New Year's Resolutions 2024

WorldEmber 2023 Update

So I set out with an ambitious, but achievable pledge to write 50,000 words for WorldEmber 2023. The day job had settled into a nice steady rhythm, our drag community project is warming nicely ready for pride season in summer 2024, life was good! So I saw no reason why I couldn't achieve 50,000 words on the only topic I could truly call myself an expert in: Belerion.
However, shortly after making my pledge, my partners mum was rushed into hospital for what would be the first of 2 ten day stints throughout December, prompting us to re-evaluate our priorities in the run up to Christmas and juggle caring for her with our busy lives and making sure his teenage sister was also cared for. Sadly, WorldEmber all but faded from view.
I had close to a clear plan of what I wanted to achieve for WorldEmber2023, so I can still honour the pledge to myself to create those parts of Belerion in my own time, and will be doing so throughout 2024. The situation with his mum is still ongoing, but is becoming our new normal and we have found a balance that works for us all. It also prompted us to 'just do it' with a lot of things we'd been putting off; the trade off being that life feels less overwhelming now that there is less on the to do list!

New Years Resolutions 2024

The Articles

The Articles I chose are all from among the WorldEmber2023 submissions and are listed below alongside my thoughts on the article itself and what about it most inspired me.

The Imperial Guard by AmélieIS
This article was a response to the WorldEmber2023 Military Formation prompt. I was immediately awestruck by the beautiful aesthetic of this article - instantly recogniseable as an Imperial Soulmates article. I particularly liked the focus on the intricacies of high society politics, intrigue and favours, particularly between the ruling elite and the high born families / houses of the land; something I've made a note of to explore in my own work.
Norrith Sign Language by notahumanhand
The name of this article caught my eye as soon as I looked at the Language prompt and I was not disappointed! This article truly blew my hobby-writing-mind and my professional-work-mind (I'm an Equality Lead (HR Specialist) for the NHS) as it (shamefully) hadn't occured to me to consider alternative forms of communication for accessibility purposes within the story. I liked the hand-signals used by Jessica Atreides in Dune, but hadn't really considered how they could fit into my world. This article is not only breathtakingly beautiful in it's arctic-esque design, but also its clear layout and level of detail. In particular, however, I really appreciated the candour of the disclaimer taking pride of place at the header of the article, explaining influence of ASL on the article content, a nod to the challenges faced by the deaf communities of the world, and also signposting to useful real-world resources for further learning and support.
The World Traveller's Cookbook: Recipes of Etharai Document by notahumanhand
So despite trying to not pick articles by the same author for this challenge, I couldn't help but settle on this absolutely mouthwatering article by notahumanhand (who wrote the above article also). Not only is each deliciously-crafted recipe accompanied by an image of the dish, the layout is truly sublime, using recipe-card style segments that include ingredients lists, cooking instructions, pairings, and even anedotes like you would find in some good world-recipe travel books. If it weren't for the occassional notes highlighting that a given section is currently under construction, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a complete recipe book.
Healing Potions by CrazyEddie and morbvs I'm not going to get dragged into any sort of debate about whether or not AI was used to create the - quite frankly - magnificent images in this article, they serve their purpose of illustrating the article and complementing the aesthetic. Anything beyond that is not for me to comment on. If I'm honest, it ws the rainbow hues of the arrangement of bottles in the banner image that caught and retained my LGBT eye! The idea of having blood-based potions that are species-specific is genius and obvious in equal parts; in our world, humans love onions but they are toxic to dogs - why would this quirk of biology not translate into fantasy worlds? By being blood-based, it also creates an interesting option for bloodborne diseases to impact the production and use of the potions.
Influence of The Shards by Hanhula The aesthetic of this article alone appealed to my inner drag queen! Very dark / gothic, lots of red blacks and greys I must have spent several seconds just enjoying the design before remembering I was there to actually read the article! The article is laid out in a way that makes it easy to skip to the part you want to read, while still enticing you to read through the whole thing. Quotes a scattered throughout to really bring the article to life as do the anecdotal texts in the right hand column, conveniently placed to answer the question in the readers' mind as they go through article.
The Gilded Beef by Strixxline I didn't know what to expect when I saw the article name, but was pleasantly surprised to discover the little dockside tavern of Gold Port, where the locals report the use of the freshest ingredients despite the presentation of the dishes. This was a genuinely pleasant article to read, and though it is still very much a work in progress, it almost adds to the authenticity, though unlike the taverns food, this article has all the ingredients and is presented nicely - gold is clearly a theme in this world, but it can be easy to overuse a colour like that. The subtle variants of language (gold, gilded etc) subvert the old adage "All that glitters is not gold": indeed, much like the food served here, not everything that is gold needs to glitter!
Sins by Jandis At first, I was confused by this article to the point of not wanting to read it - but after skipping to the comments to see if others had fed back on why it was written in reverse order, I learned that it was intentional, and by the time I got to the end of the article, I could see that it was absolutely the best way for this article to be put together and delivers the content in a fascinating way. Everything about this article, from its design and order to the use of period and shakespearian english to subtly indicate the passing of time between quotes from in-world historians is crafted in such an intricate way as to transport you to that world using really just 8 short yet powerful paragraphs. 
Prismarine by RiverFang and Shiftrex The way this article is written makes it really easy to follow, and two sentences in I felt like I was already familiar with the world which I always take to be a good sign! RiverFang and Shiftrex have the balance between detail and freedom to imagine just write that you can read at pace and keep a good image in mind of what they are describing. I particularly like how they explore the idea of "one mans trash is another mans' treasure" with Prismarine being as common as loose change in the ocean, but a rare commodity on land, rather than simply being a precious stone or crystal with certain healing or metaphysical abilities. 


Familiars by Dylonishere123 You really need to click the link for this one and explore it yourself. Some sort of digital wizadry took place here! The article displays more like a flip book, forcing the reader to absorb the content piece by piece and really focus on each section rather than trying to scan ahead with one eye on the current section and the other already running on to the next.  It makes it a really nice easy read, and actually makes you want to read more about the world.
Leaf Changing Rituall by Blue Fairy 74 The green aesthetic of this article immediately made me think this would be related to some sort of Wood Elves or similar, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is in fact Goblins of the woods in this world that celebrate this festival. The other thing that I enjoyed about this article in the reference to this cultures' calendar, highlighting the date on which the festival takes place, and also referring to the era in which the events that the festival marks took place. There is also details about the activities and foods enjoyed at the festival, and some considerable thought has gone into the "smoking mixtures" which I at first thought was a fantasy version of vaping, but is in fact more akin to incense which was another nice touch. 

My Creative Resolutions for 2024

Having taken part in a few challenges throughout 2023, and planning for, but being unable to complete WorldEmber2023, 2024 will be a year of snagging for me - I want to get Belerion to a much more 'completed' feel in the sense of worldbuilding, so that I can switch focus to story writing and enjoy exploring the world I've built.

By the end of 2024, I will have a clear vision of the main storyline, including times and locations of key events and movements of each character, in order to start writing the main story (and short stories) in WA Manuscript.

Resolutions

Snagging

1. Custom Article Template - I've had an idea in mind for how I want my articles to look (Imagine wikipedia articles if they were part of Da Vinci's codices). Design a standard template for articles that better reflects the look and feel of Belerion.
2. Organise Articles - The Four Compendiums are a good way to keep all finished articles organised for my reference when writing. Finish organising existing articles into the Compendiums planned for WorldEmber2023.
3. Maps - It's time the world map had a bit more prestige than a pencil sketch on some scrap paper. Upload a pen and ink completed world map ready for plot pins to be added.
4. Article Links - Article linking helps to maintain continuity. Ensure links are complete and used appropriately across articles.

Developing

1. Characters - Several characters have become accidential anecdotes in some articles. Create a character article that fully covers all aspects of each character.
2. Timelines - Each characters' story is a thread in the bigger tapestry. Use the timelines to see how the subplots weave together to progress the main storyline.
3. Challenges - The 2023 challenges helped develop huge swathes of Belerion. Continue to complete challenges to develop the world further.