The Reading Challenge: WorldEmber 2021
I certainly would have had a much harder time with it without 's amazing Worldbuilding Planner (Go get it! It's free/pay what you want!) which kept me wanting to make the numbers go brr every day. And now the month of Swimming (Look! I now have a calendar article to link to :D) has come and it's reading time
1: Ashy Baby by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull
The Ashy Baby (Such a cute name) is a compact article about a mushroom, of course. It provides a very analytical description of it, but not at the cost of humour or readibility.
I learned how to be more efficient on the description of a species without turning the article into a massive block of text.
2: Yellow Gnat by Amélie I. S. Debruyne
"[This article is] only worth reading if you're following Lady Merisse's adventure" said Amélie when sharing it, yet I just had to click in it even when I have no idea who Lady Merisse is.
Yellow Gnat is a short, cute article that describes this insect, in part, as a way to link it to the story of the aforementioned lady.
This article taught me about using unlikely articles to progress a story and, to be honest, about the potential of a cute header image to drive people to click on it.
3: Common Calendar by
Oh gods this circular calendar. I could not keep my eyes out of it as it spinned. I know at least three people that made calendar articles because of being inspired by this one, which is awesome!
It taught me how interesting is to add several standards (of counting, calendars, etc) to give the world depth and space for the development of the its international politics. I hope I get the mental strenght to do so in SoP one day!
4: The Seven Days War by Stormbril
I have to say I love every single Cathedris article I read. It is in itself is an amazing concept, and Stormbril's writing style and visual storytelling make it very easy to read for my short attention span.
This great read is divided in a day-to-day narrative way with short easy to digest snippets, especially for a story with so many characters.
The use of greyscale vs coloured pictures on the sides to indicate the outcome of each day is clever and useful, and proof of how Stormy's ingenuity goes far, far beyond "pretty css".
The use of greyscale vs coloured pictures on the sides to indicate the outcome of each day is clever and useful, and proof of how Stormy's ingenuity goes far, far beyond "pretty css".
With The Seven Days War I learned about clever ways to divide long articles that I will need to investigate further, about using visual tools to aid the narrative in not-so-obvious ways, and how to keep a narrative with lots of characters easy to digest and compelling.
5: Karés by
Ynar's articles may look a bit intimidating by their lenght, but are surprisingly easy to read. Their worldbuilding is incredibly grounded, making each article feel authentic and realistic.
I personally suck at writing settlements, so this one taught me... A LOT! Which information to add, how to keep it compelling, and the usefulness of trivia to give a lot of depth to the lives of people in there.
6: Hottest Spices Living Quarters by
I find Hislariya's articles to be very soothing to read. They are written in elaborate detail, painting a clear mental picture of places and people. It's a world about healing, and it feels like it.
I liked how the quotes give it depth and life while, opposite to most articles, being "unrelated" to the actual article and not developed further in it. It makes you want to know more about the people talking in them. I want to learn from it the way to set this calming prose for some of my articles.
I liked how the quotes give it depth and life while, opposite to most articles, being "unrelated" to the actual article and not developed further in it. It makes you want to know more about the people talking in them. I want to learn from it the way to set this calming prose for some of my articles.
7: Lunan Kordi by Ezra Aldrich
Ahh, chickens. I hope I can raise some one day.
This is a cute article about a man, his chickens and his husband. It reminded me of not neglecting the little snippets about likes and dislikes, than can tell lots about a character with just a word. Funnily enough, it reminded me of the one article I talked in depth about a character's likes and dislikes, who happens to share names with Lunan's husband.
This is a cute article about a man, his chickens and his husband. It reminded me of not neglecting the little snippets about likes and dislikes, than can tell lots about a character with just a word. Funnily enough, it reminded me of the one article I talked in depth about a character's likes and dislikes, who happens to share names with Lunan's husband.
8: Mordena Funerary Rites by
Writing about the funerary customs of a culture turns even more interesting in a world where dying is a temporary nuisance.
How do things change when you go from mouring a person to disposing of someone's old body? The scavenging nature of the rituals tells a lot about the culture of the Mordena and their values, and the article also shows how this is not an universal view on the topic. This article inspired me to write more about the funerary rites in my world, especially in Stunveldt. I should be working on extending my death article already!
How do things change when you go from mouring a person to disposing of someone's old body? The scavenging nature of the rituals tells a lot about the culture of the Mordena and their values, and the article also shows how this is not an universal view on the topic. This article inspired me to write more about the funerary rites in my world, especially in Stunveldt. I should be working on extending my death article already!
9: Alpex by Luca Poddighe
Cute stocky goat with a fat rear. What's not to love?
This article describes a mountain-dwelling species concentrating lots of information in few words. The descriptions are detailed and paint a very clear picture of these creatures and their lives.
I take from this article the excellent physical description, a thing I usually struggle with to not make it look like a grocery list of body parts. Luca manages instead a paragraph with a great flow without it turning into a different thing.
10: The Time of Pleasure by Melu (NSFW)
The Time of Pleasure tells about an exciting yearly tradition held in defiance of the morality views on sex, and about the person that created it.
It is a very wholesome read, and it contains many snippets with additional details and curiosities. It taught me that "traditions" don't need to be old, and how they can be used as a counter-culture response to the changing society.
It is a very wholesome read, and it contains many snippets with additional details and curiosities. It taught me that "traditions" don't need to be old, and how they can be used as a counter-culture response to the changing society.
The apprentice historian by Naelin
The Challenge
This article is based on a challange posed in the blog post "Reading Challenge: Up Your Writing Game!" in the WorldAnvil blog. The challenge's prompts (summarized) consited in:- Read 10 articles written by someone else, and leave a comment on them.
- Write in an article a paragraph about what you learned/what inspired you from it.
- Include at the end of the article a few new years' resolutions for your creative projects.
Aww, you have such nice things to say about all these articles. <3 I love the little bit about what you learnt. And thank you for including me! <3
Explore Etrea
You're welcome, the Ashy Baby is a really good article!