Reading Challenge 2022

Chosen from the World Ember 2021 special categories submissions, one from each of the categories that I submitted to. Based heavily on the article title that grabbed me the most. No take-backs, either. Once I clicked on an article, that was the one that I was going to read and comment on.
There was a ton to learn about the worlds themselves and the way to construct them, with all kinds of great research and imagination represented. I chose to focus more on the construction elements of the articles themselves for what I was focusing on.

The Articles

1. Black Carriage, by NathaliaBooks1993.
This article made me consider the importance of responses. This world had a serious illness, and someone discovered the cure, which could only be found in one place. Those are the "important" elements of the story, I would guess, but the Black Carriage takes the logical step of considering how people would get to the cure, and what kind of service would appear in response. Larger events generate any number of smaller discoveries and details.
Also, pictures are a nice touch.
2. Nam-En, by Golemancer.
This article got me to think about transitions of power. The one described in this article was remarkably easy and non-violent, considering that it involved both politics and religion. While violent transitions can be a writer's bread and butter, not everything has to be so full of malice. Sometimes people squabble and then when it's done, it's settled. It can depend a lot on the culture involved and what they're used to.
3. Virskalli, by Mimoria.
This article brought up considerations of inheritance in language. How many words develop from past languages? How much of the grammar and verb structure come from before? What kind of words does a language have that another language would summarize with one?
It also got me to think about research, and detail. The level of the grammar detailed here was fantastic. It's a good lesson in taking what you know and really leaning into it to make details of your world even better from expertise, instead of just the glorious random details that I end up writing. It's fun, but it rarely ends up being very specific.
4. Dagovine Hill Roll, by Loyalair.
This article was a wonderful example of giving something a story. This tradition is absolutely charming, full of fun details and even a little timeline of past Hill Rolls. But the real heart of the article were the quotes detailing one person's encounter with the event. Sprinkled through the article to go with each section, it made what was already an interesting little event an intriguing story. Stories are so valuable for a really compelling article.
5. Arbitration Logs: Hilka's Burial Document, by MGatta.
This article grabbed me for the specificity of the title. It doesn't promise anything grand, or some huge detailed history piece. It's exactly what it says: a burial document for a very specific woman. Not every article has to be a tome about the exact nature of every dragon in the world, or include every last bit of fact about a country. It can be something as simple as judicial record. Quick, simple, plain.
6. Kesserquay, by stick2000
Fair warning, for this one I actually also read Vrimfar, which was a very well put-together article, but ultimately I decided to highlight Kesserquay because I liked the name. Which makes this lesson about the value of names. This one just sounded interesting and I clicked on it. Different people have different tastes, of course, but making cohesive and interesting names that aren't too insane is an important skill for a fantasy/sci-fi writer.
7. Flickerdraft, Flamebreeze, and Firestorm, by EliKWake.
This article title was long, but it delivered what it promised: three spells in one. Not different spells, but different levels of a spell with similar function. This pointed out the value of compressing information. Sometimes you do need separate articles for each different item, and sometimes you can throw them all in one article and have all the information in one easy-to-access spot.
8. Fiodh de fhreumhan teine, by Angantyr.
This article was chosen because I'm a sucker for Gaelic-type names, and the article measured up to the name. Lovely. And it speaks to the part of me that loves craftsmanship. Artistic materials are so important! Yes, absolutely make sure your world has staples and foodstuffs and cloth and building material and medicine (and so on and so forth) that it all makes sense for where in the world. But include elements where people looked at it and thought "I can use this to make something even more beautiful with a bit of effort." Which can still be useful, but the main purpose is art.
Honestly, something about this article just made my heart go, "ahhh." Which was very nice.
9. Tartagloam Rout, by BCGR_Wurth.
This article was an interesting look at unintended consequences. One fleet was able to turn a retreat into a hunt for their enemies. In the aftermath, an extremist rose up and caused a lot of problems. As writers, we are of course responsible for these consequences, and a lot of the more interesting stories I've read have had these consequences develop the stories into new directions. Makes me consider more about how each little choice of story has ripples, and I should spend more time exploring some of those ripples and see which ones I can make use of.
10. Manticore Sausage, by AzounIV.
This article made me hungry. Which in turn reminded me about how articles are not meant to entirely be some dry encyclopedia piece purely for information. They can be, as needed, but even the ones that are just for ourselves can be much easier to digest if designed to evoke emotion in the reader. A well-written article can be as powerful as the stories they're a part of.

My Resolutions

This is the hard one, because I have so many grand things I want to do, and I really ought to plan it out so they're not quite so chaotic and unreachable. For now, I'll say that my goals are:

• To start an RPG campaign that I GM, and keep good notes on it here on World Anvil
• To put more detail and thought into some of my articles here, instead of just rushing them all out and then leaving them alone
• Use more pictures for my articles!
• Complete Summer Camp, World Ember, both Camp NaNoWriMos, and normal NaNoWriMo
• Edit and send out for submission one book, possibly two

There are many more things that I can do, but for now this is my list.