Copper Badge (10 prompts)

What did you learn from the past Summer Camps

I need to organize my time better so I can write when I am not stressed or tired.
Having my desk clean and a place to write ready, really helps.

How do you go about generating ideas for the prompts?

My primary question when I answer a prompt is "how will answering this prompt make a positive contribution to my world"
Once I have figured this out, the next question is how will this be connected to the rest of the world and I try to draw from there.

What's your approach to this Summer Camp?

In general, make sure that I stay focused and keep myself accountable, keeping at least 1 week ahead of deadlines so - if all goes bananas I will still have time... well 31st prompt aside

What's your tricks for staying on track?

POST ITS! Get 31 on the wall in front of me and removing them each time once it's complete! and as I said keep ahead of time always

How do you handle those bad days when we get stuck or can't seem to get writing done?

Run to my wife crying asking for help mostly - I do that a lot :D - she is my angel, muse and saviour :P

What makes a good SummerCamp article?

An article which keeps it lean and clean easy to read by people - We have to keep in mind that they will be thousands of articles during the month, and we need to respect the readers that would like to read our articles start to end.

How is to organizing SummerCamp?

Utter and absolute - somewhat controlled - chaos! But also very very fun! It involves a lot of Janet running all around doing things and me trying to scoop around and help wherever I can to carry things that fall off the stack of the 1000 plates. BUT FUN! :D
SummerCamp and Worldember are much bigger than people realize. We have to start working on the challenges 3 months in advance and they are still going strong for 2 months after. Challenges like that require a lot of organization which is never seen but is needed and in most cases the hardest thing is to make sure that the most people are having fun and are happy - and trust me when I tell you, this is not an easy thing to achieve. This is the reason that your feedback is so very important to us.

Thanks to Dimi for joining today's Imaginaerium and sharing his awesome insights (and interesting stories :D)!

And finally, here's some music to keep you company while you write.

Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.

— Chuck Close