WorldEmber 2024 Homework

Welcome back to another day of me feeling overwhelmed. So far November has been...something. I ended up completely sucked into a new book series (It isn't even fantasy? It's just...really good with characters?)
So anyway, I decided I might as well start this soon. Try and get that homework badge, even if I never follow through with half of what I write. Let's get on it, this intro is long enough already. Beware, it's pretty much a complete info-dump. Barely any spaces.

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Week 1: Pledge Your Goal

Set a word goal!

My word goal this year is 10,000 words! I have achieved this twice before and I plan to do it again! My area of focus is different though. During my first WorldEmber, I simply wrote basic articles to flesh out the world and the setting. During my second, I worked on more general articles as well as a very important article on Magic. In both previous years, I managed to hit just over 10,000 words.

Choose your area of focus!

This year, I am going to focus on Celestials! Celestials are magical beings with powers that reflect an aspect of reality. The basic article about them will hopefully be done this month. Because they are people, the majority of my articles will be character articles. I've always been good at creating and writing people and my character articles are always the ones I finish fastest, so I don't think I'll have any trouble reaching my goal.
A lot of Celestials have myths and legends associated with them, so I might write a few of those as well as something or other about spells or magic. I'm not sure about the last part, I only really have one spell I could write about and it's...super spoilery. But it would be cool if I was able to do it!

Create or update your meta

I don't like the meta. I don't know why. I guess I spend so much time formatting my articles so that my brain can process things the way I want that using a completely different template just feels weird. I have used the meta before, so I'll give it a quick reread and possibly update it, but I don't think much has changed about it.

Week 2: Prepare for New Readers

Review your homepage

I updated my homepage for Summer Camp, so I think it's looking pretty good now. I did add the current month and year, but that's about it. I like the layout and how it looks. I think I'll move some stuff around and edit it slightly, but it probably won't be much.

Create or review your world primer/introduction

I have two introductions! One is about the world itself and the other is more about why I named it and some other information. The Introduction to the Janya Galaxy article is updated regularly as I add planets and other details. I'm very happy with it and the layout, so I don't think I'm going to change anything about it.
The Introduction to the Tread of Darkness article is different than the other introduction. This one is more of an explanation than an introduction and talks about why I created the Tread of Darkness, why I named it as such, and a little bit about the story this world was built around. I haven't updated or modified it for a very long time, so I'll probably reread it and see if I need to add, remove, or clarify anything.

Set up community tools

I use the basic community things. There are follow buttons, like buttons, the general stuff. I have pretty much no social media as of right now, so there aren't any options for that. I do respond to comments, however! If you have anything you'd like to point out or talk about in an article, post a comment and I should answer within a few days (I'm very busy lol).

CSS Wizardry

Nope. I'm out. I took a few Computer Science classes because my family had a subscription to an online program and I hated every second. CSS and any coding is something I cannot do. My brain just fries itself. I remember people, events, and plotlines. I'm a good writer and storyteller. I find technology useful until it crashes on me. So, alas, there will be no fancy and impressive layouts from me. Just words and layouts that I obsessively try to make look perfect.

Week 3: On the Hunt for Inspiration!

Read a book or watch a movie!

I am currently in the process of reading a new book series (as mentioned above). However, it has no fantasy or sci-fi elements whatsoever, the writing is mediocre, and the author has admitted to just writing it for fun, so I don't think I'll be getting much out of it. Nevertheless, it is very interesting and the characters are what make it and any story shine, so I'll keep that in mind as I'm reading it.

Create a moodboard

I have created several, thank you very much. Mostly for characters who don't appear for several books. But I do have one for Celestials in general and I'll be sure to go through it and remember which Celestials are for which pictures.

Create or expand your writing playlist

I usually write in silence or listen to YouTube playlists. About what? General instrumental music, ambient background noise, a weird amalgamation of various pop music...kind of random. I change what I listen to depending on my project and mood, so it's almost never the same thing every day. I don't feel particularly inclined to share exactly what I listen to, let's move on.

Week 4: Harness the Power of Friendship!

Find a community

I have plenty of real-life friends, thank you very much. My brother lives in the same house as me and he's my usual sounding board (I was actually complaining earlier about how I just found a random pothole relating to a Celestial). My best friend is an artist and occasionally does art for me, so I'm going to see if they'd be willing to draw character portraits for me. Online, I'll try to support others as much as possible and check in on what articles have been completed in between my own completions. Who knows if anyone will do the same for me. I certainly hope so, but I try not to expect anything.

Plan your writing schedule

I don't usually plan things out, but I suppose they tend to go better if I do. I have a planner, so I think I'll try to write up some times. Sundays and Thursdays are spotty, but I have free time every other day. I've recently been spending more time at the library doing writing and those days can be my sprint attempts. I'm definitely hopeful that my inspiration will keep going and that my focus area will remain interesting and keep my attention.

Get some fresh air!

Oh no, not the outdoors. Instead of actually going outside, I will relax by continuing to read my book series and maybe sleep a lot. I don't usually get much. Unfortunately, that's because of the reading. I have terrible impulse control.

Conclusion

Well, that's my homework article! As you can see, I'm very scattered this month. I am happy to report that I managed to write a lot of my novella, even if I haven't finished it yet, and my overall article on Celestials is almost done. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. My best wishes to all of you for a productive and fun WorldEmber! Good luck and go worldbuild!