World Anvil WorldBuilding Awards 2023

When the year started and the WAWAs had not been announced, I assumed it was not happening this year. But, as we all have since discovered, it was simply a bit delayed. The time has finally come around again for the World Anvil WorldBuilding Awards. Last year, I was excited for it at first but, due to several unfortunate events and lots of busyness, I was unable to fix up my world and my articles the way I had originally planned. Yet, in my Just Do Stuff fashion, I decided to enter what I could.
This round, the option was opened for entries to be accepted from all years of creation for most categories, but I decided to only enter articles that were written in or after 2023. Although I admit these articles haven't achieved their full potential, I didn't have very much time to touch anything up.
I was unable to enter the Time and Space, History, and Cartography categories because none of my Chronicles, Timelines, or maps were proper suited to the outlined requirements. Also, due to the new voting system, an unforseen error caused the World Anvil team to change the rules at the last minute stating that entries cannot be considered for more than one award. I submitted to all the categories I had qualifying entries for, even if I personally didn't feel they quite made the cut. I wanted to add more art to them and clean them up neatly, but most of them still have generic covers. Nevertheless, feel free to take a look at them below and vote if you'd like. <3

Major Categories

UPDATE

This entry was unfortunately disqualified due to the world's CSS and homepage being edited by me after the judging period had already commenced (which was an oversight on my part).

Due to the aforementioned situation, the World Anvil team decided to put Secret Agent Someone up for this award over the other since it could not be considered for both. I agree with their decision. Though I don't think it is the 'Best' world in the Anvilspace, I was determined to submit what I could, and 'Best' is more vague than 'Most Beautiful'. Plus, of all the worlds I have published on this platform, I feel that this really is MY personal best because it is the most developed and the most customized. It also has the most articles and is the project I am currently spending the most time on.

Best World:

Best overall, in content and design.

Best Worldbuilding Article:

Any article is eligible.

I was trying to stay in the realm of articles written in 2023 and later, so the only thing I could think of at the moment was Burned to Ash. It was something I created very recently for the Cabinet of Curiosities challenge that was held this February. That month was also full of daily birthday shenanigans for Someone, revealing little tidbits each day. Due to the nature of this article, I felt that the little collection of various objects did a good job telling a lot of worldbuilding information in a curious, mysterious, short and to the point way. It was also a generic article, which doesn't get its own category for the WAWAs ever, so I always jump at the opportunity to include one somewhere.

Article Categories

War Over Elsewood is one of the articles that I put the most time and attention into last Summer Camp. It goes into detail about how split the W.I.L.L.O.W.I.S.P. organization is over Someone Elsewood. The comical juxtaposition of how serious others take the matter while the person in question doesn't give a care is amusing to me. I typically don't write Millitary Conflict articles, but framing this one as such was quite fun to do. If I gained nothing else from the process of writing this article, I was reminded me that prompts are to help us get things out of our brains and onto the page. Their intent is not to restrict us.

Strength & Honour Award:

Diplomacy, war, trade and collaboration.

Rise of Nations Award:

History and legacies.

House of Spies is something that I am focusing on as of late. This was the article I submitted to the category sponsored by Dimi and Janet during Summer camp, so I wanted it to be as polished as possible. I wasn't able to make it exactly the way I wanted it, but I felt that it came out quite well. I'm proud of the formatting and the use of quotes that really allow Fallington Stacks' personality to shine through. I have a whole lot planned surrounding the House of Spies storyline. I wanted to debut it this summer, but it might have to wait until next year. Nevertheless, this article is one of my favorites created in 2023.

When you think "Wonderous Nature", you don't typically think "Humans", but I was really proud of the Human article. It has always been cheeky and comical. I first created it just as a placeholder for species linking purposes in character articles, but, at first, it was just a single sentence. The sentence is still there, but during camp, I reset the stub date and fleshed it out to make more sense in-world and added funy, mysterious elements that actually garnered a few comments and likes. I feel with good reason. This is another one of my favorite articles in the whole world. My only regret is not changing the default cover image. *facepalm, sigh*

Wondrous Nature Award:

Natural and supernatural phenomenon.

Heart & Minds Award:

Accomplishments and traditions.

I've been focusing on Fallington and the House of Spies storyline lately, so this article was the only one I could think of to enter in a crunch. It's not very detailed but it gives you a brief idea about who Fallington is. I later received a suggestion in retrospect that I should have entered Handsome Co-Host (which would have been great to do!) but I couldn't think and I literally entered these at the last minute on the last day that submissions were being accepted. In a way, I'm glad I didn't enter Co-Host because I'm not satisfied with his article and I want to try and update it in time for the new Epic Character Challenge that I'm supposed to be hosting this May. If it was a submission, I wouldn't be able to edit it until judging was over.

This was another entry that I quickly slapped into the form. It was one of my better formatted Summer Camp articles, yes, but it still has the generic cover image and doesn't tell as much information as it should. I am pleased that the sidebar is at length with the article, and I actually managed to get around to putting Commander McCox's rundown on there, so that's a good thing.

Pillars of Progress Award:

Technological, creative, and scientific accomplishments.

Myths & Legends Award:

Mythical or fictional Stories and inaccurate renditions of history.

Lastly, the myth. This wasn't the best layout. It didn't even have any pictures or anything, but Commander's comment is front and center for this one. The formatting is acceptable and the article is brief. I figured that this myth would be a good one as any to enter. Once again, the biggest peeve I have is that the generic cover is still on there. Other than that, I suppose this one is decent. None of the articles I've submitted are actually considered HORRIBLE, in my opinon. I just know that I could have done better if given the time. I also know that there is some other absolutely amazing work out there by several super talented beans, and I don't really expect any votes, but if you'd like to vote for one of my things, that's literally amazing. Please reach out and tell me you did though because I doubt if I'll get enough votes to win to be honest lol 'XD so I'd probably never find out that anyone voted for me at all.

Once again, I will have to say that I will try to be better prepared for next year. My goals are still being tracked in my 2024 Outline. This includes cleaning up the CSS in my world, updating article covers and other art, and making things more uniform. I will try for the 2024 WorldBuilding Awards (if World Anvil decides to host again) and hope that I will have a better situation that is conducive to me actually completing my tasks and making the articles ones that I can really be proud of and show off, encouraging people to vote for me. God bless and much success with your own plans! If you entered the WorldBuilding awards yourself, I wish you the best!