World building June 2016!
Hello, hello, hello builders! Itāsā¦ May, but soon it will be June! That means we will all gather together and drag our friends kicking and screaming into World Building June! The annual event where we build worlds! I say it every year, but Iāll say it some more just in case youāre hearing this for the first time or are just forgetful like I am: This is the month where you take a world thatās been swimming around in your head and commit it to paper/data/paint/graphite/digital format/.txt/.sai/.psd/stone tablet so you can stop making excuses why you canāt show your great project to the world, or to curious friends.
Let me break things down bit by bit so I donāt lose anyone in my increasingly intricate flourishes.
What is World Building June?
World building June is a month-long challenge to simply build every day. What does building entail? It can mean a lot, but the main criteria is youāre creating content for your world, which is tangible and presentable. So, while you can definitely go into a deep meditative state regarding your world, be sure to keep a journal nearby to jot down your revelations on.
Miss a day? No problem, keep building. Miss a week? No problem, keep building. Only write down a single word? Keep building. Only draw a stick figure? Keep building. Only hear about World Building June on June 30th? Keep building into July. There is no way to lose, there are only ways to build. I literally want as many people building as humanly possible.
If you feel comfortable with it, itād definitely be great to see your posts show up on the tag #worldbuildingjune and everyone is encouraged to show each other support, especially each Wednesday during June, where youāre encouraged to reach out and send an ask to a neat world builder about their world on World Building Wednesday.
Where do I start?
The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, so start where you feel the most passion about writing or drawing and expand out from there. Once you have a good momentum, then expand out.
Words are cheap though, but Iāve got plenty. Every year I release an updated list of world building prompts. Different elements that help create building blocks in your world. They range from determining the geography of your world, to the items that your average traveler has in their backpack. Answering these simple prompts (30 in all) will get you many steps closer to the completion of your world, and will hopefully lay down a solid foundation.
You can find a list of prompts here!
Iāll be creating articles detailing the prompts to provide inspiration and some possible resources to share to help you fill them out on the respective days they fall on during the month.
Whoa, hey! Iāve finished lots of similar prompts from you, I need some real fire under my butt!
Admittedly the prompt list can only be freshened up so much. I canāt come up with a new list each year full of fresh content. Iād at this point be scraping the bottom of the barrel and coming up with super obscure prompts.
This year I thought Iād try to give a more serious challenge for the veterans whoāve completed previous years of World Building June and those who are rolling into this event who need a goal to chase.
This year we have the Master Builder Challenge!
Itās not as flashy as Iām leading on, but it creates a bottom line to chase and exceed. This challenge is to create at least 500 words (2 pages), 1 finished illustration, or 2 pages filled with 2 world building related sketches each day. You can of course exceed these numbers, and create a mix of these mediums to create a full article of world building each of these days, but as long as you keep up this momentum for 30 days, youāll most likely feel like an building machine by the end!
For the master challenge itās a bit more strict that you have to create a total that equals or exceeds these perameters, so 30 illustrations, or 60 pages of text/sketches, or a mix of these. Momentum is also important so you should catch up on a missed day as soon as you have a much more open day to build on.
The prize for completing this challenge is to be dubbed a master builder, truly a deity among your friends who is now pulsing with world building power.
Sounds rad!
You bet! This challenge has been my pride and joy every year. Iāve had hard years where Iāve been in a bad place but Iāve wanted to make sure i delivered on World Building June regardless because the response from fellow builders is amazing. Thereās over 1,300 of you following this account and I have a feeling like youāll all shatter my hopes and expectations again this year with stellar turnouts. This is my passion and it means so much to me to get people hyped for it for a whole month.
Share this post, tell your friends, convince that one friend whoās been dragging their feet forever, convince that friend who doesnāt feel theyāre good enough to participate, they deserve to build the most, because building can take small sums and make them a large whole. All those bricks they lay down will be a castle, and beyond that, a world.
Most of all, above all else, without any reservation, and without any reluctance, I want you to promise youāll do one thing, and thatās toā¦.
GET BUILDING!
