2024 Outline

Welp...

Another year, another batch of plans behind me. Some of them were accomplished, MOST of them were not. Nevertheless, I resolve to keep praying and keep going. This past WorldEmber was quite a flop for me. Was I able to write as much as I wanted to? No. Did I make 10,000? Unfortunately, no. This is the first year of me participating in WorldEmber, making a pledge, and actually failing. Am I disappointed? Yes. But, I have learned valuable lessons.
I am a person who often puts others before myself so much that I am sometimes unable to take care of things that I want or need to do. This year, I have cooked up a new batch of plans. Will they be accomplished? Only time will tell. But I am going to try my best to do my best and not beat myself up about anything. Just keep praying and keep going as I always do...

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Stay tuned as this article will be updated througout the year!

Follow the wonderful world of WILLOWISP to be updated when milestone changes occur. DON'T WORRY! There will not be too many unnecessary pings. :)

Last Year's Summary (2023)

I made it to 400+ followers on my Twitch Channel thanks to all you amazingly beautiful beans!

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My New Year's Plans (2024)

Things I Need to Do

Officially Conclude Unofficial MapVember

I know there were no winners or prizes or anything, but I kinda left everyone hanging with my Unofficial MapVember challenge. I feel really bad even though it seems like a lot of people had fun working on their maps. I finally sent out a wrap-up post and provided bbcode for the badges.

Post my April Streaming Schedule

Though I've missed a few days, I have officially begun streaming. Here's my schedule.

Announce Someone's Birthday Shenanigans

It's a LEAP YEAR! That means that February has 29 days. I have mentioned it here and there, but I really need to make more of a big deal about it since it will literally be here in a few days. I plan to drop new content every day in the month leading up to Someone Elsewood's birthday. I introduced $1 tiers that are still available for a limited time. Be sure to check out the Content & Subscriptions page to get in on the fun before it's too late!

Publish the Just Do Stuff! podcast

Another project I've been speaking about off and on but haven't really officially pushed is Just Do Stuff! I planned to go live with my new podcast month in January but hectic happenings at the end of last year threw a wrench into a lot of things. I ended up debuting it in March!

Create a 2024 Calendar to Showcase Plans

As a creative bursting at the seams with ideas, I have epic things planned for every month of the year. I know things don't always go according to plan, but it doesn't hurt to outline what I am going to try to do. I have basically made this article just that; a calendar that I will update throughout the year with progress reports, checked tasks, and more, so stay tuned!

ZineQuest/ZineMonth!

ZiMo and ZineQuest is happening again this February as it happens annually. Last year, I entered u4g07. Unfortunately, the project didn't fund. Nevertheless, I am offering specials for those backers who pledged during the time period. If you are one of those backers, thank you so much for your original pledge! I am elated to honor it through my Ko-Fi shop. If you did not back the project while it was live, that's okay. If you are still curious about it and would like to get The New Agent Manual still, I will make it available on more platforms soon, but you can grab it through Amazon at the moment. Support is very appreciated.

Judge the Generic Articles

I managed to read through the Generic Articles submitted to my community sponsored special category for WorldEmber. There were a whopping 155! I thought that Generic wouldn't get much love, but here we are. I'm glad to see all the cool beans working. Scroll down a bit in the article for a few thoughts about my favorites!

Address Last Year's Plans

I need to address last year's plans and which ones are rolling over. I've spoken briefly about this as of late, but I have to officially list them in this article and lay it all out for myself, and for those of you who care to know my plans.

WorldEmber Community Feedback!

I finally submitted my WorldEmber Winner form AND my WorldEmber Community Feedback form. Right under the wire.

Troubled Beginnings 'Chapter' 3

I need to get the final installment of Someone's origin story published in audio format. I also need to get it ( and part 2) cleaned up in written format. In addition, I am aware there is a drastic volume change somewhere in the audio that is already present, so I will try to even it all out once the third chapter is complete. My goal is to compile it all into a single audio file, and the text into a single manuscript. I was unable to roll it out in February as part of Someone's Birthday Shenanigans, but I really want it to debut this year. I also plan to issue a special discount on it, and send it out for free to those who already have the currently published parts.

Shipley & Harbor

I really want to show everyone the story of Constance before she became Someone's partner Obligatory Associate! It's been in the works for a while, but getting the manuscript cleaned up and published would be awesome. I also want to have a fully dramatized audio of it! I've been imagining it all for quite some time and would like for it to debut this year so that we can be caught up on the origin stories of both Someone and Constance before jumping into more cool and current action stuff do in the main storyline.

Finish the Prizes for Elspeth87

I selected Elspeth87's Idioms, Expressions and Common Peacekeeper Proverbs article as the winner of the Generic category last WorldEmber, and they chose a couple of commissions from my Ko-Fi shop for their prize. I will have to work and complete those in a timely manner.

Find a Way to Make Money

This honestly should have been at the top of the list because I really to find a source of income that (prayerfully) allows me to have more time for endeavors etc. Last time I was laid off, I tried to see if I could get away with being a creative full-time. unfortunately, my freelance gigs and other side hustles simply didn't bring in enough cash to pay my mortgage, take care of my bills, put food on the table, and all that jazz. I understand it's tough for everyone out there. There are so many creatives that I support, and so many whom I would love to support, but the more I support, the less money I have to support myself. This is why I can understand that others may not have the means to support me. Some may not even desire to support me. I'm not the only freelancer for hire. Neither am I the only writer on the face of the earth. Even if I was, my works aren't everyone's cup of tea. Some people just don't like my stuff, or don't like it enough to pour too much money, time, or energy into it, which is completely understandable. I am just wondering how to make a living and actually have time to live, as opposed to working seven days, sleeping too little, and being busy too much without taking care of myself enough. I hope I can figure something out. If not, I suppose I will just have to settle for another 9 to 5 that doesn't really pay enough and takes up most of my day. It's a challenge to find a position that is willing to pay me what I feel I need to survive because, unfortunately, I don't have a degree or anything. Please, if not anything else, keep me in your prayers concerning this. Much appreciated. <3

Things I Want to Do

Clear out my 800 1,500+ WorldAnvil Notifications

UPDATE: The notifications have now surpassed 1,500. I managed to get them back down to 900 but they've since regenerated. I know it's a good thing to see all the busy beans, but now I'm in quite the backlog. I plan to work through these slowly. I don't want to delete them all, but I also don't want to be too hard on myself. I will try to come up with some kind of strategy and see how many of these I can work through.

Refresh my Homepage, CSS, and World

My world...it doesn't at all look the way I want it. I feel like I need to beautify it and make it my own. I realize just how long I've been working on this project and a lot of the stuff I have in place was simply a placeholder. I need a better and more techno-looking theme. I want W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. vibes to be eminent throughout the entire world. I would love for things to be more unified and consistent. I also want to update a lot of the art I have around and clean up some of the core articles. This is a very vague and ambitious goal (one that I am not certain will ever be complete) but I want to make strides towards a better look.

Plan a Retreat Trip for Myself

I've had this in mind for a long time, but I always feel guilty when doing things for myself. If I'm not working or taking care of others, I feel selfish. I know that's bad, and so many people have been suggesting that I take a break, that my New Year's Resolution should be to take better care of myself and not be so stressed. I keep fighting myself about it, but just when I thought I was winning out, they announced that we were going to be laid off at the job that now serves as my primary source of income. I learned this last year in October, but it is set to happen at the end of this month. Our last day is January 31st. After that, I am not certain what I'm going to do. I've been applying to all jobs but it's supe challenging to try to find something that pays enough when I don't have a degree. Nevertheless, at the time of writing this, I still haven't exactly secured anything, which makes me question whether or not I should even do the trip. I don't know if I will be able to afford it. Doesn't seem wise if I don't have guaranteed income for the foreseeable future.

Enter the WAWAs

I didn't know it was happening but it is! The World Anvil WorldBuilding Awards have been announced and I did manage to slide in some last-minute entries even though I am not the absolute proudest of them. I wanted to update and edit the submissions more. Nevertheless, I must Just Do Stuff, so I just did it! I entered all the categories I qualified to enter.

Prep for Adventure April 2024

I'm almost for certain that WorldAnvil will have another Adventure April challenge this year and I already have an idea of what to do...

Finish Teambuilding

Speaking of Adventure April, it's been a couple of years since I started this Choose Your Own Adventure style Interactive Fiction article. It's such a shame I haven't yet completed it. I will try my best to wrap it up this year.

Complete the Nellindill Mansion Murder Mystery!

Speaking of speaking of stuff, I've been working on One Night at Nellindill Mansion... for a long time. I haven't even put together the voices made for this VSS challenge article I made, and the mystery game itself is not quite complete. I aimed to finish it all and get Bill and Dani of Consume this Media to play it, but it has been pushed to the back burner for so long! Very disappointing. Hopefully it will be able to roll out this year.

Prep for Top Secret Movie Premiere!

I am working on the House of Spies Movie Premiere Event that will likely take place some time in 2025, but there is a lot to get ready! I have so much done but there's much more to go. I want to announce it early so that people can reserve seats and claim lots of other perks for this grand red carpet event.

Update: I am surprised to see how many of these tasks have actually been checked off as of March 23rd, 2024! I have also tacked on a couple more tasks, but it's amazing that most of them have been completed. I still have a lot to do, but this system seems to be working well at giving me at least a small sense of accomplishment in this vast sea of responsibilities and obligations in my life that really only scratch the surface here.

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Article Reading

Below, you will find the 10 articles that inspire me for this New Year's Reading Challenge, and the judging of my Community Sponsored Category

reader's notes

I always appreciate Mochimanoban's conservation efforts in and out of the fictional world! Mochi's articles usually have a comical element along with the more serious side of addressing critical issues. The articles are colorful and very well formatted with lovely illustrations and captivating wording. There used to be buttons to "donate" to the zoo which turned out to be some kind of "HA! You thought..." trick which was kind of amusing but I did comment before that I would actually like to contribute to the zoo's efforts (and tip Mochi)! Now, I am pleased to see that the link redirects to their Ko-Fi page which is an awesome in-world touch that encourages support and more engagement, making things feel very immersive, too. This is something I wanted to focus on in my world for WorldEmber, creating an in-world catalog of W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. merch. Unfortunately, it did not come to fruition like I'd originally hoped in 2023, but this is definitely on my list for '24, and Mochi's article contributes to the inspiration!

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reader's notes

Mardrena always creates such fascinating and detailed articles. I love the formatting and usage of quotes to get the theme of the world across to readers, but I also appreciate the time and dedication taken to craft the style and create beautifully bold and colorful artwork to go alongside the words. I don't know how they find the time to draw AND write so many words as well as dealing with other things in life, but it's amazing. I do pray that Mardrena takes care. <3

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reader's notes

This is a very short but charming article by Jester%25 includes inspiring imagery and a beautifully written poem that gives us a peek into the world. I also can personally relate to the message behind the poem as I find it reflects sentiments echoed in my heart concerning my own faith. <3

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reader's notes

This article by Elspeth87 was something similar to what I wanted to create for my confidential gatekeeping? in the 2023 WorldEmber, but I ended up not doing it, save for a hastily typed up description. I love the way Elspeth outlines the idioms, quotes, expressions, and phrases. They are well organized, their origins are cited, and the article format is brilliant. I love the colors, the minimalistic layout, usage of grids, colors...everything! The details of each culture and why the saying was created is a nice touch that makes me super curious about the world and makes me feel really immersed! I plan to have similar things, hopefully cleaning up my language articles.

reader's notes

This was an interesting take on the prompt. I love how Leetaur took us on a real-life journey through the author's mind and showed us a sneak peek behind the scenes at the history of their characters and world. It was a charming treat to learn about the real family and inspirations for the work. I tried to do this a bit in my own WordiWiki this year, but writing on my phone during spare moments in the busy holiday season at my cashier job wasn't the best place to do it. XD Rather than deleting those articles, Leetaur has inspired me to keep them and clean them up.

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reader's notes

This was a very interesting article! FirethornDragon describes a fun in-world sport. It's always nice to be immersed within a story. I absolutely love when there are detailed instructions that allow the readers to live experiences outlined in fiction. Even if it is not directly achievable in a simple manner, providing instructions always gets my brain thinking about making it happen. I wanted to include an in-world catalog from which people can order W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. merch. I also created Shots of Unimportance but want to update the recipe (which I improved ages ago but did not update the written article) and add the video. This is definitely an inspiration to do those things.

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reader's notes

ECCbooks used the special category to highlight the awesome Dimi Mission that he was assigned. I always enjoy the minimalistic layout of Chris' articles, and system of using this to keep track of goals and progress is something I want to utilize more in 2024; case in point, this article. I also need to implement some more maps like the amazing one he displayed. Congrats to Chris on the progress of the mission, by the way!

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reader's notes

Pistachiomygod wrote a lovely chapter-by-chapter story that unraveled in a very captivating and mysterious way. I was enthralled by the vivid descriptions, heartfelt lessons, charming characters, and curiosities yet to be discovered. I started at Chapter 10 during judging but had to go all the way back to Chapter 1 and read my way up once I discovered it was a full story. I am excited to see what happens next! I chose Chapter 8 as my favorite because it captured a lot of what I enjoyed most about the story. It also described food which was making me quite hungry. XP I need to do better when it comes to posting episodic serials or something that holds the attention of my supporters, giving them a little at a time with excitement worth waiting for. I was aiming for a daily celebratory treat for supporters in February for Someone's Birthday Shenanigans. I hope I am able to implement such as planned.

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reader's notes

I was very intrigued by the phenomenon outlined in this article by Adamnd. The whole situation with day and night and how it is explained can only be described as captivating. It made me very curious about the world. The images are also in great contrast to each other and the design layout is minimalisically neat. I also like how it was credited to be written by an in-world character. That kind of thing is something I adore and plan to implement more in my own world. I often have a character's voice somewhere, but it is quite haphazard and inconsistent. Hopefully I can neaten some things up in 2024.

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VYRNÍMA GAZETTE #672

reader's notes

I enjoyed reading this edition of the Gazette by Tyburn. The in-world immersion is something I always find myself fond of. Things like this essentially allow me to become a character in their world, even if for only a brief moment, and experience the sensation of reading the newspaper. The ominous "WHAT IS NOT HERE - WAS NOT IMPORTANT" at the beginning alone helps me to get a feel for the vibes of the world. I aim to make my world more centered around W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. as an organization and I planned to inject those kinds of feelings into some of the articles I have planned for 2024.

Who was crowned as the winner?

Elspeth87 with Idioms, Expressions and Common Peacekeeper Proverbs!

I love how Elspeth outlines idioms, expressions, and phrases. Their origins are cited and the format is brilliant. The colors, minimalistic layout, usage of grids, and details of each culture made me feel really immersed and super curious about the world. God bless and thanks for sharing this wonderful and curious piece!

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2024 Calendar

April Twitch Schedule

Month-By-Month Outline COMING SOON

I plan to use this article as a reference hub throughout the year to keep track of my goals and plans. I will push an update ever so often, so feel free to follow to make sure you're in the loop! You can also become an official Outstanding Operative by Subscribing for more secrets, behind-the-scenes content, and input on what I should work on next! All support is appreciated. <3

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I pray you all have a blessed, happy, healthy, safe, and successful 2024! Sending all the prayers, love, and healing hugs your way. No matter what you were or were not able to accomplish, whatever you have planned for this year, I'm so proud of you for all the good, awesome, and wonderful things you've already done by just being you. God bless and much success with everything!