WorldEmber is about to end. I've got about 9 hours left, and I've been so busy I'm still left with 800 words left to go. It's definetly been an odd month compared to last years WorldEmber. Back then, there were only about 1000 World Smiths on the site.
Kris Weavill won with his Roman World he is still working on this year. It was fun.
This year, and this might be because I'm a Forge Guardian, it seems like we've hit a crossroads on how massive a competition we can run and keep our sanity. We have more troublesome users joining everyday, and some of the ones that we have dealt with in smaller infractions in the past decided to really ramp it up and be annoying this month. We have possibly more issues uncovered that we need to plan against for next year, especially if we grow at the same rate.
But I digress
I've had a lot of fun working on the world of Hope for the Best. A superhero world, but learned a lot about how complicated even our real world examples actually are. A lot of worldbuilding gets taken for granted in Marvel and DC properties. I think I made 7 or 8 characters, four of which were villians and I originally set out to have 17 heroes. Having a slightly alternate Earth meant I wanted to create too much of a a sprawling world with extra details.
If Indecide to keep working on this I think I will focus the story in Leifton and on Master Flex and his Flex Crew during the Hedon Riots. Gives me a cast, a common foe, and a goal. Perhaps I may try to actually map out how Leifton grew compared to London in our World. Could make for some interesting developments.
Other Parts of the World
I need to do more research before touching concepts like a Unified North America (and how Mexico might play into that) as well as the complex subject of a semi-unified Africa. A Japan that actually has a strangle hold on the whole of East Asia was effective, but justs needs more work on the writing front. Of course, I need to figure out exactly what has happened in Europe, as the idea of a Saxon controlled Briton makes changes to our whole modern concept of the Continent.
Using more Plots and Prose
One thing I noticed this month is that I have a heavy focus on Characters, Locations and Species in my regular worlds, making a world based on Earth with our normal ecosystem exceptionally challenging. I need to start using the Plots and Prose templates to start actually telling my stories and then do some worldbuilding off that. Write something down and then explain how it works. I might do an Article based on this concept and see if it opens any new avenues.
Looking at a New Year
Looking forward, I don't know how I'll really function. My home and work lives are getting busier, and being a Forge Guardian takes a lot of spare energy. I barely want to write, and after the ego destroying InkTober attempt, I have a lessened view of my own abilities. I can't even really keep up on the Worldbuilding Guide because others have begun to do it better. I don't know if a lot of my worldbuilding projects will continue, to be honest. My inspiration and enjoyment of the hobby have started to dwindle and its just frustrating.
In other News
I haven't crashed my bike, my kids are doing well and my wife is pretty happy. I should get a raise this year unless the U.S. Government can't figure out how to solve its issues. Other than that, I'm just gonna be around and keep trying not to die. About the best anyone can really hope for.
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