Development Timeline
No plan survives contact with the enemy, but they're fun to have around anyways.
Below are timelines for goals I hope to reach each year I'm here on WA. They include goals for both worlds I work on - talos for wow that's a lot of stars, and YAHN for You Are Here Now - as well as combination goals that apply to both worlds. I update this roughly monthly, around when I post my monthly update journals.
My major goal for 2025 is to do less. Work and migraines have left me burned out to the point that being creative has come to feel like pouring from an empty cup. Since taking a months-long break at a beachside cabin with weekly therapy visits isn't in the cards, I need to take what rest I can. I aim to do one thing a month, which at times might end up being a very small thing. Not all of it will make its way to World Anvil.
Winter
(talos) WAWA! Update what I can of up to 4 submittable articles and then take a break.
(yahn) Monstrous reassessment. My wants and goals for this project have massively changed since I started it a couple years ago. Do I continue as is, make major changes, or shelve the idea?
Spring
(talos) Release character creation?
(talos) Adventure April?
(yahn) Update Monstrous notes or work on Avalanche.
Summer
(talos) Summer Camp?.
(talos) Pride month challenge?
(yahn) ???
Autumn
(talos) WorldEmber?
(yahn) ???
For my first full calendar year on World Anvil, I've front-loaded my tasks with the expectation that many will be pushed to later months. This year will be a trial to see what I can reasonably accomplish, and whether this format is a good way to track it all.
Winter
(talos) Copy generic articles to more appropriate templates.
(talos) Format those articles in their more appropriate templates.
(talos) Write about psionics.
(talos) Publish the Visitor's Guide.
(talos) Submit to the Worldbuilding Awards!
(yahn) Write and post Monstrous book 1 scenes 3-8.
(yahn) Create a 'start reading' entrypoint.
(both) Tidy up redundant custom CSS classes.
(both) Begin mobile-friendly CSS updates.
Spring
(talos) Write about space pirates and promote How to Pirate Space.
(talos) Update the Visitor's Guide.
(talos) Prepare for Summer Camp.
(talos) Celebrate winners of the Worldbuild Awards!
(yahn) Write and post Monstrous book 1 scenes 9-end. 3-8.
(both) Continue mobile-friendly CSS.
Summer
(talos) Promote How to Pirate Space.
(talos) Pride Month event:
2024 Show Your Colors Challenge.
(talos) Summer Camp!
(yahn) Begin Monstrous book 2 with scenes 1-6.
(yahn) Continue Monstrous book 1.
(meta) Create meta world and move event and guide articles to it.
Autumn
(talos) Begin existential horror writing about space.
WorldEmber!
(yahn) Write and post Monstrous book 2 scenes 7-end.
(yahn) Continue Monstrous book 1.
Good luck! I deleted my dev timeline because I never updated it! Maybe I should use it more like this, instead...
In my experience, it requires figuring out a balance between forcing yourself to stick with a scheduling method, and finding a method that you don't mind forcing yourself to use. I'm not sure if this will be it for me, but I'm excited to find out!
Speculative-Fiction Writing
Good luck! I hope it works!