Summer Camp 2022 Pledge
My Goals and Motivation
(Homework Assignment 1)Creative Goal:
To worldbuild for my next novel, which will have a cottagecore fantasy atmosphere. The characters are queer and neurodivergent and the main character is also Christian. The world itself has mushrooms galore, real and fictional alike, scattered through the forests and gathered up into their own biomes. I'm planning not to have a long quest, so my characters will stay close to home and I can really delve into the details of their world.Motivation:
To prepare for writing my next novel. Why is this story the way it is? Because I'm Christian, queer, and neurodivergent and I don't see much representation of those things in fantasy -- although I'll still try my absolute best to keep my personality out of Keeta's (the main character) and only use the identities --, and because I have a special interest in mushrooms and am very much a cottagecore person. I'm participating in Summer Camp to help me stay focused on creating things I'll actually use in my story rather than building an entire world and then not use half of it.Challenge Goal:
Since this is my first Summer Camp and I'll have split focus for another project, my goal is copper -- but I'd like to aim for gold (24 completed prompts, or 7200 words). I'd like to attempt each prompt and find ways to make them work with my world. Long-term goals for this project are to finish worldbuildingImportant note: I'm also working to finish my PIP for Society and Culture, which also needs to be submitted at the end of July.
Working the Prompt Themes into My World
(Homework Assignment 2)Expanse
I don't think most of my biomes will be 'a wide extent of anything', probably only moderate in size. But! biomes still count and I'm sure the prompts will inspire me. However, I do have one true 'wide extent' of something: mycelium. Mushrooms are only the fruiting body, the real organism is the root-like network hidden beneath the surface. So, with giant mushrooms of the (fictional) genus Arboreomorph, how much bigger and fitting to the theme will be mycelium?Articles include:
- Wrey -- An ocean, desert, plain, pocket dimension, or other large expanse (location)
- -- A religion or organisation connected to a natural phenomenon (organisation)
- Ofēlūs -- A species that survives in an unlikely place (species)
- Cablecar -- A vehicle or type of vehicle used for long journeys (vehicle)
- Arine
-- A settlement beside or in a great expanse (settlement) - -- A material only harvestable from nature (material)
- Arinean -- A culture who lives by, near, or within an ocean, desert, or other expanse (ethnicity)
- Traditional First Stew -- A food that marks a rite of passage for a culture in your world (ritual)
Leadership
Hmm... you know, I thought this would be the least applicable theme at first, but now I've read the assignment I think it'll work. Keeta is Christian -- and since fae's the main character, doesn't that count as leadership too? --, someone has to be in charge of Miellanon, and the ancient civilisation that disappeared needed governing too.Articles include:
- Askela
- Ithanin Union
- Miellanon -- A settlement that leads the known world in something (settlement)
- -- A military conflict resolved through excellent leadership (military conflict)
- -- A building associated with governance, leadership, or change (building)
- ArKiHP Researcher -- A profession associated with leaders in your world (profession)
- gōblik / king/queen -- A title that commands respect from those in the know (rank)
- Sven -- A great leader of their people (person)
- -- A tradition or ceremony that confers an honour on someone (ritual)
Discovery
Hopefully I'll work out my plot through these prompts. Keeta loves researching and drawing mushrooms, Frog loves floriography, and Axl is the resident library lurker and has extensive knowledge of The Arinean Kingdom, the the lost civilisation. He taught Keeta and Buttercup the language, subsequently blending it with their individual communication methods to create Arinetsē.Articles include:
- Arinetsē
- The Arinean Kingdom
- Arine -- A settlement that was lost or discovered (settlement)
- -- An astonishing natural wonder (location)
- -- A recently discovered, or rediscovered, species (species)
- -- A lost or discovered artifact of significance or power (item)
- -- A technology lost, forgotten, or shrouded in mystery (technology)
- The Wrey Points -- A lost or discovered monument (building)
- Axl -- An explorer, researcher, or other character motivated by discovery (person)
- Axl's Research Log -- A travel log or other document associated with discovery (document)
Monstrous
To us, the Arboreomorph mushrooms would seem unnatural. Encountering or being given a particular flower could be seen as unlucky. Whatever led to the lost civilisation's downfall and disappearance surely has to be monstrous, whether a creatureArticles include:
- Keeta
- -- A species considered monstrous by some (species)
- -- A myth or urban legend about a 'monster' (myth)
- Wearing a Wrey cloak -- A tradition that keeps monsters or bad luck away (ritual)
- Orlefirs -- A condition considered monstrous or 'unlucky' by some (condition)
- -- An organisation considered cruel or monstrous by some (organisation)
- -- A person considered villainous or monstrous (person)
- -- An artifact that embodies a hideous or monstrous idea (item)
Mini-Meta
(Homework Assignment 3)My Pinterest board is a place for me to collect imagery that inspires me, things I'd like to include in my world and story, and to slowly work out what the characters are like.
My playlist hopefully mimics the vibes of this world and its story (environments, characters, events, etc.), and will be useful in getting into gear to write, especially if I'm feeling stuck.
The main aesthetics are cottagecore, gremlincore, and probably lunarpunk but I haven't fully worked out what that's about yet. For this world, cottagecore then branches out into mushroomcore of course, mosscore, and botanical acedamia.
Movies and other media that inspire me include Ghibli's Nausicaa, Cameron's Avatar, and Minecraft's Crimson and Warped forests and the Biomes You'll Go mod's biomes (especially the Embur Bog, Bulbis Gardens, and Imparius Grove).
Planning for Success
Homework Assignment 4Scheduling
I'd love to spend every hour of my school holidays to worldbuilding but I need to work on my PIP too, so I have to allow time for that. If I set 1-2hr blocks for each project every day, that should be good. It allows for other activities and I can spend more time than that if I want. After the holidays, I'll have less time available. I can set a couple of my free periods for worldbuilding -- for week A: P1 Monday and Tuesday and P5 Friday; for week B: P1 Tuesday and Thursday and P5 Friday. I don't think my parents have actually planned what they want to do in the holidays, which makes picking and dedicating days to worldbuilding difficult.Writing Space
I'm hoping to have a couple of days at the State Library in the city, which is supposed to be for working on my PIP but I'll probably worldbuild too. I usually write at my desk in my room, but it would be lovely to sit on my balcony too. When I'm hyperfocused on something it doesn't much matter where I am.Snacks
Russian Caravan is my assigned 'writing tea', which we have plenty of. I do need to buy some chocolate though.Community
The World Anvil community on discord of course, and the NaNoWriMo camp community too.WA SC22 Homepage
My prompts page
Post-Camp update:
I spent most of the holidays trying to recover from burnout and mostly just played Minecraft, and when term started I poured all my time into finishing my PIP. So I was only able to submit one article. However, I am still working on it and hope to eventually respond to most of the prompts in my own way.
NaNoWriMo update:
Ok so I still haven't finished my previous wip. Or worldbuilding this one. But for the first time ever I have just about the whole month of November available to me so I'm going to focus on my writing goals. I want to finish my wip, get my worldbuilding for this world to a functional stage, sort out a plot (mainly I need to work out an antagonist of some kind), and get started on writing this story. I've finished school now. I'm excitied!
4/11/22 -- finished my previous wip!
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