For the second Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2020 Preparation Challenge, we’re talking UNLIMITED INSPIRATION!

Keeping yourself inspired is THE KEY to keeping yourself on track with your worldbuilding project. Everyone experiences “shiny new project” syndrome sometimes – that moment where you’re suddenly swept away by the idea of a new project. Having a solid, curated inspiration board, along with your worldbuilding meta (see Worldbuilding Summer Camp Challenge 1) is a great way to get yourself back on track. And remind yourself what inspired you about your project in the first place!

Why do CURATED Inspiration boards help?

It’s very easy to create a Pinterest board with thousands of cool images on it, or a Spotify playlist with hundreds of tracks. The downside of that is that it takes a long time. That is, it’s slow and arduous to research and make. But even more, every time you want to go back for inspiration, you need to scroll through hundreds of images or tracks to find what you want. You’re overwhelmed by choice. That often causes more problems than it solves!

This idea of this task is to create a CURATED inspiration board. By cutting down the number of items, but looking into them deeply, you’ll create an inspiration board that distills what you want for your project into a few pieces of media, without the overwhelm. It’s the same principle as the Meta – you’re aiming to get yourself directly to the heart of the inspiration for your world! Step 5, the inspirational movies or TV series, are only to be used if you’re really stuck. And Step 6 is optional – if you’re a fan of writing with music then go for it! Otherwise don’t worry – just use what you need!

HOW DO I TAKE PART in the challenge?

Step 1: Create a generic article on World Anvil. Add in:

  1. Add three (or so) quotations, poems, or text fragments that inspire you (remember to attribute them!)
  2. Embed three (or so) landscape or location images that inspire you, and match your genre and tone (remember to credit the artist!)
  3. Embed three (or more!) character images that inspire you and match your genre and tone (remember to credit the artist!)
    For free character images, check out This Person does not Exist and Artbreeder
  4. Embed at least one piece of music as the “anthem” of your world (remember to credit the artist!)
    You can embed Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud or Podbean files into World Anvil articles!
  5. THE BIG GUNS: 3 movies or TV series that inspire you, and match your genre and tone
    These are for those moments where you’re really stuck. Watch an episode or a movie to get yourself back on track.
  6. (Optional) If you really like writing to music, you can include a writing playlist in this article too

For more image resources, check out TJ’s curated list here. You can use any of these images for free, but remember to credit the artists!

Step 2: Post the URL of your article into the comments of this blog post!

That’s really it! I recommend checking out other people’s entries too! You’ll find quotations, images, artists, music and more that you never dreamed of!

There are no prizes and no judging on this one – it’s just a super chill assignment to help you get yourself and your world ready for Worldbuilding Summer Camp! We’ll show off a few of our favorites on the next Worldbuilding Summer Camp Preparation Livestream, on 21st June at 7pm UK / 11am Pacific time, on our Twitch and Youtube channels!

If you have questions, why not tune into our Tuesday Webinar live streams (Tuesdays at 7pm UK / 11am Pacific time), where we’ll answer you live!

Thumbnail image by Greg Rakozy