Summer Camp Prep 2026
Week 1
I'm somewhat optimistically going for gold this time around. No clue if I'll get there, but that's the target for 2026. I've set my pledge as the image for this article header.
Wizard classic, I rolled a 1 on a d4. This one is pretty simple, since I've been regularly reviewing my meta and homepage for NDA for a while now. I'm still open to a great deal of modification as I slowly work toward something that could actually reach publication, but I think I'm happy with the foundation at this moment.
Week 2
The major focus I'd like to have this Summer is on the day to day substance of the city of San Gabriel. I've written a stub for the harbor district and I've implied a few various locations, but I need a great deal more for the city to feel realistic.
I'm gonna finish this homework with like 4 HP. That's a second 1 in a row and I blame the google dice roller. Regardless, at least it makes for an easy week. My reasoning for focusing on the general cityscape is simple enough. I think I need to flesh out the setting a good deal more so that the backdrop for the supernatural resources feels like a real location that people, regular human people, could live their lives. Without that, the supernatural elements have nothing to contrast against.
Week 3
My plan at this stage is to spend 30 minutes at the start of each day, before I sign in for work, writing on at least one prompt. Then on the weekends I can spend additional time as needed working on anything I miss during the week. This is where the optimism I mentioned earlier comes in.
Exciting twist, I rolled a 2. My creative process is not all that much of a process, in classic ADHD fashion. I scribble notes in my various notebooks constantly and then try to scrape them together into something resembling coherent thought. Then I modify and reinterpret what I wrote, whether its an article or notes I've subsequently forgotten the thoughts behind. It begins to feel something like discovery and that's where I thrive. This, unfortunately does not lend itself well to structured or productive worldbuilding. Quite probably why I've not gotten terribly far in my efforts to drive toward a publishable product with this one, but this is a hobby and life + career tends to look upon it with disdain so I appreciate that I get to put at least this much brain power into it.
Today I'll be reading another volume of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I love the Ghibli film, but I'd never read the manga before so now I'm borrowing it from my local library and working my way through. And let me just say, on top of being meaningful, it is GORGEOUS.
Week 4
Why do I do this? Boy, that's a question I've been asked many, many times, sometimes by my own brain. Partly I do it becuase I can't not. I scribble notes and sketch ideas constantly becuase they're inside me and I feel physically and mentally discomforted the longer I go without releasing that pressure. Partly I do it because I, like all creatives, have the sheer arrogance to believe I have the power and right to create something that needs to exist. And as my last week's notes implied, yes I partly do this because I'm seeking to eventually build NDA into something I can publish, in this case specifically using the AGE Creators Alliance license from Green Ronin Publishing. So... all of that at once I suppose.
Also because it's fun.
Which I think makes me a confirmed masochist.
Anyway, I rolled a 2. To achieve Gold I'll need 24 prompts. If I can knock out one each day before work, I'll be sitting pretty. Will that happen? Well...
Finding an accountability buddey and/or community is a bit of a bigger challenge. I have limited time to put toward my work on this project with my other commitments and responsibilities. Nonetheless, I've found that if I keep posting journal entries on my WA I tend to at least get something done so I don't feel too embarrassed about what I have to share. So... I guess it's my own anxieties and you lovely people that'll keep me honest. So, uh... thank you... for that?
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