Exploring the library, what's next?

Happy New Year! I hope it fulfilled your creative endeavours. As for myself, I'm afraid I did not have the chance to roam my library much. Time truly is a feeble thing, this is why I'm always grateful for these challenges. No fancy self-imposed rules this time though, just articles that I enjoyed the read. Chances are you already read some if not most, but maybe you will discover some new gems. Although it is not the most interesting part, I'd still like if you keep reading my recap afterwards, as I'll be asking for your help with my 2024 big project.

Readings

Trinket Chest — Cathedris

You stumble upon a closed chest. After getting the key from this person, it is oddly empty. Perhaps it is meant for you to stash the trinkets you have found in your journey throughout Cathedris? Well then, there are enough room for 21 of them, better get hunting!

The first feature is meant as a tribute to the whole world of Cathedris. Indeed, it is not your usual article. Rather, it is an amazing scavenger hunt put together by the amazing Stormbril! I took it as an invitation to revisit Cathedris in depth and boy was I in for a treat. Not only do we have to reread the fantastic articles that Storm wrote over the years, we are even blessed with some new bits of information coupled with great CSS. As an avid fan of interactivity and CSS shenanigans, I got a lot of inspiration of all these little scraps scattered all over the world.

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The World

What I learnt

Ideas for an interactive world

Yet some more CSS tricks

The Author

Eternal Sage Stormbril

Stormbril

             

Cathedris, the world of God-husks and New Magic, welcomes you.

Consider checking out my submitted articles for this year's Worldbuilding Awards! <3

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Starfading — Shattered

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"Having eyes filled with stars" can be more than an expression. Although rare, this beautiful and terrible condition turns the skin of people into stars. Victims undergo a complete metamorphosis as they turn into beings made entirely of stars. They are seen to other people as either blessed by the Creator or cursed, but whatever their view is on the matter, the ethereal disease always have a strong effect on people.

Of course, a condition written by Cato is always a treat. A thorough article that goes over all the stages of the condition, from the onset to the death of the Starfaded. More than that, it has a whole section about how the people consider the afflicted, which is a great idea that I reused in my own condition, vanishing. Also, Shattered's CSS is truly remarkable, unique and very striking.

The World

What I learnt

A new approach to writing condition

A nice way to hide potentially hurtful content

The Author

Sage Catoblepon

Catoblepon

             

Visit Daeliha, Iphars, Khulgran & Shattered
Love to code, but this one is driving me crazy!
My world Shattered won as the "Most ground-breaking premise new world"!

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Mineral vs organic magitech — Imperial Soulmate

In this world, two kinds of magics are wielded by the people. Active magic is very potent but inconvenient as it requires constant attention from the caster, whereas passive magic is imbued through a pattern carved in metal. Even then, carving runes directly in metal is not the most efficient way to do so, as a breakthrough occurred when plants were discovered to be suitable anchors thanks to the metal in them. This organic magitech allowed for many great achievements, such as the imperial communication network

I really like how Amélie I. S. Debruyne mixed soft and hard magic systems, and especially how the science of magitech is developed. This article is very thorough and explores the different aspects of magitech in quick and straight to the point sections. It's not very wordy, but conveys all the useful information and everything is accessible at a glance, which is a good thing when using the worldbuilding as an encyclopedia for upcoming works.

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The World

What I learnt

I should try to write short and informative articles

Inspiration on how to use together soft and hard systems

The Author

Eternal Sage AmélieIS

Amélie I. S. Debruyne

To see what I am up to: my submissions to the worldbuilding awards 2024.

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Cryptix — Talos Sector

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Cryptix is a drug cartel dealing in narcotics and controlling a third of Galendra, the biggest city of the planet Nisora. Once powerful and feared by its rivals as well as the few that would dare go against it, it is now reduced to a shadow of its former glory after a bloody betrayal. But with the downfall of the organization that held together an important part of the city came unforeseen disasters.

What always amazes me in this community is all the different ways other anvilites come up with to tell their stories. Whether it is in formatting, CSS or overall flow, Rin Garnett never disappoints. This article has a lot of little things to spice up the already great writing, like the additional information hidden under the card symbols. But what really sold it to me are the little animations that liven the article up. If you don't follow it yet, this whole world is a treasure trove of clever formatting and design.

The World

What I learnt

Animations not necessarily distract the reader

New ideas on how to hide some content in plain sight

The Author

Grandmaster Those2Nerds

Rin Garnett

Science-Fiction Worldbuilding Speculative-Fiction Writing Cozy Tabletop Podcast

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Soul Map — Oabos

When people come to this world, their soul is bare, save for its core. With the development of the individual, rings appear and give them their characteristics and affinities. The mind ring is the first to form during childhood, followed by the body ring when they become a teenager and finally the spirit ring development marks the entry to adulthood. The elements associated to each ring and their position on the soul map can tell a lot of things about someone.

This is a very great idea to tie magic to the natural development of the people, as well as an easy way to remember the characteristics of your character at a glance: just look at their soul map! I don't know how Kydra Hunter plans to actually use it, but I love when in-world laws and mechanisms also have a practical use.

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The World

What I learnt

Worldbuilding aspects can also help in projects in the same settings, beside giving plain information.

The Author

Grandmaster Kydra_Hunter

Kydra

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Signs you might have been bewitched — Thræsh's Hold

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Did you ever feel hungry or drowsy for seemingly no reason? And do you have some sort of permanent quirk since then? Then my friend, you might have been bewitched. The consequences of wronging a witch are most of the time annoying but not really that bad, but woe betide those who attract the genuine ire of a spellcaster, for their punishment will be terrible.

I like that the article describe a condition in a light-hearted way, yet shows the fear it involves (nobody would want a bad body odour if they can help it). I don't have much to say about the article, it is well done and explores everything about the condition, with easy to access link if the reader wants to look at related articles. Sometimes, a simple and good article is great.

The World

What I learnt

The Author

Grandmaster Ninodonlord

       

Yours truly, Nino.
Its Worldember!I am building out a spooky world, which you can read about here! (psst, its a link)
To learn about my main world click on this link! (if you want to ;) )

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Bestiary: Creatures of Vreathe — Vreathe

A book filled with inaccuracies and poor writing, edited with the help of magical stones that answer to any question confidently but not quite truthfully. What could go wrong? Well, it actually went wrong in at least one case, dramatically wrong. Now, these kinds of books collect bad reviews but sell at a low enough price to be mass purchased. I wonder if there's a parallel to be made somewhere?

Of course there is. This is a satire of AI writing, especially people abusing it to do all the work for them with few to no review. It was written out of frustration from Chrispy who saw some people using AI to write tens of thousands of words in the last days of WE. And I must say, for a satire made as a reaction this is quite elaborated, with not only an extract of the book, but also reviews and context. Vreathe is as always easy on the eye, with good formatting and CSS.

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The World

What I learnt

Satire can be seamlessly included in a world.

Reviews definitely add something to books.

The Author

Sage Chrispy_0

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Seraphina Syren — World of Wizard's Peak

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A wealthy and renowned singer from a powerful family, Seraphina was an influential figure of her time. After her tragic death at age 27, she was unheard of until the blood siren Alera brought her back to life, as a siren. She is now a high stakes diplomat and secret agent of her mistress, and a kind of vampire. She probably still sings from time to time, too.

Kitoypoy really knows how to give substance to his characters in a few words. A visual, some quotes of other people referring to the siren and her story, and she seems alive. The plot hooks does a great job at both fleshing out the character and create story opportunities, giving Seraphina a place in a TTRPG session. Great work here!

The World

What I learnt

It is possible to both plan ahead the use of a character and flesh them out at the same time

The Author

Eternal Sage kitoypoy

Chris L

         

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Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak and check out my award winning article about the Ghost Boy of Kirinal!

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Avian Bestiary — Meta World

A wide variety of birds from all over the world. Tag yourself, I'm Marine.

I usually don't feature two times the same author, but I really like the idea of this article. I don't know how Cato plans to use these birds, in other worlds, as a simple writing exercise or something else, but either way this kind of catalogue is a good method to add a lot of species in bulk to a world. A cute and funny article!

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The World

What I learnt

An article may be a collection of vaguely linked bits of worldbuilding.

The Author

Sage Catoblepon

Catoblepon

             

Visit Daeliha, Iphars, Khulgran & Shattered
Love to code, but this one is driving me crazy!
My world Shattered won as the "Most ground-breaking premise new world"!

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Lavran Lavvaley — Ayonerra

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After a successful rebellion and a victory over a rival country as an army commander, Lavran became the ruler of Firoz. He rules with an iron fist - literally, his left arm is made of metal. Cunning and clever, he manipulates the people and get rid of the rebels as efficiently as he can. With loyal followers and a devious magic, his rule is undisputed, but he might have greater aspirations.

I really like the archetype of Lavran. He doesn't see himself as a bad guy, he only does what must be done to fulfil his goal. I would have liked a bigger dive into his personality, but his story and relationship to other characters gives strong hints. The article itself is illustrated with great handmade art and riddled with quotes from Lavran that furthers his personality. A clean article that got me interested in this character and the mysterious disappearance of his sister.

The World

What I learnt

A way to present a character

The Author

Grandmaster NimrodialLibrary

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Extra feature

Where am I now?

2023 had not been a great year for me. Sure, I wrote many words, but not a lot that I am really proud of. In terms of worldbuilding, I went blind without a plan and experimented a lot, most of which ended up not holding up to my expectations. However, things are only failures if you allow them to be. Many of my unsuccessful experiments helped me develop formatting and CSS skills, and I learned a lot about how to do and not do some things.

Not regarding my reserves on my worldbuilding, it was still a big year for me. I completed my master's degree, moved to a city way further than I anticipated, began a job with great colleagues and soon-ish a PhD thesis in bioinformatics! Being an adult is tough and I suck at it, so that has been taking a lot of my time. So, when I look at the picture as a whole, 2023 not only has been a great year, but perhaps my best one yet.

And still, I made some creative accomplishments this year:

Most of the worlds I created now have an existence on WA, as well as an elevatory pitch. My interesting often switch from one to the other, and this organisation allow me to never feel frustrated because I can't write in a world that does not exist.

I wrote 20 new short stories (in French), and I feel like only three of them are disappointing, which is a lot better than any time before!

Going forward

Even though I won't be doing much worldbuilding in 2024, I still have a lot of projects and things I plan to do! As 2023 really helped me set my goals, I am able to put together a list of things I want to accomplish, or at least start this year. To be honest, with my tendency to switch projects every month and the fact that I'll be starting my PhD sometime soon, I can't tell which ones will actually happen and which ones are pipe dreams. Only time will tell!

A webnovel

This year's big project! I have proven myself quite adept at writing short stories, and without calling myself good, I am at least decent. However, I've never been able to be satisfied with my work on longer form stories. The serial format of a webnovel might just be what I need to get to the end of it. The goal here is to publish in English monthly chapters of at least 10,000 words for a year, with a grand total of a full story counting 120,000 words minimum. This is not to say I will stop after 12 months or that I won't write more, but this is a minimum. Considering I finished last NaNoWriMo in 20 days and completed WE during the last ten days of the month during the Christmas holidays, I am confident that this much is a reasonably low objective to avoid burning out and make way for real life.

Now, what of the webnovel's subject? That's the most important thing that should already be prepared ahead of time, right? Right? Well yes, but actually no. The story has to be long enough to be this length without feeling stretched, and ideally has the potential to go infinitely as a serial, with each chapter being more or less independent, and the plot robust to poor planning. I actually have multiple potential stories that fit the bill, and that's where you come in, dear readers! I need you to help me decide what to write. I won't necessarily follow the majority's vote as I won't force myself to write such a big project, but I want to know what you would want to read.

Vote here what kind of story you would like to read most!

Project Webnovel roadmap

January

Write this article
Select the story
Organise all of my projects

Worldbuild the webnovel
Plot outline
Character creation
Short stories/teasers
Find a platform to publish

February-May

June-August

Take a few months worth of advance (3 to be comfortable)
Advertise the project
Set up the publication platform
Summercamp! Tidy up loose ends in the worldbuilding

Write regularly
Avoid burn-out

September-October

November

Nanowrimo! Take even more advance!

Relax with some WorldEmber fun

December

At least, that's how I envision it at the beginning of 2024. I've never really published anything this big before, so I'm taking any advice, suggestion and criticism, especially if you have done so yourself!

In addition to this big project, I also have a couple of side objectives for this year:

Get better and showcase my art

Generative AI are certainly a boon when illustrating articles, but I've met countless blocks as the concepts I am trying to illustrate are often far from what they are able to produce. Giant insects, underwater monsters, precise designs and eldritch horrors, and I can't stand inaccurate images in my articles. It might be a prompt engineering issue, but I don't want to invest in that, and instead prefer to spend thousands of hours learning how to draw to have exactly what I have in mind. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I would be good enough to have at least one decent drawing to illustrate an article.

Write primers for all my worlds

At the time of writing, I have 32 worlds, outside of meta and test worlds. All of them have a quick overview in the homepage, but not many have an actual primer to explain what it really is about. Even if they remain empty for years, I feel it would be good if they all had a primer.

Read at least one book per month

In 2023, I felt that my writing style noticeably dulled, and it correlates with a significant reading reductions. I'm not only talking about fellow anvilites' articles, but also in terms of novels and non-fiction. If I am to write good things again, then I should absorb other writer's talent and read more! Once again, one book per month is a low minimum objective, but you never know what life has in store.

Fulfill the bonus objective

So I was going to announce yet another project here but after reading Jaime's NYR article, I realised I am fully guilty of what he describes. So instead of doing that (which is already too late oops), I will restrain the dopamine and just work on it silently until it's ready to be shown.