It’s week 3 of the Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2022 homework club, and we’re talking about INSPIRATION! To recap:

What is a worldbuilding meta?

Your world’s meta is the information about the world that helps you build a consistent world that doesn’t feel disconnected from itself. It’s like the world’s DNA! In it, you define things like the big-picture elements of your world, the theme, scope and mood of the world, and your sources of inspiration. This is an incredibly useful tool to avoid writer’s block, knowing what to write next, and providing a more immersive experience for both yourself and your players or readers.

For more information about the meta, check out our blog post about this topic. And for an example of a very in-depth meta, check out Melior’s meta document on World Anvil!

What is a mini-meta and how can it help?

A mini-meta is, as the name implies, a smaller version of the world meta! But instead of focusing on the entire world, it’s focused on a single area or purpose. This is useful because in events like Summer Camp, it’s often easier to focus in a single place of your world rather than trying to build everything at once.

For your mini-metas, you don’t need to be as expansive as with the general meta. Just the themes, goals (which we’ve already talked about!), and inspiration should be enough.

ONLY IF IT’S HELPFUL you can also add other aspects of the meta to your mini-meta. You might choose to make a mini-Drama section, talking about current affairs in a specific area you’re expanding. You might want a People section (who lived there, and who lives there now?), which might differ slightly (or go into more detail) than the main meta for your whole setting.

Summer Camp 2022 Homework Assignment 3

Since last week, you should have an idea of how the themes of Summer Camp 2022 fit into your worldbuilding. Now, it’s time to gather imagery and inspiration, to create a mini-meta!

  • In your pledge document, beneath the short text you wrote last week, gather together images, music, movie clips, quotations and anything else that inspires you!
    • If you’re building in a preexisting setting, see if any of your previous inspiration points typify what you’re working on now
    • If you’re building a new setting, it’s time to go hunting for sources of inspiration!
  • Add a small note to your inspiration media, to help you hone in on what exactly inspires you about it. For example “the colour scheme of this art”, or “the costumes in this image”, or even “the sense of tongue-and-cheek adventure captured in this movie”.
  • ONLY IF IT’S HELPFUL you can also add other aspects of the meta – such as the Drama (current affairs) and People (past and present) sections
  • Submit the article in the comments of this blog post!

Are you part of the Homework Club?

Looking for time to get it all done? Come join the Homework Club! The Homework Club livestreams happen every Sunday in June and July on our Twitch channel at 7pm UK/11am Pacific. They’re a great chance to get help, ask questions about the event, and get inspired by others…. AS WELL as get those precious words down during live writing springs.

And if you want to show off your participation to Summer Camp, we have some graphics you can use in your World Anvil world or in social media:

Summer Camp Pledge Document cover

Summer Camp participation Twitter banner

Download all participation graphics and the community streaming pack! You’ll find logos, stickers, banners—anything your heart desires!

Summer Camp 2022 is sponsored by GacuCon, Norse Foundry, and Kobold Press

Big shout out to our amazing sponsors, GACUCon, Norse Foundry, and Kobold Press! They make it possible to offer so many prizes to celebrate your awesome creativity! Check them out and give them some love!