New Years Resolutions 2024

My Inspirations

(Articles I've read and what I've learned from them)

1. Kartkash Temple in Daeliha This structure is a massive temple-complex that supports a whole town as well as its temple functions, similar to the monastery I'm working on. What interested me most about Kartkash Temple was that it was so ancient and its uses have evolved over the years. It's important to remember when writing very old structures about how a building's population might change over time and how the building's use will change right along with them, allowing some parts to maintained and other parts to fall into ruin, as happened with Kartkash Temple.

2. Elven Festival of Winter Solstic in Yeia Here the author described how the same ritual was celebrated differently by different cultures throughout their world. This was really interesting to read, and also reminded me that for some important feasts in my world, like Saint John's Day, different groups have completely different traditions but they are all celebrating the same thing.

3. Valerianum in Mirateia This is a small village that was founded by mlitary legions. It was interesting to read how the military ideals of the village's founders continue to influence life in the village. This is something I should think about for Saint Maximinus village, and how the monastic ideals of the founders/owners influence life in the village.

4. Aurelia Lighthouse in Caelum Prime This is a lighthouse, but what was most interesting about this article was the theological concept of the Eternal Harmony of faith. It is about the harmony of the celestial bodies as preserved in ancient manuscripts (in real life as well as in this fantasy world), but here it is equated with faith, which I find fascinating and will be good to think with about the connection between magic and the celestial harmonies in my world.

5. The Hearts of Christmas Historical and Preservation Society in World of Ancient Power -- Your Inner Child First of all, the entire concept of this world based on Christmas spirit is super interesting. What I found useful about this article in particular is that the historical society/museum and record-keeping office are one and the same. I never thought to merge those two functions before, but it makes sense.

6. Temple of the Twisted Flesh in The True Dark Ages I follow this world and I was drawn to the title of this temple where Changelings worship. What I learned most from this article was how to integrate historical folklore (specifically the Roman empire and Celtic fey legends) into a fantasy world. Although my world is completely different, this is a good inspiration for Teutoburgerwald.

7. The Cathedral of Moondoor in Thraesh's Hold This is a cathedral building that was built over the course of several decades as its religion grew in popularity and wealth. I found it interesting that the original structure was left untouched as later generations built around it. It's an important reminder to think about how buildings/building complexes grow and change over time, how old parts fit in with the new.

8. Witch Brew in Dread Romantic The content of this item description was interesting, but what I liked most about it was the presentation. Obviously the custom design was cool (way beyond my capability) but the presentation inside a story was really neat to read.

9. Valens in Teralt What I really like about this article is the art. I could read about the evolving architectureal styles as the city grew, but then I could also see it play out in the really detailed images.

10. Castle of Angeleor in Leanor Another building - this one also with a rich history of how it grew and became more grand over time. This castle is situated on an island, and the article did a very good of showing how the castle was built with the existing geography in mind.

My Creative Resolutions

The first is to read more for inspiration! I loved this reading challenge because it forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and read a bunch of different articles, and I learned so much. Usually I feel like I don't have time to read other articles, but sometimes when I'm stuck on my own worldbuilding I'm just wasting more time that would be better spent becoming inspired by others. So whenever I'm stuck on worldbuilding, I resolve to read another article.

Next thing I really want to do this year is finish worldbuilding Saint Maximinus Abbey. So I can get to the rest of the world. Oh, and revising Breaking the Silence.

Finally, my related goal is probably my biggest: finally revise Breaking the Silence and begin sharing it with people!