2023 WorldEmber

WorldEmber is a month-long community event that takes place every December here on World Anvil. The goal is to write at least 10,000 words in new worldbuilding articles. November's prep is below, and December's articles below that.
Click to skip to the articles

November Preparation

Week 1: Pledge

The city of Galendra lies smoldering in the aftermath of the last year. Gangs maintain a temporary truce, aiding in clearing rubble and rebuilding with supplies are flown in from covert sources. But how did we get here?

Word Count Goal

I've done 50k for NaNoWriMo, and did 26k this Summer Camp, but I don't expect to have the energy for lofty number this December. As such, my starting goal is "just" 10,000 .

Area of Focus

The Gal Pals campaign lasted close to two years, taking place primarily within Nisora's largest city. Much of the world was built - and destroyed - in that time, but I've barely written about any of it. For WorldEmber, I'm writing about a lawless planet, its gangs and their leaders, secrets and political intrigue, and the people willing to risk their lives to preserve their riotous way of life.

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Week 2: Organizing

Mini-Meta

I'd written mini-metas for Nisora and other planets the day before this homework was released. Imagine my surprise to see I'd pre-empted the week's homework. Meta Info Here

Mini-meta goals:

• Convey the vibe
• List key themes and goals
• Hint at potential plot hooks

Category Structure

All planets have the same four sub-categories, but Nisora's focus on factions necessitated additional sub-categories under a couple to limit how many articles they contain.

Category goals:

• Keep the same 4 base categories
• Minimize category nesting
• Have 3-10 articles per category

Inspiration

I often struggle to list sources of inspiration. Innumerable experiences combine to form what I create, and I can't pinpoint exactly what helped me make certain connections. When it comes to writing for World Anvil, I find bits of inspiration everywhere. But there are three worlds in particular that each inspire an aspect of my worldbuilding philosophy:

Give Space

Annie Stein & skairunner remind me to give words space on the screen & mind space to imagine.

Be Immersed

Nimin N reminds me to let myself become part of the world I'm building and ones I'm reading.

Find Joy

Mochi reminds me to always love what I create and find happiness in the process of creating it.

A few others I'd like to mention:

Shattered by Catoblepon because it's so cool.

Dark Lord Seduction Plan by Amélie I. S. Debruyne because it's so fun.

Vazdimet by Morgan Biscup because book birthday!!

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Week 3: Homepage

Another assignment I've somewhat pre-empted -- as part of my new CSS theme, I reworked some of my homepage. I have it broken into three sections that offer less and less guidance the farther you scroll down the page.

Introduction

The top is for new readers who need to know what the world is, how it works, and where to begin. It sets the tone, genre, and introduces the concept of purple = interact.

Entry Points

The middle is to continue reading. It has featured and recent articles, links for each planet, and shows how article block badges match the icon of the associated planet.

Codex

The last section is for deeper exploration of the codex, timelines, and event progress. The information here is also accessible through the Site Navigation dropdown.

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Week 4: Writing Plan

This homework is technically "last-minute prep", but seeing as I already write near-daily... there aren't any preparations I need to make for a month of writing. So I've rebranded it as Writing Plan. Knowing no plan survives contact with the enemy.
I entered all Gal Pals-related articles into kumu.io and created a relationship diagram of key connections, priority, article type, and status. Long-term, I want to turn all pink nodes blue. For December, I'm going to work through the higher-priority articles in story order, starting at the beginning of the campaign and seeing how far I get.

Word Count Progress

WorldEmber Progress Bar

21,048 / 10,000

10,000Bonus!

Vibes

Prep Checklist

Homework

Word count goal
Area of focus
Mini-meta
Category organization
Inspiration list
Homepage update
Define a plan

Personal

Apply new theme
Update Primers
Improve Index
Add progress bar

Cozy Cottage Enclave

Cozy Cottage Enclave

Cozy Cottage Enclave badge by Rin Garnett

Cozy Cottage Oath:

• I will stop to stoke the fire when it dwindles. Rest when you are tired and for as long as you need.
• I won't force the fire to fit a different stove. Let your plans inspire you, not control you.
• I will follow sparks of joy, not chase dying embers. Write and read what you enjoy, not what's forced.
• My flame is beautiful and undying. Believe in yourself and your ability to create, including when it's a struggle.
• I will tend to all flames under my care. Working toward non-WorldEmber goals adds to your successes.

(Cozy Cottage oath is inspired by the Camp Chill guidelines from Annie Stein. Insert this badge into your own pledge with [img:5035416], or include the oath with [imgblock:5035416].)

Staying Focused

I use Abbie Emmons' Immersive Writing Sessions and spend each 25-minute sprint on a different phase of article writing. I move on to the next phase even if I'm not done the prior one yet to keep from getting stuck on tricky parts.

Sprint 1: Outline

Define the narrative for the article and list out the key points that support it.

Sprint 2: Detail

Group lists under headings and turn them into sentences and paragraphs.

Sprint 3: Flow

Edit wording for smoother transitions, clearer sentences, and easier reading.

Sprint 4: Design

Use BBCode, CSS, and other formatting tools to make the article look nice.

Since this takes 2+ hours, I rarely do this more than once in a day. If I can't stay focused for a sprint, I stop and either rest or work on something else as needed.

December Writing

The articles I write for WorldEmber will magically appear here as they're published!

Places & Things

People & Groups

Flora & Fauna

Culture & History

January Review

The Vigil

If you haven't completed my scavenger hunt, this is all you'll see here. Complete the hunt to learn more!

WE Superlatives
Longest Article Gamma Radiation
Shortest Article Vigil
Fan Favorite Burrowbugs
Rin Favorite Research Base

Overall, I had a wonderful WorldEmber. It went slightly different than planned - everything I wrote was relevant to my prep, and all but 3 articles were on my original list, but I didn't go in the order I'd set myself up for. Other articles were more important than Galendra's districts and the Giant Earthworm. But it all needed to get written anyways, so I can't be too upset about the order.
In summary:

• WorldEmber is very fun 10/10
• I enjoy writing within a theme and will keep doing that next year
• Mission plot articles will be a stretch goal after other worldbuilding is complete
• I could manage 10k words most months, but 20k+ is much more tiring
• "Offworld" became a more accurate theme song as the month went on

"For December, I'm going to work through the higher-priority articles in story order, starting at the beginning of the campaign and seeing how far I get."

— Thing I didn't do