I'm still pretty new to this whole world-building thing, so I'm reading these articles with an eye toward what other people are doing that I should think about trying too (how they are formatting articles, what points they are hitting,
Somewhere in your setting, describe an ocean, desert, plain, pocket dimension, or other large expanse
This article was beautifully written with such a vivid description. I should make sure in my own work that it's the little details that really sell the picture of a place. It also had a very clear narrative focus written in first person point-of-view so that it read more like a story instead of a Wikipedia article. I really like the importance this gave to the work like there was a reason it was being written about instead of just to fill a prompt.
This article starts with a quote from an in-universe book and that is such a cool idea, great way to really get a sense of how people in the world think about their sea. Since I originally framed my world as a travelogue being written, maybe this is something I can try and use too. This article is also a reminder that when creating places it is important to give them a sense of history (and with that history usually comes conflict, which I tend to shy away from writing).
The formatting in this article is so cool! I should look into adding more pictures and annotating them with cool antidotes too. The article is also written with a strong point of view which makes the article read easy and fun, instead of what I fear I do more often than writing a bunch of facts. I get a real sense of character not only of the place but of the person who wrote it. I should definitely try to inject more personality into my writing.
This article also starts out with a quote, this one is more of a narrative writing style which provides a good contrast to the more informative article underneath. This narrative description really conveys a sense of place even more so than the purer facts beneath it. I should remember how much I liked reading this part, that the story is always more interesting for when I am writing too.
Somewhere in your setting, describe a religion or organization connected to a natural phenomenon
This kind of stuff is my favorite part about worldbuilding, coming up with fun and creative solutions to problems you have given yourself. This article is a reminder to myself to make sure I extrapolate the details of my world out, what problems have they created and what will the people of my world do to solve them.
Somewhere in your setting, describe a tradition or ceremony which confers an honor on someone
I really like the added details of the poem and song added to this article, instead of just mentioning that these things exist. They are tiny cool details that bring the world so much life. I need to remember that flushing out the small details is more powerful than a bunch of ideas that are just surface-level.
This article is a very good reminder that not everyone will be familiar with every (or even any) aspects of your world when they read my articles. I really should try, like this article did so well, to explain things and give context, and make sure the articles can be read as an entry point to the world. This article did such a good job with making sure I was never lost on concepts or ideas even though I was reading such original ones.
Conflict, conflict, conflict - this is a great article to read and remember that, and how everything in your world, as little of a detail, has some kind of story attached to it. This is also a good reminder to me that not everyone in my world will have the same opinion about something. I need to think more about this - who feels differently, a group of people maybe, why do they think that way, and what other factors in my world caused that. This gives the world a more dynamic feel than what I fear my one note world to have now.
Somewhere in your setting, describe a person considered villainous or monstrous
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This is a great description of a villain, a reminder to me that describing the actions is more powerful (that how show don't tell thing) and also it's a great use of how other characters feel/think about a person used to describe them.
Everyone is the hero of their own story, even if that person is a villain-type character. This article is a good reminder of that, and how I need to see my characters as more than just black and white. Also, I should give my characters more history - what did other people think about them before, and how has that changed over time, and most importantly why.
This article is just written with so much humor and personality, and while it's not something I'd likely be able to replicate, it is a good reminder that reading is for fun and we do this for enjoyment (both our own and the readers, I should remember that tone, and try not to be so boring myself). This was also another great use of quotes (as snippets of conversation) that really sell the whole thing.
Future Goals
My summer camp endeavor is just kinda one note and half-baked compared to the entries I read. I really want to go back and "complete" them to this standard. I want to try to add more cohesion and personality to my worldbuilding (maybe using quotes like I saw so many people use) and I also want to try for more subtly (making more characters/things grey instead of black and white, and adding more nuance into things). I should also try to expand out these entries, I've noticed that compared to others work, there is a lot that I didn't either mention or repeat in individual articles because I knew a thing in my head. But the reader doesn't and I should really go back and explain/expand on these things. Also, all of my entries need art (that I didn't have time to complete at the time).
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