WorldEmber Prep 2023

Week 1: Pledge Your Goal

1. Choose an area of focus

"Look at your world and choose an area you want to write about. Keep in mind the area doesn’t have to be a geographical one!"
Ever since last WorldEmber, I have been wanting to expand upon the more chill side of W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P.. Take a break from the super souped up tech gadgets and hush hush bases to hone the more mundane aspects of the organization; specifically, exploring the many comforts and ammenities that the company provides to their agents. This includes housing and on-campus apartments where spies stay between missions, available therapy programs for discussing mental trauma, hospitals to help operatives recover from physical injuries, spas for calm relaxation, internal parties and clubs where employees can meet and greet others from different departments in a fun setting, and much more! These kinds of more normal slice-of-life things always spark my own interest, though others may find it boring. I also have had the urge to create official W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. merch like that provided to my agents in the setting. I already have some things out there but I have not gone into detail, nor have I advertised it very much. WorldEmber seems a good time as any to actually get some articles down about things and maybe even link a merch thing or two!
"Once you have chosen your area of focus, take a moment to review any related articles! This will warm up your creative muscles and give you inspiration for next month."
Even before reading this part of the homework assignment, I had already recently looked back at Linden and Bass, The Styrax, Styrax Falls, and other such articles, just to see what (somewhat) normalcies I already had in the setting here on WorldAnvil. There's a whole lot in my brain and sometimes I actually forget how much of it I actually managed to get out of my head and onto the proverbial paper!

2. Create your pledge!

I don't like to promise, but I will try my best to do this!

Week 2: Prepare your area of focus

1. Create a mini-meta

"...a reduced version of the meta you can use for specific areas of your setting."
Foundation: The inspiration, motivation and goal for this year's focus is simple. I would love to showcase some of the more mundane aspects of the W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. agency to alot for a slice-of-life approach. In addition, this is an opportunity to showcase real-life merch that readers can purchase to help support my endeavors while feeling like they are a part of the story and project by owning items that are discussed, such as robes, mugs, and awards.
The scene itself is complete with amenities and comforts for the agent, but drama may still ensue, allowing for multiple windows into the stories of agents' lives while using the products and services provided to them by the organization. This may also cover events that have happened to cause the need for such offerings, including traumatic events or dangerous missions that resulted in physical or mental harm, thus encouraging a therapy session, a vacation to a retreat, a relaxing spa day, or admission into a medical facility.

2. Set up a solid category structure

"Take a look at your world’s category tree and make sure it’s well-structured and ready to take in new articles about your chosen area."
I usually just put my challenge articles in their respective folders labeled whatever they are created for, i.e. WorldEmber 2021Summer Camp 2022 or even Only the Haunting Nightmares which was drafted up as a part of SpookTober 2023. I will try to remember to tag all of my articles with the year they were originally created, and fashion up a WorldEmber 2023 Article Category if I haven't done so already.

2. Set up a solid category structure

"So take advantage of the World Anvil community to read other worlds of a similar genre!"
I will have to go questing out! I know there are other mild sci-fi worlds in the AnvilSpace, but I am not sure if there are any focused on secret agents and such. I will use this opportunity to test out WorldAnvil's search features.

Week 3: Welcome your readers!

1. Review your homepage

"If your world is public and you want others to read it, you need to make it welcoming. The best place to do this is on your homepage."
I recently improved my world's homepage, but it is always a work in progress, to be honest, and I was still thinking about some things I should add to it or change around. Some people would like to explore all the audio dramas I've done, or read the stories. I have four buttons on the home page, but I want to change that up a bit as they don't really fully make sense. I have been thinking for a while to create a timeline that chronicles the events laid out in readable and listenable stories so that people can know what happened when as they enjoy the content. I know when things happened in the storyline, but some may find it challenging to piece things together. Having a timeline and embedding it (or linking it) into the homepage can help people know what they're looking at.

Week 4: Last Minute Prep!

1. Some Stuff...

"It’s the last week before WorldEmber starts! Use this week for any remaining prep you need to make sure everything is ready before December 1st."
Writing exercises: I have been doing a lot of exercises on my Twitch Stream and in my Infinite Imaginations Discord Server. I plan to keep this up throughout WorldEmber.
Support Group: The members in my Twitch Stream chat and the party peoples in my Infinite Imaginations Discord Server are great little support groups. We have lots of fun, support each other, and share our work.
Tidying Up my Writing Space: I am planning on cleaning up my physical desk and my digital space, especially because I plan on having guests on my streams. I am also really excited for the Christmas season so I have a lot of things planned in my streams for those. I need to get things neat, organized, and orderly so that everything will go smooth for WorldEmber and the Seasons Streamings. I have replaced my faulty keyboard so that the RGB lights are back. Next, I need to call my sound guys so that my microphone and audio interface drivers can get back online. I need to tidy my room as things have gotten a bit away from me. These will all help me to be able to stream comfortably and therefore work more efficiently.
Writing Schedule: I don't really have an official writing schedule because I am so busy and I typically work all seven days of the week, but I just found out that I will have Mondays off in December, so hopefully I can do some writing then. I might just need that time to rest, though. BUT, I always use my Twitch Streams as my unofficial writing time, though I don't always get too much work done by the time I get done interacting with chat. I will try my best to carve out some time to get something done outside of those slots as well.
Stock Up: I have my tea and treats at the ready for the holiday season. My chat has been having a field day redeeming all these interesting perks from the shop, and I have been enjoying it. I plan on ordering some more interesting foods and perhaps get an Advent calendar. In addition, off stream, I recently stocked up on some nice snacks like pretzels, but I have also gotten a few things so that I can indulge and take a bit of time to myself, which I hardly ever do.

My WorldEmber Progress

Competition Homepage

Previous Pledges:

2023's New Year's Plans:

I am pretty much done with my homework for now, but I will have to go back and link things and make it all more comprehensible. Thanks so much for reading! Much love to you. <3

God bless and much success to all you beautiful beans
with your own #WorldEmber2023!