World Ember Reading Challenge 2022

Welp. I managed to make it just over the expected goal for WorldEmber which is good, but the month still didn't go exactly as planned. When do things go exactly as planned? Not often (for me, anyways). Nevertheless, I am thankful to see another year. 2022 was something. There were ups and downs. There were fun highlights and sad moments and busyness beyond measure. There's a whole lot to reflect on.
This January, several projects have rolled over from December (and even some from before that). I have not been able to complete most of the things I'd hoped to have accomplished by now, but I'll just keep going, keep trying, and keep moving forward.
God bless and much success with all of your own plans! No matter how you got along this WorldEmber, I'm proud of you and sending you all the prayers, love and hugs!!!

I know I probably had absolutely no chance of winning anything in the WorldBuilding Awards anyways, but I thought back and shook my head when I realized I hardly made any new articles this year. The main ones I created in 2022 were from Summer Camp. Most others are incomplete as standalones. Some of the articles I was most proud of were created in other years and spruced up recently or, sadly, made in the wrong template. I suppose there's no hope for me there, but, I refuse to make this a depresssing post. :)
Instead, I shall look to the positive and list all the good things I'm proud of accomplishing in 2022:

I made significant progress on Teambuilding (a CYOA-style interactive fiction piece I, unfortunately, couldn't complete in time for Adventure April) and One Night at Nellindill Mansion... (an intriguing virtual murder mystery game I want to run for Bill and Dani). My plan is to try my best to make sure thy both are released FOR REAL this year.
I was so proud to debut the first installment of my Troubled Beginnings Trillogy in June of 2022. I really wanted to release the other two parts, but things became a whirlwind. No matter, this shall be chalked up as yet another goal I wish to accomplish in 2023. I made the mistake in calling each part a "chapter" which probably discouraged sales and reader engagement but, once all three are out, that shouldn't matter.
Summer Camp was a very cool and awesome time. In addition to reading lots of awesome articles and being awarded Human of the Match, I really kicked off myTwitch channel and now I have over 200 followers! Much love to all you beans.
Another thing I was very happy about creating (and I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about it lol) was An Intern for Christmas: an audio drama 'movie' that took a lot of time and effort but turned out really good, considering. I got donations on my Ko-Fi page as well this year and am eternally grateful to all who support me monetarily or otherwise!

My Vision Board

I don't know if this was said anywhere or if anyone else came up with this idea. If so, I thank you! Sorry that my subliminal brain can't recall to give you credit. :( If not, perhaps it was just me. IDK. XD But, anyways, I'm going to try to use WorldAnvil's Whiteboards to create a vision board for myself.

Have a Look!

Done for the most part, but I may add something more...!

Loading Vision Board Whiteboard...

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My reading list:

I wanted to let Anvilites submit their articles to be read aloud on my Twitch Stream, so I issued a call for all the beans to submit their worlds' finest Embers!

Click here to catch the replays!

I ended up reading TempestKwake's flamboyant Hece Bats species article on this hour-long episode...

...and the others on this nearly six-hour vid where I also discuss my takeaways from all ten shiny articles!

Hece Bat by EliKwake

My Thoughts and Plans

One of the things I adored about this article was the fact that Eli was so descriptive in the text! The page itself didn't have any pictures of the titular species (at the time of my reviewing) but the words brought the bats to life in my mind. Describing them in vivid detail eliminated the need for visual aids. While images are always nice to see in articles, the importance of making the text highly immersive cannot be emphasised enough in worldbuilding. This article was very informative and entertaining. This helped me to stay on track with my goals to continue describing things so that the readers can imagine them even when there are no accompanying pictures (or I am not able to add them yet).

Red Beef Curry by Adcheryl

My Thoughts and Plans

Reading about the Red Beef Curry reminded me of my Shots of Unimportance article. While I already had plans on making a video for the recipe (complete with dialogue and comedic banter) I was reminded by Adcheryl's article that I should also add images and even quotes. I like how the page opens with a comment from the barkeep on the dish. There is also a lovely picture of the meal in the sidebar that helps us to be able to imagine it sitting on the table before us. In addition to the short film I aim to insert, I shall include a photo and a few quotes (as opposed to my blocky and boring story that currently sits in the sidebar) to make the article more immersive and engaging.

To Find The Fishy Menace by Adcheryl

My Thoughts and Plans

For WorldEmber, I took time out to write in the world about my current Work In Progress One Night at Nellindill Mansion... I did not want to write too much, however, for fear of revealing spoilers. I eventually put things into spoiler boxes but I was still shy about making the articles public with the information on the page at all, but Adcheryl doing this in the Fishy Menace article was encouraging. Those who would rather not find out the spoilers can simply not click them. Curious people who don't mind knowing the insider information can click them and that's okay.

Tridenser Host by kitoypoy

My Thoughts and Plans

As always, Kitoypoy's CSS is nice, bringing a smooth appearance to the article. This is something I try to constantly improve upon in my own world. I aim to neaten up more things this year. In addition to this, the Tridenser Host article was very intriguing and immersive. I especially enjoyed the story of the Mechanical Man at the Gate of Heaven; particularly, the way the tale progressed. It begins at Year One and, with no outside narration, we can still see the growth and learning in first-person from the character. Year Ten is located a bit further down in the article and displays a bit of character development. The page ends with Year One Hundred and brings the story to an emotional close. It is nice to learn so much in just a few first-person sentences. Breaking up a wikipedia-style article with pictures, quotes, and even this short story suite is always a lovely way to eliminate a dull and unappealing word wall. I should implement these tactics more in the coming year.

Artificial Sun by Callyxtus

My Thoughts and Plans

The Artificial Sun was quite an amusing article! It was very fun and also a bit silly. I liked how the art seemed like a "cool" picture when it was actually depicting the protective eyewear for the officials that had to handle the bright technology. Speaking of Technology, the template is what I will call back to again. When making something like this in my world, using such an Article Template would probably be far from my mind. This is something I must improve upon. Even though these Artificial Suns were primarily powered by magic, this did not stop Callyxtus from using the Technology Template. Templates are what you make them. I should avoid making "Generic Articles" my go-to choice.

The Cresta and the Imp by Mardrena

My Thoughts and Plans

I enjoyed this story. I loved how it was fully explored as a rea-life myth would be, people in-world attempting to trace its origins, different depictions of the myth, and quotes and short stories of people sharing the tale helped me to be really immersed. There also was no shortage of art on the page in different styles (although Mardrena themself illustrated it all), This was another way to make the myth feel even more real. One of the main takeaways I learned was the usage of the Myth article template itself. I made a picture book in my world for RandoScorpio's Unofficial Fairy Tale Challenge and I was quite proud of it. BUT, when the World Anvil Worldbuilding Awards rolled around, I could not enter it due to the fact that I crafted it in a Generic Article Template. I need to do better in regards to templates on World Anvil. I should utilize them so that I can catagorize my world more and be elligible to participate in contests and the like.

Gauntlet by tjtrewin

My Thoughts and Plans

I appreciated how detailed TJ was in coming up with the rules and gameplay of this activity. I can tell a lot of thought, time, energy, focus, and attention was put into these cards! From the art, to the lore behind the origins, to the step-by-step instructions and detailed, interactive diagrams, this was quite an article. I applaud TJ for this intriguing work. One of the main takeaways for me, however, was (once again) the usage of Article Templates. TJ put this card game under the Ritual template. My problem is that I usually don't think to do things like that. If I have an in-world game or story or the like, I often default to a Generic Article Template, but that has proven not to be a good idea. I will try to do better in 2023.

Displaced Ones, The by eldknighterrant
My Thoughts and Plans

This was a very interesting article. The dialogue format kept me invested in the world. Even though this was created with the Species Article Template, it was laid out in an immersive story form. I know this seems to be a common theme, but I feel that the Article Templates are a very important thing for me to focus on this year. While some people would put such under a Prose Article Template, or choose to present the Displaced Ones in a more text book or wiki-page format, Eldknighterrant helped me to see that templates can be whatever you make them. The layout is totally up to you. I need to keep this in mind going forward.

Llaudaun by Mardrena

My Thoughts and Plans

Mardrena's articles are very interesting and detailed. They help me to become immersed in the world by providing many different angles, just as many different angles exist in real life. Llaudaun is quite an intriguing focus. The wording was very illustrative and the quotes and dialogue was very refreshing. I also enjoyed the illustrations, even if they were simple pencil sketches. All these things worked together to bring me into the story. There were also spoilers which I touched on earlier. These spoilers are something that I should continue to add in my articles that are for games and mysteries, or even include information from upcoming novels.

Who Am I, Really? by WantedHero

My Thoughts and Plans

This article was very relatable to me. I love to help people and I am a person of faith. My goal is to reach the world through my creativity; to help people; to teach people; to love people. I plan to keep using my platform to do just that. This article was very inspiring. As all people, I experience many difficulties in my life, even when it seems that I do not. I often strive to stay strong for others and keep up an optimistic attitude, but I, myself, require care as well. I should be less hesitant to ask for help when I need it. I should continue to do what I am doing, but do so even better. Thank you, Jamie, for sharing this personal, heartfelt view of your life. God bless you and your family.

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Thanks so much to everyone for reading! If you have any New Year's Resolution articles, whiteboards, or visionboards of your own to share, please feel free! I'd love to check them out and show support. God bless and much success!