WorldEmber 2023 Homework | Ebilar
I am very excited to be kicking off WorldEmber 2023 prep. This will be my first time entering this challenge, as has been the case for each of the other events throughout the year. Having finished my graduate school training, I've purposely been throwing myself into my worldbuilding which got put off for far too long. Not only is this my first year engaging in WorldEmber, I actually have something to work on! As some people know, since February I have been writing the first book in a series, which is based on and within my world of Ebilar. The book is approximately halfway written at close to 200 pages. As I am transitioning to the next major story arc, I find myself in need of some additional lore. I plan on focusing my attention on remedying this need. And who knows, maybe I'll tease a few snippets of the story along the way.
With that said, I present my pledge for WorldEmber 2023.
UPDATE: Nov 24, 2023
I have begun uploading some of the completed chapters from my novel The Unhallowed. You can find them by clicking the manuscript cover on the side bar. Please review the content warnings before you begin reading, as this manuscript contains content such as violence, blood/gore, explicit language, etc. that is not child-friendly. I would love your feedback. Please keep in mind that much of this is in its first draft phase, and some chapters are still active works-in-progress. Updates will be posted as I write more.
I was sick over the weekend and had a lot of time to just sit around. I was watching through the latter half of Attack on Titan's final season. ***No spoilers, I promise.*** Watching the final half of the season, it occurred to me that the intensity, scale, and general tone of the writing and story was the same as the tone, intensity, and scale I'm shooting for with my own writing. Nobody is safe. The stakes are high. The decisions the characters make or are forced to make are loaded with discussion over what's right and wrong. Generally, there's a sense of bleak hopelessness, but still a determined sense of proactive action. Thinking about it, I felt this was worth noting in my WorldEmber prep as I think it will be a fresh reminder of the type of writing I'm shooting for over the next month and a half.
Week Two:
November 10, 2023
Over the last week, I have completely overhauled my world encyclopedia, adding loose articles to the appropriate subcategories. I also spent more time fleshing out the World Atlas category tree, specifying the regions of the Continent of Emmeron. Under each of these regional listings, I added branches for specific kingdoms and territories that are of significant importance to the world. I then moved independent articles under the respective branches. Will continue developing and fleshing out the tree moving forward. One area I'd like to spend more time on post-WorldEmber is the Player's Handbook tree. I really want to make Ebilar a fully playable campaign setting. Being that it has some specific limitations on things like available playable races, and specific religious configurations, I want to make sure and attend to this, but after this event.
I know I'm a little late getting my week three homework submitted. I've been trying to do a deep dive into some other World Anvil worlds around the community. I don't fully know what I want the front end of my homepage to look like exactly, but I got some amazing inspiration from several other worlds (one of my favorites being Cathedris). I loved the custom design for the logo and main landing. That said, I took a lot of notes as to things I'd like to develop for the future to make my landing page fit more with the meta and tone of Ebilar. I have a long way to go before I can implement these, as I am really struggling to understand all the CSS elements and how to play with them effectively. I imagine three main sections to the homepage: the World Pitch/World Hook, World Primer article link and recently added/featured article (both subsumed under a transition banner module and under that a list of category links (I believe they are called containers, from what I read). In this third section, what I would like to do is lay out book covers under the main world pitch and World Primer modules. Some examples here would be the Bestiary, World Atlas, Item Compendium, and Player's Handbook. I'd like these to link to separate category trees, depending on what the reader is looking for. I call this "the World Library." For design elements, I'd like to focus first on designing a logo and a decent tagline/pitch for the world. I keep finding my description of the world just a tad too long for my liking and would like to pare it down a bit. At the moment, I have no monetization or anything running for Ebilar, so I'll either need help to design a logo, figure out how to make one on my own, or hire out. To be determined which option I go with. I like the general design elements I picked for Ebilar right now (it was as prebuilt theme), however, I might go back and edit the text colors and font. I'm not keen on the greenish color, and the headers are just too large a font for my liking.
This week is about to be super chaotic at work, so I'm sure I'll have less motivation to complete additional prep throughout the weeknights this week. That said, there are a few things that I am doing in preparation for December 1, though none of them really fit on the list provided for the homework (i.e. I live alone. A do not disturb sign isn't terribly necessary, haha). That said, I have several friends and family members who often review my writing, particularly for my novel. They provide valuable insights into the tone, pacing, and how the audience is receiving the story itself. I've already spoken with several of them and asked if they would be willing to review some of the writing that gets posted this year. This serves both as a helpful tool for revising and editing my writing and also will help keep me a bit more accountable in getting words written. However, they are also really busy, and I suspect will be intermittent with the holidays coming up. I'd rather they enjoy vacation and family time over reading my stuff. Typically, I have a writing journal that I throw in my backpack before work. I typically have a stable schedule for lunch, and will often leave the office to go outside and read or write. This week, I will be bringing the journal with me for the purpose of setting up a to-do list with articles and categories to write about through December. I'll formalize a few tables and the like in the journal related to word count, which typically helps keep me on track--I'm a little list-oriented if you couldn't tell. I also will include some scene-specific prompts that I would like to address either for additional backstory or extraneous information related to the Unhallowed story plot. One thing that I have done, though admittedly before this week, was add two playlists with music that I often throw on in the background as I'm writing. The first playlist is specific to WorldEmber 2023, which I created just for this audience, so you can experience a bit of the vibe that I experience while writing about Ebilar and it's heroes. The second is one that I use frequently, which is specific to the Unhallowed novel which I am writing now. This will be a playlist that I envisioned adding to considerably more over time, as additional short stories and novels are developed for this world. I've looked into joining a chapter in the past as well, but one of my biggest limitations has been active participation on my part. I'm not a huge social media user, and I'm not very active on things like Discord. That said, I was looking into possibly joining something like the Cookie Cottage, just as a way to connect with other people and maybe keep up some momentum in worldbuilding and storytelling with my novel. I think I'll set that as a prep goal this week, to reach out on Discord and see what the group is about. As you can see to the right, I also decided to throw my hat into the Cozy Cottage Enclave this year. I really want to keep writing for these events--they have been so much fun and so challenging throughout the year. But, I don't want to burn myself out either. So, like with the Camp Chill vibe in summer, I'll be trying to keep a reasonable pace through World Ember, making progress where I can, and taking a step back when I need to, without the pressure to "win." I'll update this throughout the week. If I have time, I would also like to take my notebook list and add it here as a checklist like I keep seeing other authors do. I love that as an option for staying on-task and showing others what progress I'm making. To Do List:
I have begun uploading some of the completed chapters from my novel The Unhallowed. You can find them by clicking the manuscript cover on the side bar. Please review the content warnings before you begin reading, as this manuscript contains content such as violence, blood/gore, explicit language, etc. that is not child-friendly. I would love your feedback. Please keep in mind that much of this is in its first draft phase, and some chapters are still active works-in-progress. Updates will be posted as I write more.
Week One: Pledge Your Goal
November 3, 2023 I am currently well on my way to completing the first novel of the Unhallowed series, based on my world of Ebilar. As I progress in the story, I am discovering that I need to flesh out more of the Maelstrom Coast region of the Continent of Emmeron. While I've created numerous articles related to the Maelstrom Coast previously, these have served as one-off extensions of flora, fauna, and settlements. What I am interested in pursuing this World Ember is an expansion of my lore surrounding trade, ethnic identities, technological achievement, and the history between the Hallowing War and the current era. I want to flesh out more of the cultural heritage of several of my ethnicities and races and articulate significant moments in Emmeron's timeline which will impact directly the events of the first Unhallowed novel. This will also serve to flesh out the region for my expansion into designing a formal campaign setting for D20-based systems, in my world of Ebilar. Being that I will be balancing several projects at work, as well, throughout December, I will not be competing in additional competitions this year, but I welcome feedback from others on what I write moving forward. I'm shooting for 10,000 words, as I have not been a part of World Ember previously. I'd like to start with the goal of completing the challenge. If I go beyond 10,000 words--GREAT! If not, I'll be content to just meet the mark.Potential Areas of Development:
In considering which areas of the Maelstrom Coast I would like to develop throughout WorldEmber, I was thinking about the next big story arc for The Unhallowed. I believe that the following areas would merit further writing throughout the event:- Kingdoms, Duchies, and regions of territorial power.
- Leadership within these territories (i.e. kings, military commanders, governors, etc.)
- Cultural make-up of various regions throughout the Maelstrom Coast
- Additional history for the region (i.e. Rise and fall of kingdoms, mass migration, natural disasters, cultural paradigms) that happened between the Hallowing War and the Current Era.
- Principal villains and heroes that inspired or terrified the region
- Region-specific concerns, and solutions proposed or implemented to resolve those concerns
I was sick over the weekend and had a lot of time to just sit around. I was watching through the latter half of Attack on Titan's final season. ***No spoilers, I promise.*** Watching the final half of the season, it occurred to me that the intensity, scale, and general tone of the writing and story was the same as the tone, intensity, and scale I'm shooting for with my own writing. Nobody is safe. The stakes are high. The decisions the characters make or are forced to make are loaded with discussion over what's right and wrong. Generally, there's a sense of bleak hopelessness, but still a determined sense of proactive action. Thinking about it, I felt this was worth noting in my WorldEmber prep as I think it will be a fresh reminder of the type of writing I'm shooting for over the next month and a half.
Week Two:
Prepare Your Area of Focus
November 10, 2023
Mini-Meta: The Unhallowed
To be honest, I've not really utilized the meta documentation on WorldAnvil much. While I think it's a helpful tool, I haven't found it to be something I reference very often at all when writing, just given the sporadic nature of the way I write. That said, I wanted to give it the old college try this year, as I think a mini-meta will help keep me focused on only what's necessary for my goals, which might help me continue making progress on my novel writing as well. Just given that WorldEmber and my novel writing are hitting a synchronous stage with regard to necessary development areas. I have created a Mini-Meta document which will outline the specific meta elements I'll be focused on. I'm sure this article will keep growing over the next few weeks. That said, I wanted to start fleshing out a few areas for specific development, which are outlined below in this article, as well.Solidifying My Category Tree Structure
It was a bit funny to me, I was going back through my world after completing last week's prep homework and I had begun revamping my category structures for my world encyclopedia and creating additional main folders to sort the information outside of the encyclopedia tree as well. So, I guess I got a little bit of a leg up on this week's assignment, which was a pleasant surprise. Usually, I'm playing catch-up. Update 11/13/2023:Over the last week, I have completely overhauled my world encyclopedia, adding loose articles to the appropriate subcategories. I also spent more time fleshing out the World Atlas category tree, specifying the regions of the Continent of Emmeron. Under each of these regional listings, I added branches for specific kingdoms and territories that are of significant importance to the world. I then moved independent articles under the respective branches. Will continue developing and fleshing out the tree moving forward. One area I'd like to spend more time on post-WorldEmber is the Player's Handbook tree. I really want to make Ebilar a fully playable campaign setting. Being that it has some specific limitations on things like available playable races, and specific religious configurations, I want to make sure and attend to this, but after this event.
Inspiration Sources
I know it's not WorldAnvil related, but I have to say, I am taking a lot of good inspiration from Baulder's Gate 3. Awesome game, if you haven't played it yet! Specifically, I've been looking at Shadowheart's storyline and the evolution of that character as an inspiration for one of my own character's development arcs. I want to replicate the level of emotional turmoil and difficult decisions that the character is forced to make, while still trying to retain a semblance of who they are without breaking under the pressure. I was reading through the WorldEmber submissions from several WorldAnvil authors as well, which helped me figure out how I wanted to structure my world meta this week. Of note, I wanted to shout out Melissa, as I really appreciated how cleanly laid out her Meta-Article was. I definitely used this as a guide for structuring my own meta.Week Three: Welcome Your Readers
November 17, 2023I know I'm a little late getting my week three homework submitted. I've been trying to do a deep dive into some other World Anvil worlds around the community. I don't fully know what I want the front end of my homepage to look like exactly, but I got some amazing inspiration from several other worlds (one of my favorites being Cathedris). I loved the custom design for the logo and main landing. That said, I took a lot of notes as to things I'd like to develop for the future to make my landing page fit more with the meta and tone of Ebilar. I have a long way to go before I can implement these, as I am really struggling to understand all the CSS elements and how to play with them effectively. I imagine three main sections to the homepage: the World Pitch/World Hook, World Primer article link and recently added/featured article (both subsumed under a transition banner module and under that a list of category links (I believe they are called containers, from what I read). In this third section, what I would like to do is lay out book covers under the main world pitch and World Primer modules. Some examples here would be the Bestiary, World Atlas, Item Compendium, and Player's Handbook. I'd like these to link to separate category trees, depending on what the reader is looking for. I call this "the World Library." For design elements, I'd like to focus first on designing a logo and a decent tagline/pitch for the world. I keep finding my description of the world just a tad too long for my liking and would like to pare it down a bit. At the moment, I have no monetization or anything running for Ebilar, so I'll either need help to design a logo, figure out how to make one on my own, or hire out. To be determined which option I go with. I like the general design elements I picked for Ebilar right now (it was as prebuilt theme), however, I might go back and edit the text colors and font. I'm not keen on the greenish color, and the headers are just too large a font for my liking.
Week Four: Last Minute Prep
November 24, 2023This week is about to be super chaotic at work, so I'm sure I'll have less motivation to complete additional prep throughout the weeknights this week. That said, there are a few things that I am doing in preparation for December 1, though none of them really fit on the list provided for the homework (i.e. I live alone. A do not disturb sign isn't terribly necessary, haha). That said, I have several friends and family members who often review my writing, particularly for my novel. They provide valuable insights into the tone, pacing, and how the audience is receiving the story itself. I've already spoken with several of them and asked if they would be willing to review some of the writing that gets posted this year. This serves both as a helpful tool for revising and editing my writing and also will help keep me a bit more accountable in getting words written. However, they are also really busy, and I suspect will be intermittent with the holidays coming up. I'd rather they enjoy vacation and family time over reading my stuff. Typically, I have a writing journal that I throw in my backpack before work. I typically have a stable schedule for lunch, and will often leave the office to go outside and read or write. This week, I will be bringing the journal with me for the purpose of setting up a to-do list with articles and categories to write about through December. I'll formalize a few tables and the like in the journal related to word count, which typically helps keep me on track--I'm a little list-oriented if you couldn't tell. I also will include some scene-specific prompts that I would like to address either for additional backstory or extraneous information related to the Unhallowed story plot. One thing that I have done, though admittedly before this week, was add two playlists with music that I often throw on in the background as I'm writing. The first playlist is specific to WorldEmber 2023, which I created just for this audience, so you can experience a bit of the vibe that I experience while writing about Ebilar and it's heroes. The second is one that I use frequently, which is specific to the Unhallowed novel which I am writing now. This will be a playlist that I envisioned adding to considerably more over time, as additional short stories and novels are developed for this world. I've looked into joining a chapter in the past as well, but one of my biggest limitations has been active participation on my part. I'm not a huge social media user, and I'm not very active on things like Discord. That said, I was looking into possibly joining something like the Cookie Cottage, just as a way to connect with other people and maybe keep up some momentum in worldbuilding and storytelling with my novel. I think I'll set that as a prep goal this week, to reach out on Discord and see what the group is about. As you can see to the right, I also decided to throw my hat into the Cozy Cottage Enclave this year. I really want to keep writing for these events--they have been so much fun and so challenging throughout the year. But, I don't want to burn myself out either. So, like with the Camp Chill vibe in summer, I'll be trying to keep a reasonable pace through World Ember, making progress where I can, and taking a step back when I need to, without the pressure to "win." I'll update this throughout the week. If I have time, I would also like to take my notebook list and add it here as a checklist like I keep seeing other authors do. I love that as an option for staying on-task and showing others what progress I'm making. To Do List:
- Person: Aibel Amel
- Person: Mephestos
- Race: Aeshira (Demonkin)
- Kingdom: Amvaes
- Kingdom: Thavaris
- Kingdom: Venzia
- Meta: Magic and It's Limits
- Plane: The Nine Hells
Thank you so much for reading through this. I really hope you'll leave me feedback throughout World Ember. I'd love to hear what folks think of my writing. Critical or supportive, I find it terribly useful in refining my work, so throw it at me as honest as you'd like to be. I hope everyone has an incredible WorldEmber, and good luck with your writing!
WorldEmber 2023 Playlist:
Playlist for My Novel The Unhallowed:
Playlist for My Novel The Unhallowed:
Cozy Cottage Enclave badge by Rin Garnett
Damn, congrats on the book progress! I think weaving some sections from it into your articles sounds very neat! Do you think you're going to do content warnings for the darker stuff? Or is it not quite *so* dark?
Great to hear that you're happy with your own progress! I hope you have an awesome WE!
Thanks! I've been pretty happy with the progress to-date. To your question, I don't think I'll be doing anything with content warnings for WorldEmber. My goal is dark, not necessarily explicit or overly graphic. The book itself is a bit darker.
Likewise!