If you feel intrigued by the thumbnail, more information about what Scratch Writing Camp (SWC) and the Adventure Voyage are contained in this very description <33 Feel free to skip to the bottom if you know all this and just want to find the link to the signups XD but in the case you want to know more about what you're getting into, please read through the Q&A I've provided. <3 ----------- Q: What is Scratch Writing Camp? A: First, it's usually abbreviated to SWC, since Scratch Writing Camp is tedious to type out. <3 To actually answer the question, SWC is an online writing camp hosted right here on the Scratch website that runs three times a year, in March, July, and November. The main point of SWC is to motivate yourself to write a set number of words during the course of the month. You'll choose a word goal when signing up for SWC, and it can be anything from the recommended minimum of 5,000 words up to the tens of thousands of words that some experienced writers go for! Q: What are SWC cabins? A: As you can see in the camper signups, this session of SWC is going to be divided into 21 cabins, each named after a genre or style of writing. Each cabin has its own unique theme, usually having something to do with the genre that it's named after. Adventure, the cabin that my co-leader Rockie (@rocksalmon800) and I lead is themed after an ocean voyage and the hero's journey plot structure. Within this theme, each cabin will also usually have writing- or collaboration-related activities that have been designed by the leaders to help motivate you to reach your word goal, bond with your fellow cabinmates, and have fun! In the scope of SWC as a whole, you will also have the option to contribute to the competitive aspect of SWC ;D During the session, your cabin will serve as a team competing against each of the other cabins (with one exception, but more on that later <3). By completing certain camp-wide activities, you can earn points for your cabin. Don't feel pressured to participate in these activities, though, because at the end of July, all the words you've written will also count for points in the ultimate cabin rankings! :D Q: What would I do in SWC? A: During SWC, there are several different activities that will be available for you to improve your writing and raise your word count. They fall broadly into one of two categories: main cabin activities and in-cabin activities. MAIN CABIN ACTIVITIES are created by a specialized daily team and can be completed by anyone participating in SWC, regardless of which cabin they're sorted in (that includes you!). When you complete most main cabin activities, you earn points for your cabin in the cabin rankings. One type of main cabin activity is the daily challenges (commonly referred to as dailies) that challenge you to write at least a certain amount of words (usually somewhere from 50 to 400) within the span of a day. Sometimes you can also get bonus points for your cabin by sharing proof of what you wrote <3 Another important main cabin activity is the weekly, which, as the name suggests, gives you a whole week to work on a larger writing challenge. :) This challenge is usually focused on learning about different forms and strategies of writing, and usually has a minimum word requirement of 1,500 to 2,500 words (these are divided into sections though, so you might write at least 100 words for part 1, 250 words for part 2, 500 words for part 3, and 700 words for part 4). Because of the high word count and dedication required to complete a weekly, these are usually worth 5-10 times as many points as dailies, and therefore can be powerful for your cabin's place in the rankings. <3 Another main cabin activity that can help your cabin standing is engaging in word wars with campers from other cabins. During word wars, you match up with another camper with a similar typing speed to you, agree on a set amount of time to write (usually 5 minutes or less) and then both write as many words as you can in that time frame. The person who writes the most words at the end wins 100 points for their cabin, about as much as a low-value daily. You can only win one word war per day, but this is still a fun way to motivate yourself to write more and increase your typing speed! :D One final way that you can earn points for your cabin is through the swc-wide writing competition. Near the end of July, you can enter an original writing entry and a fanfiction entry to be judged against other submissions entered by campers across SWC. The best writing pieces will win prizes, released with the cabin ranking results in August after camp has finished. Writing competition winners can earn from 10,000 to 60,000 points for their cabin, which can really turn the tide of the final cabin rankings. (continued in notes and credits <3)
IN-CABIN ACTIVITIES, on the other hand, are created just for the campers of your cabin by that cabin's leaders. They won't help you earn points in the main cabin rankings, but they can help you progress in the interactive storyline that the cabin leaders have created, and they often help boost your word count! Because a cabin's leading team has a lot of freedom in determining in-cabin activities, they often vary from cabin to cabin. However, they are often centred around overcoming a storyline obstacle. I realise that this sounds a bit vague, so I'll give a couple of examples from my past SWC experiences <3 In Fanfiction July 2022, campers were divided into four groups competing against each other to earn an in-cabin currency called anomalies to ultimately save their world from destruction. Anomalies could be earned by completing both main cabin activities and in-cabin activities like daily writing prompts and 700-word weekly challenges, as well as by performing self-care like sleeping, drinking water, and going outside. Script of November 2022 revolved around the idea that campers had been sent back in time by a Phantom to 1776, where they had to earn enough "songs" each week to accomplish the Phantom's challenges. Like in Fanfiction of the previous session, campers could earn songs by completing main cabin activities, and although there weren't any specific in-cabin activities besides the general storyline, campers could also earn songs from self-care activities. Like Fanfiction and Script, many cabins this session will have an in-cabin currency system where you can complete certain activities to gain a currency, which may be exchanged for prizes, or used with the currency that other campers have earned to meet shared goals. This July, I'll be leading the Adventure Voyage along with Rockie (@rocksalmon800). Although we haven't settled on all the details yet, our cabin is going to be themed after the voyage of Odysseus and his crew in Homer's Odyssey and Epic the Musical. Our main focus is going to be to encourage writing growth and teach campers about how to use the Hero's Journey plot structure in their writing. <3 We won't have an in-cabin currency, but you will have the opportunity to complete your choice of tasks to unlock the next phases of our storyline each week. :D You can choose to either develop a new or your own stories with the Hero's Journey, reflect on your personal goals and challenges, or complete an activity of your choice. Because we're focused on motivating you to complete your own goals, rather than the SWC cabin rivalry, you can choose to be as competitive or relaxed as you would like. <3 If you feel like Adventure would be a good fit for you, feel free to include us as a preference when signing up for SWC. ;D No worries if you don't, though! There are 20 other cabins this session, and all will be a fantastic experience with their own unique activities and atmosphere. <3 Q: What is different about the Nonfiction cabin? What does TCTWNW mean? A: This session, Nonfiction (or Non-fi), led by JC (@fluffyjujunicorn) and Sarah (@Froggola), will be TCTWNW--the cabin that will not win. This means that Non-fi is exempt from the cabin rankings, and will not earn points for completing main cabin activities. It has its own special section on the main cabin leaderboard, and therefore has a special place within the SWC rivalry. Non-fi campers will be able to focus on reaching their personal goals and cabin bonding without the pressure of falling behind in the cabin leaderboard. If you joined Non-fi this session, you would still be able to complete main cabin activities, of course, but you just wouldn't be able to earn points for them. <3 Q: How do I sign up for SWC? A: Now that you've read through all the information above, you can sign up for SWC by commenting at this link! https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/843084712 :D First, though, you'll want to read through the entire project description, and click on any links that they provide. <3 This will help you understand more about what you're signing up for and what you'll be expected to do this session. :) Q: Ok, I signed up. What do I do now? A: Just be patient! The cabin leaders will be notified of the final camper sort after June 25th, and may take until June 30th to let you know which cabin you've been sorted in. Before that, don't worry if no one replies to your signup comment. All signups are recorded, and everyone who signs up before the June 25th deadline will get into SWC. <3 -------------- So, that's the end of my Q&A, and I hope I've convinced you to consider signing up for SWC! If you have any questions, just let me know. <333 Here are a few links that may be helpful for you :) Camper signups: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/843084712 SWC FAQ: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/810076296 July 2023 Main Cabin: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/
