For today's Imaginaerium, we are going to peer into the brilliant minds of the Anvilites who are taking part of Summer Camp and see what advice they have for us. One of WA's greatest assets is its amazing community, so lets get better together.
Today, we'll talk to the mind behind Bonus Action, the artistic marvel known as... Tim!
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Tim, i'm a content creator for dungeons and dragons 5e. Some may know me as Bonus Action on other social medias. I use World Anvil to put together my entire campaign setting.
What world are you working on for Summer Camp?
The campaign setting: The Sea of Starlight, specifically the world To'fra, specifically specifically the region and country of Wolfsbrunn
What is your past experience with Summer Camp?
Absolutely 0, this is my first time
How do you go about generating ideas for the prompts?
I use a digital whiteboard and started by putting the prompts on post-its and writing base ideas on post its under it. I try to look for interconnectivity so the subjects i write about flow into one another as much as possible. I already have some base ideas for sections of my world from which i pull detailed ideas for the prompts(edited)
What's your approach to this Summer Camp?
Write first ask questions ( illustrate and fully design things) later
What's your tricks for staying on track?
Lists and post-its are my greatest tool really I love to shift them around and color code stuff to see where i'm at and to organise all the thoughts i have. That way they don't have to stay in my brain in somekind of massive mindpalace
How do you handle those bad days when we get stuck or can't seem to get writing done?
It's not for everyone, but i try to push through mental/artistic/writers block as much as possible, i'm very much aware that not everything i make is going to be the best thing i've ever done, sometimes you just gotta get the crappy things out of the way. You can always redo them at a later point. But truth be told, i also try to just look at all my tasks and pick one that i feel more passionate about, that's the beauty of all those post-its, there's never a moment where i don't have something lined up that i'm not looking forward to (also, my work is never finished because this thing is endless )
In terms of art, what's your plan for the articles you make (during summercamp)?
As an illustrator I'm not very fond of using stock photography or stock art for my articles, i get a lot of fun out of drawing and illustrating my world so i try to draw or sketch some things along the way, just to get the ideas flowing a bit. But I'm also very aware that i'm not going to be able to get an image on every single article before the end of summercamp, especially since writing already takes a lot of time, but illustrating every article with 1-3 pieces of art will not be feasible. So I'll try to find the ones that I'm inspired by the most and are close to my expertise such as items, creatures, and maps, maybe a building if i'm feeling adventurous.
Thanks for Bonus Action for joining us :D
And here's some music to keep you company while you write:
Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance.
If you like what you've seen here and found it helpful, check out some of my other work and see it in action.
Mankind are not masters of this world, but children fumbling in the dark.
Araea is a weird-fantasy setting in a world where humanity has been forced to survive deep underground since time immemorial. The surface of the planet is a barren wasteland plagued by radiation, vicious storms and terrible beasts. In the dark, mankind have built cities and civilizations.
Welcome to the Megacorpolis! Greatest city in the world; run by marketing campaign and middle mangers, fueled by java and profit margins.
The Megacorpolis is a city of the future, free from notions of nationality or patriotism. It is a city ruled by corporations, by profit margins and marketing campaigns, run by middle-managers and algorithms. All under the watchful surveillance of everyone's friend, The Computer. Come on into the greatest city the world will ever see.
“They sacrificed to daemons, no-gods,
Gods they had never known,
New ones, who came but lately,
Who stirred not your fathers’ fears.”
The world stands at the dawn of the 21st century, entering an uncertain age. Monsters and magic, powers ancient beyond measure, lurk in the dark. In the shadows, another world lies next to our own, both a sanctuary and prison - a place beyond the reach of mortals.
Welcome to Shedim, a dark occult world of horror and wonder. It is our modern world, where magic lurks in the dark and hides in an alternative dimension called the Shadow. In it walk both heroes and villains, prisoners and jailors, horrors and hope. In it, armaggedon awaits - or salvation.
Love the music today! <3 Great interview with Tim too! :)