World Ember 2023 Homework

Homework: Week 1

I'm doing it. I'm taking the plunge... er.. pledge. I'm pledging to write (create) 10,000 words of new content for the world of Kadegan, AKA Daezin's world. The area I'm focused on is the Ellyndar States... the area where Daezin is getting up to her shenanigans. I'd like to focus on the people--traditions, customs, professions, etc., but I also want to finally nail down some details about the timelines as prophecy and fortunetelling are such a huge part of the story idea.
While I'm at it, I also pledge not to beat myself up if I'm slow to start or if it isn't perfect. I pledge to have fun with this. Afterall, I started the Daezin story with the idea that goofy and fun (and sarcasm!) are wonderful qualities in a story.
Homework done. <drops mic>

Homework: Week 2

Okay, so this week's homework has several steps to it. Who knew preparing your area of focus would be so complicated? I anticipated something like step one or step two but to have both of them feels large. However, the best way to start big stuff is to start with the first thing, and the first thing is to work on my mini-meta. So here goes.
Step 1: Ceate a mini-meta
I've created a mini-meta. As I just finished creating the world meta, I could have repeated everything there. However, my world meta was created with the idea in mind that I would be creating multiple stories from multiple perspectives in multiple locations; and this meta needs to be centered on this location for this character and this story.

Step 2: Set up a solid category structure
This is a hard one for me. On the one hand, I like the idea of keeping different kinds of things together--deities, flora, characters, etc.--like with like. On the other hand, I also like keeping everything together geographically--Corethe is the parent category with subsections for each of the things that exist within Corethe with subsections for each of the things under that. This will require more research and thought. In the meantime, I have set up a WorldEmber 2023 subcategory in my Staging Area to catch things as they come along and move them along when I figure it out.
Step 3: Look at other worlds for inspiration
This is an on-going thing honestly. I've been in World Anvil for less than a year and I peak at other worlds every few weeks or so. And then I'm intimidated from how pretty they all look. My primary job for the last 30 years was a merchandiser/shelver at the bookstore and making things pretty is a given. I don't have the coding background to make my stuff as pretty. I'm also a high school English teacher and I don't have time to devote to that. That said, this is why I keep telling myself to have fun. I want the words and the stuff to exist--it doesn't need to look pretty... at least not yet.
Step 4: Submit my homework
I've kinda been doing this as I go along. I still need to do some looksies at ways of organizing, but I think I've pretty much covered this week's homework.
Caelinae out.

Homework: Week 3

I'm going to be honest. This week's homework sucks--at least for me. I've worried about the way things look and feel and who my readers are and how to attract them and then I can't write anymore. If I worry about that kind of stuff before I get things written... before I've discovered MY process for writing and finishing the projects I want to write, my projects never get written and next thing I know it's been a year since last I put pen to page. I cannot start down that path again.
I look at other people's worlds and I am jealous of how pretty they are... of how organized... or how full of content they are... and I am jealous. I want my world to look like that. My primary job for the last 20 years, before I became a teacher, was a merchandiser at a bookstore. I am all about making things pretty and functional. However, I can't let myself worry about that right now.
This goes to my number one priority for this event. I am here to have fun. Worrying about making my world look great for readers and to grow my readership will suck all the fun and inspiration out of this. So, I'm not going to do this week's homework.
If you are working on yours, good luck. I love all the pretty, shiny worlds out there.
Have a wonderful week!

Homework: Week 4

So this week's homework involves getting my space and time in order to aid in succeeded when December hits in less than a week (Eeeshh--so close!).
My space: My computer space is already set up for me to work, write, and play in and I clean it up fairly regularly. I frequently wish I could separate my writing space from my work/play space, but that would require more money and physical space than I actually have. So, I'm good to go that way.
Refreshments: I love me some peanut M&Ms and honey mustard pretzels while I am writing. I have added them to my shopping list for next weekend (payday isn't until December 1st... so shopping happens after money). My water bottle is in good shape and we have lots of hot cocoa if I am craving something different as the temperatures drop.
My digital space: A couple of weeks ago, we were tasked with cleaning up our categories and I set up a rudimentary system since then. I'm not completely happy with it but I think I need more content before I get too hung up on how I will categorize it. The temptation is strong to want to fill every folder with all the things and create a super complex, rich world--but I need to create enough to have a foundation for the novel I want to write. I can always add more later, so I need to keep my focus narrower... if possible.
On my to-do list, I have to clean up my to-do list. Several random items got added to the list when I first got started on World Anvil and I think cleaning that up and creating items mostly for this event will help me with the focus issue I mentioned above.
The last thing related to this topic is the calendar and time stuff I mentioned needing to work on. Well, I finished creating the calendar and describing a bit of the Corethean year. It is still a bit rough but I think it is enough for now to help with some of the timey-wimey stuff I am sure will crop up during article creation and novel writing. Still to do, add a timeline specific to Corethe and another one specific to Daezin, my protag.

Schedule: Finally, I am supposed to figure out my writing schedule. This one is hard. I am completely unable to create a daily schedule as my schedule is packed during the week--teacher + rehearsals/performances for a production I was cast in + grading/planning/etc. Then, I am currently in the midst of a health scare, and I won't know until 12/27 if it is a health reality or a health false alarm and I know that is going to cause stress, increasing as the date of the test draws near. Finally, the last reason why creating a schedule is probably not a good idea for me is because if I can't keep up with my schedule for more than 2 days in a row, I will get depressed and feal like a failure and give up. That doesn't sound like fun and my goal is to have fun. So, I won't be creating a schedule per se.
All that said, I would like to create word count goals for each week-ish to try to keep me on track... with the caveat that I will probably be doing most of the writing during the week between Christmas and New Years as I'll be on Winter Break then.

• Dec 1-8: 2100 words
• Dec 9-15: 2100 words
• Dec 16-22: 2100 words
• Dec 23-31:3700 words

I think that covers the homework for this week. I have until Friday to clean up my to-do list, create a couple of basic timelines, and maybe create a couple of stubs to get me started next weekend.
Thank you to all who are following me on this journey. I appreciate you.