World Ember Homework Prep 2023

Hello one and all, hope you are all well. I realise I am a little late to the World Ember submission but hopefully I can catch up and write some awesome stuff along with this creative community. So without further ado, let's get cracking on this World Ember prep.

Week 1:

So for my area of focus I was a bit unsure what to actually focus on. Heck I didn't even know if I could write 10,000 words on one subject. So I did what all good people do and go back to my notes and see what I am missing. Now, looking back at my Summer Camp reading challenge I actually wrote 3 goals that I wanted to achieve by the end of the year. These were (in no particular order): add 1 character each month into the world of Violem, update and add details to 1 article per week and add 1 image per week.
Looking at these, none of them felt right to use for this World Ember challenge, so I looked into my metadata for some inspiration and what I reminded myself of was that I wanted Violem to be a world where stories could take place. I know I have been playing my solo campaign and a few myths and legends but overall I don't actually have that many stories in this world. So my area of focus for this December writing task is to focus on adding more stories to the world of Violem. You know, help it feel lived in and what not. How am I going to do that? No idea. But I'll think of something.
Here is my pledge, if all goes well I hope to absolutely smash the 10,000 word count. Fingers crossed. Good luck to all that join me in this challenge and enjoy :)

Week 2:

All the bullet points and number lists below shows you a glimpse into how my brain works (I really like lists). But allow me to explain my thought process through actual words and sentences.
For the mini meta I struggled a little because I haven't thought too hard about my big meta data (shame on me). So a lot of it is just coming up with ideas that I could see in front of me and then pick out my favourite ones. Those have then been made in bold. In the end I really liked the idea of writing short stories, that way I didn't get put off writing 1,000s of words cause I could break it up into smaller articles and try different tones and writing styles. So I could write one in the style of a campfire story told to try and scare the characters listening. Or perhaps I could write a journal entry for some of the more exploration loving characters. This feels like a good way to approach things.
Next came the rejigging of categories. I'll be honest I don't spend much time looking at my front page and when I did, it looked a bit bare. So I have taken the time to clean up and simplify the categories and write an introduction to the world to hopefully entice readers into clicking the dozens of articles I have. Still doesn't look great but I am holding off paying for a guild membership and all the customising options for now but it is on my wishlist. Funny story I told myself when I first signed up that I would only pay the subscription if I continued to use World Anvil consistently for a year. I'm on track so most likely pay in the new year :)
Finally there was the looking at all the other super creative people on World Anvil (Anvilites?). And all I can say is they did not disappoint. I'll link them all below but basically the ones that got my attention had lots of colour and pretty pictures. They were well designed and had a lot of detail that was well written and structured. But the biggest inspiration came from TJ Trewin and his timeline layout. You see, if I am planning to write stories about history, why not add them to the timelines! It's a good way to have access to several links without page hopping and it isn't hidden within categories and sub categories. Plus my timelines are looking a little lack luster so this is the perfect chance to breathe some new life and detail into them.

Mini Meta

1. Scope - Stories, myths, legends, fables, campfire stories, songs, poems, short stories, letters in character, 1st person encounters, journal entries, historical events
2. Theme & Mood - lighthearted, fantasy setting, mystery and ancient times
3. Time periods - Ancient Times, Age of Acuran, Exploration Times, Dark Age, Present, History of Cytal/Ascor, Origins of Hoarwae/Untouched Lands

Category Structure

• Use broader categories to group more together
• Use less broad categories to not overwhelm viewers
• Include icons to make more attractive

Inspiration

• Culinary Punk by Emily Armstrong- Fun and colourful, lighthearted, amazing artwork, easy to read
• Eivrall by Gabrielle Decker - Layout is stunning, character guiding through site is cool idea, brilliant presentation
• Melior by TJ Trewin - Unique timeline layout, tags is a good shout, images are fun touch, linking to several articles in one place

Week 3:

The homepage, I sort of already did this with the categories but I think I could do even better with the basic package. I think I am able to use icons from RPG awesome which could add some variety to the category section and the images like the map and the banner at the top could use some work. So I will be trying to design something a little more interesting in the near future. (Time to whip out Photoshop baby!!)

Week 4:

So, the last week is upon us. And I have done all this homework last minute so it is all very fresh in my mind right now. But that being said, let me go through with you my last minute prep.
Writing exercises are fun to get in the mood to type. I have found the website writingexercises.co.uk a good source of generators. Especially the 3 word prompts which helps not only writing but coming up with bizarre ideas. Some of my favourite things that came out of this was a short dialogue between a customer in a pawn shop and a magical lantern that sounded like Steven Merchant. As well as an alcoholic butterfly trying to break into a micro brewery.
Where I write is also my music studio which needed a good clean anyway, so that room is now dusted, hoovered and clear of clutter to help me focus when I sit down after work. I have in my calendar a time dedicated to writing on Wednesdays the weekends which should be enough time to blast out some words for this challenge.
And the most important thing I have is that I have a large supply of chocolate digestives ready to munch on. For writing days only.
All I can say now is good luck to you all, I hope you smash your goals and have a ton of fun. Oh and good luck :)

December:

Okay, so after reading the official rules of World Ember my original plans are not going to work I don't think. You see, my original idea was to add short stories to timeline entries as a way of detailing lore throughout history. But since the rules say no short stories and anything written in timeline entries do not count, there goes most of my original plans.
So, here's what I've been planning to do instead for the last hour. I still would love to write short stories, but what if I did it from the viewpoint of a character in the world of Violem? And write it as if they were explaining or giving exposition on the origins of historical events and historical figures. It wouldn't technically be writing a short story, instead it would be more like roleplaying.
Is this cheating? I am not sure but if I write them in articles and try to avoid writing it like a story I think I will be okay. Only time will tell!

Inspirational Worlds
Culinary Punk https://www.worldanvil.com/w/culinarypunk
Eivrall https://www.worldanvil.com/w/eivrall
Melior https://www.worldanvil.com/w/Melior