TJ's Summer Camp 2022 Inspirations

A grand serving of inspiration and devious plans for December...

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Reading & Reflecting

Amidst a very eventful Summer Camp I completed my goal this year for "all-or-nothing" and successfully finished with all 31 prompts completed!
I couldn't have done it without all of the help and support around me, so I'd like to spend some extra time to flick through some favourite prompts from my enamoring enablers: Kros, Dani, and my wonderful nerd-husband Naelin.
Between us all and our lodge family, we untangled each other's brains, un-stuck our words, and smashed the goals we set ourselves.
With the challenge complete it feels nice to read things at a slow, relaxed pace.

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Α species that survives in an unlikely place

I enjoyed this approach to the prompt and how these sea-faring ferrets rely on passage aboard ships for their survival. I particularly enjoyed the multitude of metaphors that the Varil ferrets symbolise in cultutral references and superstitions.
This article particularly inspired me to think about how a species could be used in common idioms and phrases.

Come on. What's not to love about the concept of aphrodisiac anemones that cling to the side of space-trains? I live for the plethora of puns in this universe and I greatly admire how Dani weaves them all together into interesting, lore-rich worldbuilding.
This inspires me to keep enjoying adding puns, inside references and wholesome smut to my world.

I adore the concept of Naelin's childhood toys world of Tierras Mágicas! This article, of what would normally be a silverfish insect, describes an elusive and mysterious creature that would be much larger in size from the eyes and height of the toys who inhabit the realm.
This inspires and reminds me to see everyday things from different perspectives and marvel at their details.

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Α material only harvestable from nature

I love how two different qualities of bark are explored here with the many different uses for each material. The description of spongebark gave extra lore about the climate and frequency of wildfires in the area.
This inspires me to think further about what environments things are situated in and how they can thrive in those conditions.

For this material I really enjoyed reading about the detailed legality of the substance, how it impacts upon those who use it, and how it's regarded in society.
I feel inspired by this to talk about sensitive topics in greater detail in my worldbuilding to really make my cultures feel alive.

I love how the different uses of this material were explained and rationalised based on its rarity and processing requirements.
This inspires me to look further beyond [the thing itself] and consider how other cultures would use or perceive it. This can be applied to all things, not just materials.

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A title that commands respect from those in the know

I really enjoy how this title is intertwined with history and language, and I love that those who know the title can speak it freely around others without people understanding the true meaning.
This inspired me to think more about language, symbolism, and metaphors in my world.

I feel super inspired by the lore lesson in this article as it explains the title using the historical context of a timeline. Seeing the history in a specific part of a world like this really inspires me to add more mini-timelines to articles in my world to make them feel older and more connected to the universe around them.

If you know of the good sounds, you know.
This article inspired me to be free with my writing and weave a little more of myself into my world. It also inspired me to think more about how folks in Melior experience auditory sounds.

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Goals

You know what my favourite thing about Summer Camp coming to an end is, don't you?
Time to begin preparing for WorldEmber.
My goals are simple: have fun, and keep worldbuilding.
My plans however involve many things-I-want-to-do-that-aren't-necessarily-goals.
In the coming months I would like to:

• finish and polish my Summer Camp articles after the awards ceremony stream
• do some spring cleaning, tidy up any odds & ends, and tackle my list of CSS fixes to refine
• prepare some broad, core concepts for regions in my world so that I can begin to expand on them more
• set up my map of Anvil as a map with pins (I have a chronicle but I can't embed it)
• art. I want to get a lot more rough sketches done and worry less about polished pieces
• prose - I'm still learning the ropes with how I'd like to write more stories in Melior. So far I've enjoyed slipping in a few poems or journal entries from characters, I'm not sure where full prose will appear yet

Practise Makes Perfect

If you enjoyed Summer Camp this year as much as I did, you're in luck. I have made an interactive Google Sheet of 400 genre-agnostic worldbuilding prompts that you can use to practise writing and continue expanding your world!
They're all sorted by article templates, and you can use the checkboxes to see your progress grow!
A printable version is also available, and the sheet is free or pay-what-you-want.

Grab your copy here!

400 Worldbuilding Prompts & Interactive Google Sheet by TJ Trewin

Progress bar in action! by TJ Trewin