New Year's Resolutions '23
This article is a work in progress
As we enter into 2023, this year's reading challenge has been combined with a New Year's Resolution.
Now, I'm not usually one for setting resolutions - goals and tasks make up a huge part of my daily work-life (booo, boring), but I shall give it a go. In a nutshell, my goals for this year are fairly simple: Engage with the community more, refine and be consistent with my article layouts/content, Grow my world in terms of content and people who engage with it, Try to put out at least one article per month. Additionally, I made ENTROPY public last month as part of my WorldEmber '22 Pledge. This, whilst providing more flexibility in content creation, now means content is spread out a touch more across eras. Unfortunately, this might make the eras feel a bit thin until I populate them with more content. So, trying to spread out my creations into the different eras is going to be really important this year.
Now, I'm not usually one for setting resolutions - goals and tasks make up a huge part of my daily work-life (booo, boring), but I shall give it a go. In a nutshell, my goals for this year are fairly simple: Engage with the community more, refine and be consistent with my article layouts/content, Grow my world in terms of content and people who engage with it, Try to put out at least one article per month. Additionally, I made ENTROPY public last month as part of my WorldEmber '22 Pledge. This, whilst providing more flexibility in content creation, now means content is spread out a touch more across eras. Unfortunately, this might make the eras feel a bit thin until I populate them with more content. So, trying to spread out my creations into the different eras is going to be really important this year.
My goals for VISCERIUM in 2023
Community Engagement
Receiving likes, comments, follows and even messages in relation to VISCERIUM really boost my spirits and motivates me to make the world and its content as best as it can be.
So, with that in mind. I'm going to make an effort to get out there and read more articles from this wonderful community that we are a part of, leave more comments and just generally be more present in the WorldAnvil discord amongst my peers.
So, with that in mind. I'm going to make an effort to get out there and read more articles from this wonderful community that we are a part of, leave more comments and just generally be more present in the WorldAnvil discord amongst my peers.
Spit & polish
VISCERIUM has seen a few changes to its CSS and i've also altered my article styles a few times. As such, there is some older content that no longer sticks to the styling properly as well as content that is missing icons and other visual flourishes.
Therefore, i'd like to take some time during this year to rectify all of that and make VISCERIUM consistent as well as easily consumable for my readers. This will no doubt cause me to re-do some large portions of the CSS to make it more mobile friendly, I feel like my current styling does an okay job with mobile but it can definitely be improved. Additionally, I can make better use of variables and I need to replace sections still using "px" for measurements/sizing.
Therefore, i'd like to take some time during this year to rectify all of that and make VISCERIUM consistent as well as easily consumable for my readers. This will no doubt cause me to re-do some large portions of the CSS to make it more mobile friendly, I feel like my current styling does an okay job with mobile but it can definitely be improved. Additionally, I can make better use of variables and I need to replace sections still using "px" for measurements/sizing.
Growth
I temporarily hit 50-followers here on WorldAnvil back in late November of 2022, this was a massive achievement for me and something I was really proud of. Since then, VISCERIUM has unfortunately lost a few followers and I'm honestly not sure why.
With that all being said, I'm still really grateful for those who have stuck around and I hope through being more present and engaging with fellow world builders, I can both grow as a writer/creator and see VISCERIUM grow alongside me.
With that all being said, I'm still really grateful for those who have stuck around and I hope through being more present and engaging with fellow world builders, I can both grow as a writer/creator and see VISCERIUM grow alongside me.
1 article per month
Stubs... the stubs are everywhere!
I've created a lot of stubs this past year as well as articles that are too short to publish but have the foundations of a core idea within them. I'd like to see the number of unpublished and stub-articles I have here on World Anvil decrease by the end of the year. I'll no doubt have new ideas this year that will no doubt create new stubs. But, with this goal, I'm hoping to publish more articles than I create as stubs/leave unpublished.
I've created a lot of stubs this past year as well as articles that are too short to publish but have the foundations of a core idea within them. I'd like to see the number of unpublished and stub-articles I have here on World Anvil decrease by the end of the year. I'll no doubt have new ideas this year that will no doubt create new stubs. But, with this goal, I'm hoping to publish more articles than I create as stubs/leave unpublished.
Learning from the community
In no particular order here are 10 amazing articles from 10 different, but all wonderful, writers and world-builders here on WorldAnvil. Besides each article you'll find my commentary and takeaways from each rousing read that left a memorable mark on my brain throughout WorldEmber '22:What can I say about Solaris other than, "wow"? This joint creation by Annie and skairunner is just wonderful to explore and is so easy to read thanks to its beautiful and newly revamped CSS. This article, Humanoid, really grabbed my attention early on during WorldEmber '22. The clean, simple and vibrant appearance of the article blew me away - who knew articles could look so good with such relatively simple styling? I often lean towards thinking that more is better but I think Solaris really teaches us that quality truly does top quantity.
Author: Ononomad
World: Shadowfire
Brrr... I can feel the icy winds from here! This article by Ononomad, The Icepen and Ladders, really gives me that visceral feeling of hard icy snow and sharp winds during a perpetual night. The author manages to make you create an incredibly clear image in the mind of a lived-in, cramped but sprawling area of the city. With its networks of alleys, ladders, un-mapped caves and more, I am reminded of places like Riften from Bethesda's Skyrim and games like Thief and Dishonored. Yet, set in a harsh and unforgiving wintry environment.
Author: Negev1812
World: The Scion's Reach
Negev always delivers on the details. I'm slowly learning this skill and finding a balance with form and function, but I think this article shows off the data well. It really grounds the article and helps to make everything more believable. Whilst the article is not one of their longest, it really immerses you in their world, the importance of corporations, governance and militaries are a clear theme throughout and with this new article, the lore gets ever deeper!
If you don't know of TJ's world Melior by now, you really should take a look. Without fail, TJ always seems to create the perfect balance of visual interest and brilliant world-building within almost every article, this one is no exception. Blue-Tongue Madness is a really great example of something that can be added to a world to help make it truly 'come alive' for the reader. Mintonleaf is something that at first seems so harmless that it might even be used as a prank, but in reality, can have devastating and long-lasting effects.
The way that the "horns are used to sense any nearby movements and disturbances to the snow", I think, is a really neat concept and something that gives these creatures a unique place in Niorath. I particularly enjoyed the 'History' section of this article. By giving the creatures some presence and impact on the local populace, I can already begin to imagine what the hunting parties might look like and what struggles they might come across.
Author: 1337spectra
World: Eivrall
The Header... oh~, the header! and the text-wrapping! wow. This article is simply gorgeous and I need to learn its secrets! Spectra's use of formatting, image use and design language just ties this article together in such a pleasing way. With the consistent future-tech blue hues, hexagonal shapes, and randomly generated names!? This simply just needs more eyes on it and community love. Definitely not one to miss!
"Light and shadow are the first dance." - if that's not how you set the scene for an article, I'm not sure what is. This article, The One is a wonderfully put together creation myth article. It outlines the major powers in a succinct but impactful way and beautifully introduces the minor deities. By highlighting how much The One has done, I can't help but wonder what The Void will do to balance the scales.
Author: Revyera
World: When Darkness Craves
This gorgeous article reads like a text adventure and dungeon master's location guide in one neat package. With lovely supporting art and well laid out content, Revyera has created an in-depth article that is easy to read and contains lots of snippets of lore and location information. Perfect for setting the scenes and bringing them to life. This is a skill i'm still trying to hone but hope that my improvements are as impactful and meaningful as Revyera's.
Mindblot - a name so seemingly harmless, and yet, it is devastating all the same. A refreshing take on the classical artist's drug, epistolaeris powder, its effects and subsequent side effects are presented to us with amazing art and wonderfully inspiring writing in Hanhula's article. There is so much deep lore and grounding stories within, you'd be forgiven for thinking it wasn't an article on real historical events if not for the fantastical elements.
Author: ChroniclesofEvalaw
World: The Chronicles of Evalaw
Consistency, consistency, consistency. The creator(s) behind The Chronicles of Evalaw never miss when it comes to brand identity.
Combining their world's theme, image choices, layout and flourishes, Aulreth is no exception to the rule. This goddess is a spectacular new addition to the lore of Evalaw. Their changing/evolving over time helps to embody the deity as a living being and not simply an inattentive supernatural myth.
Special mentions
I unfortunately have used up my 10 allocated articles for this challenge but I strongly feel that these next few articles are just as good as the above if not better in some cases, I simply wanted to have a different reason for choosing each of the 10 and some of those reasons are duplicated in the next few articles. That being said, please still go and give them a look/read, leave a comment and a like, support your peers.Author: Catoblepon
World: Shattered
Stars... Something we often take for granted and see as just a simple ball of fiery gas. Well, not in Shattered. These beautifully imagined creatures swim around in the vast void sea, lighting up the pitch-black sky with their presence.
Providing these creatures with a voice is just so awe-inspiring. Trying to imagine what it might sound like and what the world looks looks like is a beautiful experience for any weary traveller to take a break from the real-world and escape to the sea of space.
Author: DaniAdventures
World: Luridity
The mixing of lore and extensive list of augmentations create a delightfully diverse catalogue of the whimsical and practical enhancements for all manner of uses. The "BUCKLR chips" alone make for a really fun bit of reading and I love all of their names!.
What a wonderful evolution of curses. Qurilion's mixing of the old hexes/curses and the new internet-of-things in Hellware brings a unique and refreshing view on things like viruses, malware and other such data-compromising code.
Thank you so much for the mention! I'm honored that you included me; I often come HERE for inspiration! :P
It's well deserved, your content is awesome!
Awh shucks, I'm so glad i've been able to inspire you, it means a lot to see the impact this world has.