Summer Camp 2024 - Recap and Reading Challenge
Recap of my first Summer Camp
At the beginning, I couldn't bring myself to pledge a specific number of articles. Then the first prompts came, and I thought, "It's good that you didn't commit to anything. None of this fits your world." But then I started to think about it a bit more and received some input from the community. This led to me writing four articles from the first wave, all of which reference each other. At this point, I was briefly disappointed for not pledging, as I thought I could have achieved Copper after all. By the end of week one I had one article finished, three more started and some ideas for the prompts of wave two.
At that point, I was briefly disappointed for not having pledged, as I thought I could have achieved copper after all. But then work and daily life got in the way, and my progress slowed down. In the second week, not a single article was published. I managed to complete two more articles in the third week, although I had hoped to have four done by then. At this point, I was glad again that I hadn't pledged, as I didn't see myself capable of finishing eight articles by the end of the challenge. In the fourth week, only two new articles were added, leaving me significantly behind. Fortunately, in the last week, I managed to catch up and complete the last three articles.
So in the end I did manage to finish eight articles and I really like them. All of them are more or less important for my world, which I'm really happy with. Because I did not want to write about anything, I wouldn't need. Here is an overview of those eight articles, along with my first WA certificate.
| A character who goes through a great change or metamorphosis | Bilgi - God of wisdom |
| A sickness that caused societal upheaval | The Ruby Fever |
| A document that changed the course of history | The Song of Life |
| A building associated with joy and fun | The Great Library of Sifa |
| A settlement considered a refuge | Khemerahl |
| A tradition that gives comfort | Wingdance Blossom Festival |
| A myth, urban legend or conspiracy theory believed by many to be true | About Dragons |
| A material that is resistant to decay | Luzidium wood |
I'm fine with all of them, but I'm kind of proud of the Ruby Fever, Song of Life and About Dragons, due to different reasons. Ruby Fever because it showed me some interesting CSS tricks (thank you very much to CrazyEddie at this point). Song of Life because I seriously did write a song for that one, something I never did before. And About Dragons, again for some interesting new CSS (again thanks for the help to CrazyEddie). I also want to use this opportunity to thank some anvilites, that helped a lot with my progress: Tyrdal, BlueFairy47, CrazyEddie, Satrium, Secere Laetes, Nightone and especially for all my CSS questions Rin/2nerds and nnie.
Reading Challenge - SC24
But enough about me, let's talk about some other articles. I decided to participate in a reading challenge for the first time. As I know myself very well, I somehow had to reduce the amount of articles that I could read. Therefore, I choose just one prompt and decided to read aaaaaaall of the articles for this prompt. After thoughtful consideration, I chose a category, that I thought I will write about a lot in the future and so reduced the selection to either ethnicity or species. In the end, and after some of my fellow German anvilites said species, I chose species. To be specific the prompt "A hybrid species intentionally bred".
So I "read" 171 articles (allthough I might have just skimmed some of them) and those are the ten articles, that stood out for me:
Allthough this article has an unfinished paragraph, I still really love the idea of bred flowers that help you to focus or sleep. Having one of those in my bedroom or my office would help me a lot. I mean, they would most likely die within the first month of my ownership, due to a so called black-thumb, but one can always try. A picture of at least one kind would have been nice, especially as I can't really imagine how a hybrid between chamomile and lavender would look like.
It's part turtle, what's not to love about it? Allthough, I'm not so sure I would want to meet one of those, they look a little bit horrifiying. But in all earnest, I do not only like the hybrid itself, but the insights into the corporate structure of this world. At least at some point, MegaCorpos weren't all bad.
This fruit really sounds delicious. Besides the really nice way of describing its origin, I also love your whole article and world layout. This shows me, that I still have a long way to go with my world, but it gives me a lot of inspiration.
The Pomoda Vines are such a smart solution to a problem that seems to exist in this world. I particularly like the "I don't know how it works, but I don't care"-part. Should use this attitude more often during my worldbuilding.
The pictures in this article are really gorgious. It sounds exactly like the sort of vegetable I'd love to cook with. I wonder if there are any more vegetables that have been bred for this harsh environment?
I love the history of this beautiful flower. It really came a long way. What I would have loved is to know if it smells of something? Maybe vanilla? Or is it too cultured to smell anymore? And I also love the way of doing the headers per category. That would safe me a lot of work and nerves ...
During this last two weeks I read about so many chimaera. Most them were pretty classical, but this one really stood out. It seems to be the perfect symbiosis between dog and cat. I'd love to have one of those. They look so fluffy and cute. And the article layout is just stunning, lots to learn from this one!
It is such a sad and at the same time intriguing story about this species. Especially the pretty specific life expectancy. As an aspiring DM I was also really intrigued by all the roleplaying elements in this article.
This is certainly one of the most elaborate and comprehensive articles I have read recently. And it's also beautifully styled. However, I can hardly imagine that even a single woman survived the process. I definitely still have a lot to learn, both in CSS and in writing, looking at this.
Allthough this article has no pictures and might not be styled the most creative way, the idea behind it is amazing. I would really love to learn about more of those bred animals. How does someone come up with such an idea? Also, the way the article is written is just entertaining and so different from most others. Really interesting to read!
What I want to focus on
Allthough I had quite a certain idea about how to write my articles, I might change my approach. Some quotes or some prosa would help them a lot, I guess. Because all the articles I've read that had those, were just easier to read.
Also, I really need to work on my CSS. Use some columns, more different containers, style everthing to my own liking, so it just looks more ellaborate.
Thank you very much for including my Homo Elaqitanii and for your kind words. Great idea with the flip cards, which function like a little puzzle. I wish you luck with your future goals and everything takes time. You don't have to be able to do everything at once. My world needed two years to look like this and to be "read" like this. I'm far from finished and I'm still learning new things.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement ☺️