So, it seems like I am one of those World Ember Vampires that rise from their graves after sleeping all year around once December rolls around again. And you know what? I'm ok with that!
This time around, I want to try and challenge my urge to have a behind-the-scenes reason for everything and make a new world that's more freestyle than
Yvari is.. We'll see if I can manage that x) I have doubts.
But I have decided to start creating a new high-concept world, based on the question of what happens if space as we know it is not a thing? What if places do exist, but their spatial relationship to each other is not fixed? Getting from A to B depends more on how you feel about getting there than about the space in between them, because that space is fluid and changes. No two travelers will travel the same road, unless they're traveling together. The world of
Traveling Magic is going to explore the possible consequences of this.
Not quite happy with the name yet, but it will do as a working project name. Getting into writing is more important then getting the name right instantly. After all, one of the goals is to avoid unnecessary hang-ups! Lots of interesting consequences derive from this, and I'm thrilled to explore this idea more. Brainstorming with the cookies has already given me lot sof ideas to work with and stuff to think about, as usual. So, without further ado:
The Pledge
For December 2023, I pledge to write 10000 words of worldbuilding on the world of Traveling Magic. I make this promise to myself, my readers, my fans and the world which is made better by my creative spirit.— ImoenKim
My Area of Focus
Homework for Week 1 of Preparation! These 10000 words will be focusing on the following areas:
"Main Character"
I'm putting main character in brackets here, because I'm not writing for a book or anything. I'm worldbuilding for the sake of worldbuilding and to challenge myself to envision a world not unlike ours, but with some fundamental thing completely different - and then watch the ripples unfold throughout what we know as daily life and habits. So my main character will actually be the world concept itself.
"Region"
Another point that I have to put in quotation marks - in a world where geography is fluid, there are no fixed regions. It's one of the things I'm still thinking about how they could affect the world - are there kingdoms? If so, why does a place X feel allegiance to kingdom Y? If it's not geographical or tactical reasons, why would you want to be more than a city state?
So far, I have decided to focus on individual places first. As of now I can't think of a reason to form a larger kingdom, let alone a means of governing it effectively, so I will be more granular in my approach and start with
The Inn of Wayward Wanderers and take it from there.
Mini-Meta and Categories - oh, my!
Preparation week 2's homework is tough. I've always struggled with the world meta - it first came up way after I started my first world, Yvari, and I could never figure out how to squeeze the existing world into it. For Traveling Magic, it actually helped me to look at it and think about it, guiding my thoughts to a more meta approach. This world is completely new, so I feel the current world meta is probably what I would also end up writing for the mini-meta. I still don't see myself checking in regularly with it, though, or referencing it.
Maybe this is like plotting versus pantsing for writers and I'm just not a worldbuilder that is very structured. But since my goal is not to build for a TTRPG game, setting or for a book, but simply for the sheer joy of creation, I think I can afford being more unstructured. Especially since I want to try and worldbuild without having a behind the scenes explanation for everything, and I don't even know if this project will be relevant after World Ember.
Categories
The second part of the homework though, categories, has proven to be way more interesting, but also difficult. I do not have a clear vision what I want to achieve other than having fun, and that makes it hard for me to decide how to present my world. Categories are an issue that I already ran into with Yvari and frankly are one of the reasons that made me stop wanting to write that world. I just can't get categories of World Anvil to look and behave in a way that feels right. My first approach in Yvari was completely without categories, but that was made impossible at some point with restructurings, and I haven't gotten my bearing back for Yvari. I wonder if Traveling Magic will fare better in this regard - at least I have a structure prepared for now.
That's an interesting premise! Curious to see where you'll take it so I'll give your new world a follow.:) Hope you have fun and good luck with your goal!