WorldEmber 2023 Homework

Week One Assignment

Area of Focus

I've decided to focus on the background history, fleshing out a chunk of the hows and whys humanity has spread to where it has - as well as how diplomatic relations first sparked with the alien races. The reasons for picking this particular area is to force myself to think about it in more depth and ultimately settle on what I want it to be.

My Pledge

Week Two Assignment

So in typical me fashion, I've left everything till the last week - but here we are. Let's talk metas. First off, when I first wrote my meta for this world I had no idea what I was doing - my understanding of a meta comes from gaming, which has a different context. I've done my reading, I kind of get it. Meta rework (that I should probably tackle at some point) aside, let's do this mini-meta.

Mini-Meta

Scope

Given the overarching goal I've set for WorldEmber, the scope here is primarily the Sol System. Yep it's us here at home on Earth, the colonisation of the Moon, and Mars. As my brain churns through everything that leads to where my world is set, more stuff may come to light that I've not settled on.

As a secondary part of the scope, if I have time, wordcount or just can't focus on the primary - the systems, planets and races out where we find ourselves, but focused before humanity reachers those stars and makes contact.

Themes

The themes are going to be similar no matter which way I slice it, I write about combat and wars. There's going to be a slight shift in that everything will be leading upto what causes humanity to depart this system and label it a doomed waste of space (pun intended). Politics (ew), tensions between distant cousins, and the progression of our technology are going to shine through here.

Mood

Honestly, I don't know what mood my writing takes on. It honestly depends on the articles I decide to write about. Technological progress will likely have foreshadowing and a sense of foreboding, mixed in with the sense of success and progress you'd expect.
More than likely going to be a bit bleak.

Goals

I want to eventually timeline what comes out of this so I know what years I'm working in. This will help me keep everything on a track that'll help me overall. At the moment, it's just vague - which works up until a point. Ironing out some of the technological advancements and what causes the collapse and need to venture further, this is the goal that'll help with the rest.

I'm not sure if that cuts it for a mini-meta, but it'll do enough to keep me on track!

Category Structure

Not much to say here, I'm going to be using a staging area for WorldEmber, to ensure I know what I'm meant to be working on for WorldEmber. Articles will be created as a need them, and likewise the folder structure will be developed properly once I know what areas I've worked on~
More than likely, I'll end up with a Past History folder of sorts, shocasing the pasts of the races I focus on in my main timeline. We'll worry about that later... ^_^;

Inspirations

Some of my fandoms, both macro and micro, feed inspiration for me. Some of these are: Warhammer 40K, Horus Heresy, Magic the Gathering, League of Legends, Skyrim, Fallout, EVE Online, Destiny 2, DnD, and a heap of anime seated in Sci-Fi and Fantasy - near enough all of my inspiration is drawn into a melting pot from there.

Week Three Assignment

Homepage Review

Hooo-boy, where do I start? Let's go with 'it needs a lot of work'. One of the core issues I face is very much a me problem. I don't like using anything I have not made. It's not that I'm closed to using things I've paid for from other people, but I've not gotten to seeking that out. As such, I look inward. My characters and designs live in my head, as I'm sure they do for every creative, and so I hold myself to those.
The other issue is that I get decision paralysis when it comes to deciding things. What year does this world take place in? No idea - which is kind of why the goal for WorldEmber is what it is.
What am I going to do about it? Well, given that my Homepage is currently a blank canvas, I'm using this review to ask myself some questions about how I want my starting point to look for anyone who clicks on it. I've read the article on it, and it's incredibly helpful. Background images, world logo and the like are going to take some doing either way - but I'm going to write a blurb as an intro to what the System Down Universe is (that name in and of itself has slowly become an incorrect relic of when the story was focused on one storyline, something that I should also address...).

Welp, that took quite the tangent... In conclusion: Homepage bad, but I'm aware and have ideas to make it prettier and more inviting~

Week Four Assignment

No sub-headings, but it's all aout last-minute prep for the upcoming challenge. Let's be real for a minute, WorldEmber is going to be difficult. Two if the hardest challenges for me are carving out a section of time to write, and whenever I do have the time the challenge is focusing myself in the same way I've just done to actually get some writing done. I find focus hard, and it's currently waning in favour of loading up a game or building some miniatures.
I'm going to do my utmost to carve a time, put it in a shedule, and hone my focus in during that time. The WorldEmber Discord with all you lovely people, and some livestream watchtime will likely go a long way in keeping me honest. However, I'm going to be kidding myself if I say I'll keep up with it. It's going to come down to drips and drabs, followed by a mad dash due to a deadline. I'm not going to beat myself up over that, but I will do everything I can to meet my pledge.

WorldEmber Is Coming

And with that, fellow creatives, my homework is done. Time to grab that second coffee for the day, take a minute to yourself as I am, remember to breathe, and enjoy the moment.

Quisi~