Reflections on SC23
It's hard to describe this, my first Summer Camp on World Anvil. I came in with three weeks of exposure to World Anvil and a
Summer Camp 2023 Pledge to complete eight articles. I set the bar as low as possible, having no idea what to expect. The platform and all of its options are so intimidating. But I have to say that the community, the encouragement, the support, and THE ENERGY that Janet, Dimi, and the entire community bring is absolutely contagious.
I wrote about aspects of things I'd never even considered in worldbuilding before. A cuisine? A festival? What in the world would I write? But when I did, I found one idea often spurred another, and another, and another. Without warning, I found myself going totally
Camp Feral and obsessing about getting
just one more prompt while on vacation (much to my family's dismay). As the month rounded out and vacation faded back into real life, it was clear I'd spent a LOT of energy on writing. I eyed Gold for a brief moment. Twenty-four articles would be a serious stretch, but if I pressed hard it was definitely within my reach. But I had to stop and remind myself of my overall reason for joining World Anvil in the first place. It was to have fun, and I was already feeling a little burned out. Instead, I took a deep breath and chose to take things very
Camp Chill for the last week of Summer Camp, only churning out another one or two articles, and only because they were things I was really interested in writing.
When it was all said and done, I was surprised and amazed to find I'd written twenty different articles and added a huge amount of content expanding both the breadth AND depth of Gokrenxia. Along the way, I'd learned a TON about WorldAnvil as a platform and began to form my own style. I am beyond proud of the results, and achieving Silver.
SC23 Reading Challenge
For the
Reading Challenge, I'd like to pick three prompts that I didn't answer. My hope is to seek inspiration for how to approach answering those prompts in my own world in the days and weeks to come. Separately, but related, I also can't say enough about how appreciative I am for all the amazing people from the WA community who took the time to like and even respond to my articles. It was their energy, excitement, and encouragement that truly made this a unique and incredible experience.
This was one of those prompts where I had a plethora of ideas: The Stacks or the Library in Stoverj, The Arcanum in Lysandre, the former Dwarven throne of Kurzniert. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time pinning down how to make them "iconic." I tried to write an article around the Arcanum, but it didn't feel grand enough to be called iconic. So this is the first prompt I want to review and use to get inspired.
Swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction, I have absolutely zero ideas for this prompt. How do we make natural phenomenons that are unique, rare, interesting, and evocative?
I'd love to find inspiration in my fellow Anvilites for how to approach this one in the future.
For this one, I felt like I was not far enough along in my worldbuilding to define this organization yet. I barely had two or three Kingdoms defined as we entered July, and Summer Camp led me to frame out several more (specifically the
Zuul’Hy Freelands and
Al'Jymoor). I have some ideas for potential future secret-holding orgs, but I'm just not there yet. In reviewing this prompt, I'm seeking inspiration for future me, who's working to build out such orgs.
Woldbuilding Goals 2023 2H
Now comes the big question: What's next for Gokrenxia? Summer Camp has brought me so much new content, but probably the biggest shocker for me was my final entry:
King Ga'jam's Final Decree. Coming into Summer Camp, my highest priority ToDo item was: "What happened when King Ga'jam died?" I didn't have a set plan in my mind, and this event occurred about five years prior to present day. So I had begun building out the cast of his Inner Council with the intent of role-playing the story out. It was a complete surprise to me when, as I tried to put myself in the King's headspace and write out his final words to his people, he changed the game entirely. I'm even more excited to see what happens when
Tashkerr Dyber joins the frey and how the power dynamics and relationships play out. In order for that to happen though, there are a series of worldbuilding dominoes that need to fall. Some are must haves, while others are interesting side stories. For example:
Micro-Focus
- Who is Tashkerr Dyber?
- What are his goals and motivations?
- What kind of person is he?
- How did Ga'jam come to choose him?
- What's the backstory there?
- What was Ga'jam's relationship to the Dwarf and his House?
- Who is House Dyber?
- What is their role, rank, and function within the Dwarven Houses?
- How does House Dyber relate to the other Dwarven Houses?
- How do House Dyber (and the Dwarves in general) relate to the upstart Kingdom of Vath'azen?
- What do the other Myndikin races (Elves & Humans) think about this development?
- Was there someone in Vath everyone expected to receive the mantle of King/Queen?
- Did that person just become a new antagonist in the world?
Macro-Focus
The points on the left are but one thread. There are even larger macro-questions I'd love to begin to tackle over the next six months to include:
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