before we begin, a huge thank you to miri (@moonlark-) for the original faq, as well as to pi (@pitau) for updating it along the way! i’ve added and adjusted information to account for more recent changes and general shifts over the sessions :> alright, now onto the questions! q. ‘what’s this swc thing?’ a. i’m glad you asked! swc is a triannual (meaning it happens three times a year – in march, july, and november) writing camp where you set a word goal and are sorted into a cabin, participate in camp-wide and cabin-specific activities to improve your writing and earn points for your cabin, forge lasting friendships and make fantastic memories, and, of course, write! it’s all just for fun though, so don’t be intimidated :> q. how will i know what cabin i’m in? a. all cabin leaders will message and invite their campers sometime before the start of each session – this could be anytime after february/june/october 25th, and will always be before march/july/november 1st. q. what's the difference between the main cabin and the genre cabins? a. great question! the main cabin is the headquarters of the whole camp. you can post what points you've earned from activities or word wars there, and a (co)leader/host will add the points for you! it’s also a great place to hang out and meet fellow writers, as well as ask for critique, prompts, characters/fanfiction participants, and inspiration. as for the smaller individual cabins, that's where you'll add the words you write (example: +160 words from my novel!), and your leader or co-leaders will add them! cabins have often formed some very tight-knit communities – beyond being a place to add words, they’re somewhere you and your cabinmates can always hang out and have fun together! (note: you don't have to write the genre of the cabin you're in, you can write any genre you’d like :D) q. what counts toward words? a. while you are welcome to write in any genre you’d like, in order for your words to count towards your word goal total, generally speaking, they must be literary and original. this means that activities such as note taking and text do not count, but english homework, short stories, and journaling do! if you’re not sure about whether or not something counts, feel free to ask a leader. you can also find a more complete list of what does and doesn’t count here- q. what are reserves? a. reserves are words that you ‘save up’, often to add at the end of the session – one reason people do this is to count all handwritten writing at the very end, instead of as they write it. it’s important to note that you may not add more than 10k words at a time, including reserves. this means that you also may not have more than 10k words in reserve – your leader will only be allowed to add up to 10k, and you will likely be require to share some proof. additionally, all words become reserves after the session ends in all timezones. q. when do i need to share proof of my writing? a. if you attempt to add over five thousand words at a time, or your (co)leaders notice that you’re writing several thousand words a day, they will likely ask you to share partial proof of your writing! you’ll also need to give proof of your writing for all weeklies – if you’re uncomfortable with this, please reach out to your leader, or directly communicate with a host. exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis, and the earlier you reach out, the better your chances are of getting one! q. how can i give proof of/share my writing? a. good question ;D the easiest way to share writing is to post in the swc megathread, which you can find a link to in the main cabin! if you need to post writing in the forums outside of the megathread, please limit yourself to one writing thread at the very most. all stories/writing threads should go in the “Things I’m Making and Creating” forum. additionally, if you would like a more private way to share your writing, you can put it in the description of a project (though there's a limit of 5k characters) or a comment inside a project. please don't use other websites to share writing. q. is there a specific time i have to be on? a. nope! the nice thing about an online camp is that we're flexible. you can be on every day, or you can be on once a week. after all, this is for your fun - don't stress yourself out! real life > swc.
q. what are points, anyways? a. points are how the end-of-session results are determined. you can earn points in one of six ways - the daily activities, the weekly activities, word warring, the critiquaire, the writing contest, and just writing in general. each of these have a number of points attached to them (in particular, every word you write counts as a point at the end of swc!) at the end of the month, all the points are added up, and the cabin with the most wins! that isn’t to say the ultimate goal of swc is to win- while placing high in the cabin rankings is enjoyable, it's the writing, improvement, friendships, and memories that really count <3 q. wait, wait - what are all those things? a. here’s an explanation of each activity: dailies are new activities posted every day at midnight utc. these are short-to-medium-length things that help enhance your imagination and motivate you to write. most of the time, they have points attached - usually from 200 to 600! bidalies are essentially a daily that lasts for two days, instead of one, and often have a workshop attached! (more on those later) weekly activities are long activities - but luckily, you have the whole week to complete them! starting from midnight utc on the 3rd, a new one's posted every seven days. these are sometimes connected to a set of writing workshops (more about those later), helping you use what you learned in the workshops. they’re also usually worth a few thousand points, and are a great way to dive a bit deeper into specific writing skills and techniques! word wars start about a week into swc (when a host shares the word war project). it's an activity where you and someone from another cabin agree to write for a set amount of time, and whoever writes more wins! if you win, make sure to comment something like "I won a word war!" in the main cabin for 100 points. (you can only get points for winning a word war once a day, though.) the critiquiare is an activity where you and another swc-er offer to critique a piece of each other’s writing, and you’ll earn main cabin points based on the number of words you wrote! similar to word wars, the critiquaire starts when a host shares the project, around halfway through the session. last, but certainly not least, the writing contest! one of the hosts will share a project, where you'll post your entries. there are a couple of rules (they're be on that project), and i would definitely recommend entering- in addition to the helpful critique that these pieces often receive from cabin mates, (co)leaders, and potentially judges (after results are shared), winners can earn tens of thousands of points for their cabin! q. so.... what's the deal with the writing workshops? a. workshops are guides written by (co) leaders meant to help you improve your writing, as well as focus on quality over quantity! each session, two of the weeklies will require you to read a few workshops and then use that knowledge. bidailies and a handful of dailies also occasionally include workshops- keep an eye out for them! q. i hear a lot about cabin wars, what are they? a. cabin wars are one of the most famous parts of swc – twice a month, cabins can war each other with challenges. each challenge has a time limit, and a penalty if not completed in time. they're very high-energy and a good time to get hyped up, as well as the only swc activity where you can lose points instead of gain them! Q. also, what's the memory book? A. the memory book is a project that serves to help us remember all the fun times we had. we're always on the lookout for funny quotes - if you see one, let your leaders know! Q. what if there's drama? who should I talk to? A. great question! we don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable, and we want it to be fun, so if you're having issues, contact your leader or one of the hosts privately (example: at the bottom comment of one of their projects). we're happy to help :> Q. i have an idea for swc. where should i put it? A. ooh, nice! if you want to get your great idea heard, put it in our suggestions forum (right here: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/514261/ ). good luck! Q. how can i apply to be a leader or a co-leader? A. two months before every session, one of the hosts will release a leader applications project, with a list of questions. remix that project with your answers, and half a month later, see if you got chosen! Q. how can i apply to be a camper? A. a month before every session, the hosts will release another project - this one for campers. there'll be a form for you to fill out - fill it out in the comments. everyone who signs up gets in, don't worry :> Q. what timezone is swc based around? A. most activities, etc will start / change at midnight utc :> (thumbnail made on canva)
