Homework

WorldEmber Prep Homework

Homework 1

For WorldEmber this year I have chosen to work on the Setting for Breaking the Silence. This includes the locations of Turnuntum, Trier, and Metz, as well as the Abbey of St. Maximinus in Trier (and its various topographies), where most of the story takes place. This worldbuilding is a necessary step in revising the novel, which I have drafted and the plot and characters are doing all right, but it is really missing a sense of place. I believe that worldbuilding the setting will give the novel the sense of place and atmosphere it needs to be truly immersive.

Homework 2

The World of Francia has been revisited and is fresh and ready to go for WorldEmber 2023! I pared down my category structure to just the things I need so I'm not looking at a bunch of extra stuff. My World Encyclopedia only has Characters (which I'm not going to spend time on for WorldEmber), Fauna & Flora, Deities and Religions, Organizations, and Ethnicities & Cultures now, and then there's the Atlas, which already includes the locations of Turnuntum, St. Maximinus, and Teutobergerwald. Most of my world building this December will occur in Turnuntum and St. Maximinus, and I will also add the locations of Trier and Metz.
Now that it's all ready to go, time to think Meta:

Francia is a real place in a real time. It's a real world. My Francia is the setting for my duology of Stephen: Breaking the Silence (drafted and undergoing revisions) and Taming the Beast (to be written). I am worldbuilding this world to give substance to the history. And to infuse it with magic. Stephen's story, you see, is a fantasy story. Although he lives in a historical time and place (northern Germany/northeastern France in the late 9th century), he posesses the unique capability of tuning his cythara to the exact ratios of the spheres and altering the fabric of the universe by playing chords. That makes Francia magical. It is not the same world. It is a world of my imagination, and that's what I'm building it for.
This month, I'm going to focus on the setting for Breaking the Silence. The world of Stephen should feel mysterious and different, but also very, hauntingly real. Because magic is in music, there should be a strong contrast between quiet places and noisy places, between different kinds of music, and the world should feel different when sounds and music are introduced. To make this happen, I will need to update Turnuntum and make lots of articles on the various aspects of St. Maximinus, where most of the novel takes place. I want to emphasize the contrast between noise of the villages (including the abbey village) and the silence of the abbey. I also want different aspects of the abbey to have different moods depending on the level of sound or music that each place hosts. Finally, I will build the bigger cities of Metz and Trier. These will be noisy, but not the pleasant, happy sounds of the village or the ethereal music of the oratory, but the clashing and clanging of business and violence. Sound is mood and I want to flesh out these settings and bring them alive with sound.

Homework 3

The target audience for my world is readers of Breaking the Silence and its eventual sequel who want to know more about the world, so I need to make that clear on the homepage. The first change I will need to make is to update the blurb so it is clear that Francia is the setting for Breaking the Silence and that there is more to Francia than just what you read in the novel. Here the four tips about the "elevator pitch" from the homework article will be helpful:
"Use the proper kind of language. Adapt the language you use to the tone and themes of your world. Embrace tropes. If there are buzzwords or common archetypes associated with your genre, use them! Keep it simple. Avoid jargon, don’t over-explain, and don’t make it too dense. This is the first contact with your world, after all. Answer the three basic questions: where are we, what’s going on, and who are we following?"
I also want the homepage to capture the mood and tone of the novel (dark, mysterious, silent yet musical), so for that I will need to find a brand new and more appropriate header image. I will also make sure that my blurb has the appropriate language and tone and is similar to the prose of Breaking the Silence.
Finally, I want to update the layout, make the homepage more visually interesting, and direct readers where to go.
Here's the before picture:

Aaaand I finish the homework and I'm very pleased with the results! And I realized I don't need to post the "afters" because you can view them on my homepage!

Homework 4

Final homework - gearing up for the main event. Presenting, my WorldEmber Survival Kit and Writing Space.
Survival Kit
My Surface for WorldAnvil and Discord
My bluetooth headphones for listening to Gregorian Chant while worldbuilding the monastery
My camera for taking interesting photos of nooks and crannies when I need them for articles
My green notebook for writing down ideas when I'm away from a computer
My glare mouse and mini muse - tokens of writing inspiration I bust out for writer's block
Cozy blankets on the couch
Hot Chocolate
Egg nog

My Writing Space

by author's photo