Summer Camp 2024 Homework

Heya everyone! Welcome to my little ramble about Summer Camp, to keep myself accountable! I got back into worldbuilding last year right as Summer Camp started, and was way too overwhelmed by the size of it to tackle it at that stage, but I pledged to myself that I would take part this year. I'm a little nervous, but really excited to use this as an opportunity to tidy up my world's loose ends, and really work toward my wordcount goal for the year! This is my first time doing Summer Camp, so I hope I'm addressing the tasks correctly!

The Homework!

WEEK 1: Change

Assignment 1: Consider what kind of changes would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.

This is such an exciting question, and one that I actually think about myself regularly! I love incorporating upheaval and change into world history. I'm a big fan of technology creating change, as well as subtle cultural evolution over time. I also love considering species adaptation and evolution.
My world is made as a TTRPG setting, and its history and because of that its current state is everchanging in a collaborative way. I'm going to have a lot of articles to write soon, as my first campaign set in this world is soon wrapping up (after around 4 years of gameplay!) and the players have made a bunch of recent changes to the world themselves! I love the aspect of collaboration in my world's changes and history, and I can't thank my amazing gaming party enough for all the inspiration they give me every week to make change to my world. I'd love to incorporate some of my game's changes into articles during Summer Camp, if the prompts permit.

Assignment 2: Decide how many prompts you'll go for during Summer Camp. Then, download the pledge document and fill it accordingly!

I would love to say I'll have the time and energy to make Diamond this year. I love to "win" things, I'm a completionist, and not striving for the top doesn't sit quite right with me. HOWEVER. I know the amount of work that would take is monumental, and I've chosen to be kind to myself, more realistic, and set my goal for Gold. This should still be a big challenge, and if I have the energy and try hard enough, I'm hoping I can surpass it and go for Diamond!

Assignment 3: Get your categories and tags organized!

This one was a breeze, since I'd actually tackled this somewhat recently! I did take the time today to look over them once more and add a few more relevant ones. My categories aren't everyone's cup of tea, and I don't really use tags all too much; but my categories work really well for me. I've spent some time organising articles that were uncategorised as well!

Assignment 4: Take a look at your meta, primer, and any other high-level document and update it according to the current state of your world.

This one was the real challenge for me. My meta was SUPER neglected and needed a lot of work, my goal for this assignment was to bring the meta to 100% completion (which I'd never achieved before!). It took me about 6 hours of coffee and my worldbuilding mix to get through, but it really gave me some good thoughts, mental challenges to break through, and insights in the direction I wanted to head!

WEEK 2: Refuge

Assignment 1: Consider what kinds of refuge would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.

This is a really fun topic for me! I have a lot of organisations surrounding the idea of refuge in my world, and this topic has encouraged me to write and worldbuild about some of them! Because I use my world for a TTRPG, I spent some time coming up with ideas for rest and refuge in crisis, in part so my player could utilise and interact with them. A favourite of mine are the giant cleric-run hospitals of Tyhna, the goddess of healing!

Assignment 2: Find a community

An accountability buddy is very useful for me when setting myself goals and challenges. This summer camp, I'll be hanging out a lot on the Discord, and adding my goals to my Finch App ( https://finchcare.com/ ) (not sponsored! I just love Finch for managing creative and every day tasks with my neurodivergence!). Any art that I do for the articles will be shared to my art socials, which are a great source for community and feedback! Most importantly, I've discussed my goals with my amazing partner, and he's going to help me keep on track as best he can!

Assignment 3: Find ways to improve styling and layout in your world!

It may not look like it on this article, but I addressed this recently! I'm not good at coding, but World Anvil's guild styles have made things a lot easier. Recently, I tweaked my theme to include a nice grungy background, updated my global banner and icon, and I've been fiddling more with inserting art and breaks in my workflow.

Assignment 4: If you’re a CSS wizard, maybe take the time now to give it a polish!

I'm absolutely not! However, in place of this homework, I've taken the time to have a read through the CSS chats in the discord, and I've learned more than I thought I would! Hopefully I'll keep picking up little bits here and there, but CSS is definitely not my strong point!

WEEK 3: Belief

Assignment 1: Consider what kind of beliefs would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.

I'm so excited to get dug into my belief system again! Its one of those things I have ideas about all the time, but put off putting into words. My world is already established, but I've taken the time to jot down some plans and notes so that I can start really grasping my full concept of beliefs, pantheon, legend and tradition over Summer Camp! My world is one where the Gods are very tangible and fairly well understood, and interactions with mortals are not uncommon; but the Gods aren't everything! The world has a strong value placed in science and progression, and non-religious tradition in culture is just as strong as the religious kind.

Assignment 2: Create a bank of inspirations! Quotes, music, description of experiences and shower thoughts, etc

Oh this is a treat! This is the kind of thing I love to do the most!
I've taken this homework opportunity to reorganise my Pinterest boards, and fiddle with my Spotify playlists! I've come up with more specific spotify playlists for different cultures and areas, which will be refreshing for my D&D players, and will help me prepare for my next campaign and for my Summer Camp writing atmosphere! I've done the same with my Pinterest boards, and have gone through and categorised my broader folders better.

Assignment 3: Find art and pictures that inspire you, and grab a map if you don't have one (and need one).

This is much of the same as above, but I've also been working on some sketches that I hope will become useful as I write during Summer Camp. I love putting art to my articles, and I often feel like they're not complete without doing a drawing. Hopefully this way, I should have some prepared images to use! 

Assignment 4: Check your inspirations again. Are they still relevant? Can you find any that better represent the current state of your project?

Replaying the Witcher 3 lately has been HUGELY inspiring! I've taken a bunch of notes in my handy desktop notebook, and I'll be hopefully using some of the ideas I found to come up with some unique articles! 

WEEK 4: Decay

Assignment 1: Consider what kind of decay would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.

This is so perfect, and all these themes are getting me super hyped for Summer Camp! I love the aspect of decay; it's a beautiful opportunity for poetic horror, and it fits so nicely into the steampunk, dark fantasy I go for! Physical decay of organisms brings up thoughts of necromancy, diseases and famine. Less obviously, "decay" is the perfect descriptor for most of the governments, systems, and factions in my setting! 

Assignment 2: If you like special tea when you write, stock up for a month. Tidy your office, make a “do not disturb” sign, and think about any other last-minute strategies to optimize your writing space and time!

Okay I'm not going to lie, I hated this assignment; I do love the result though! I tidied my work space today, bought my Financial Year day-by-day diary so I can plan my Commissions around writing, and made sure I had all the notes I've jotted down for ideas over the last few months within reach! My partner and I are headed grocery shopping tomorrow, so we'll be sure to grab some brain-fuel writing snacks too!

Assignment 3 / Assignment 4: Review your world homepage to hook potential readers! Take a look at your author profile and pillar articles on your world and polish them!

Another thing I've done semi-recently, but I took the time to write myself a catchier little explorer-esque quote, something I'd been putting off for a while! I tidied my profile recently, but this gave me the push to make sure that my link.tree works and ensured my info was up to date!
ALL IN ALL, I'm feeling pumped and super excited for what July has to offer. I'm so happy I've taken the time to devote myself to Summer Camp this year, and I'm excited to see where all your journeys take you!
Happy Writing, Adventurers!