Worldember Prep 2023

Worldember Prep Homework

Week 1: Focus & Pledge

I'm new to World Anvil, so my main area of focus is learning how to world-build. I'm building this world alongside a NaNoWriMo project to develop my Flash Fiction story, ‘Journey Across an Ocean of Plastic’, into a novel.
I've created this World Anvil account to develop the world around my main plot and to organise my chaotic collection of notes. Whilst I’d love this world to be something that other people can explore and enjoy, that feels very far off at the moment.
I pledge to write 10,000 words. I hope I’ll be able to write more but, since it is my first year doing both NaNoWriMo and Worldember, I don't want to over-commit myself. My aim is to have fun doing these challenges, not burn out.

Week 2: Mini-Meta

• Goal: To have fun exploring the less developed aspects of my novel. e.g. side characters, background drama & locations.
• USP: This is my first attempt at writing a novel and at world building. That’s special to me, even if the story, characters and world aren’t that unique to external readers.
• Genre: Survivalist Adventure & Science Fiction. (Emphasis on the fiction part, I’m not prioritising scientific accuracy).
• Mood/ Character agency alignment: Probably neutral-bright or grey-bright. This is a world of adventure and discovery. It is less about characters changing the world, and more about exploring their place in it. Generally, the world is pleasant to live in and wondrous things happen to people, although the environment does have its challenges and dangers to overcome. Including, pollution, extreme weather and challenging terrains.
• Vibe: Overall, I want to instil a sense of wanderlust, making the reader (me) want to go on adventures to explore this world and get to know the characters who live in it.
• Initial active setting: A small continent, or possibly an island, on a planet similar to earth set many years after an apocalyptic event.

Week 3: Categories & Homepage

These are rather hard to do without much content in the world. I have given it a go and will update when I have a better sense of the world I am building.

Week 4: Additional Prep

• Finishing NaNoWriMo! I'm on track to reach my 50k word goal :). (Update: I did it! Now to edit those words into something readable)
• Creating an Articles index/tracker. I've seen a few people create article indexes and I think it is a great idea to get organised and stay inspired.
• Getting used to maps with #UnofficialMapVember. (Update: this was an interesting challenge and fun thought process but I did not manage to create a decent map)
• Reading other people's worldember prep and looking at their worlds for inspiration.

Inspiration

“Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?” - Amelia Earhart

Media & Literature

Disney Wall-E, Alice in Wonderland, The Martian, Gulliver's Travels, Life of Pi

World Anvil

It's great to be able to follow and learn from an experienced world builder creating a new world. (...Although, I'm not great at coding, so I think I'll aim to learn BBcode before even attempting anything with CSS.)

Grandmaster elspeth87

Elspeth

For the general hype and comment carrolling about this site is incredible. I'm not usually a sociable person but I think that Annie Stein's comment carroling idea is brilliant.
There are so many amazing worlds on here! It is difficult not to feel inspired.
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Other inspiration:

The flash fiction story which inspired my NaNoWriMo project in the first place. Journey Across an Ocean of Plastic !! Please note that this is an external link to a subscriber story on Medium.com. If you're unfamiliar with Medium, it is a simple blogging platform. Non subscribers can read 4 articles for free per month (across the platform).