WorldEmber 2024 - Preparation

Okay, so WorldEmber is coming up. Last year I took part, but wasn't able to finish. This year I will try to complete the 10k words. But what will be different this year?   Well, first and foremost, I will do this homework thingy. Because I think, it will indeed help me to be more focused during the actual writing phase. So, let's start with week one and then keep this article updated every week.  

Week 1: Pledge your goal

  As you can see in the header picture, I "only" pledged to the minimum of 10.000 words. Which is more than enough for me, looking at the typical length of my articles.   Then there is the focus. First I thought I will primarily write about the magic of Mirintha. But, while writing about fire magic this month for a challenge, I realised this was not a good idea. So I thought, maybe not focus on anything specific, so I will be more flexible. But I was given the advice, to set a focus that is big enough to still have a lot of options, while also limiting yourself a bit. Like a continent. Which is exactly what I will do now. This gives me the opportunity to write about several people and locations and everything that is related to it, but I might not get to distracted with suddenly starting to write about my pantheon.   So, why exactly a continent? Because to set up a campaign for P&P I need a location to even start. And a place where the group can go. Also, I need a place for all my people to live in and I already have figured this out ... more or less at least. And although a pantheon is nice and also important, it is not really necessary to have them all written down in detail.   Besides stuff on Borendal, which is the name of the continent I choose, I will also write something for a few challenges. And, as I was told to do so, I have now a list of articles I definitely want to write:

• Moonshine Bay for Longest Journey Part 3
• TBD for Longest Journey Part 4
• Cahaya Celebrations for Grand Celebrations
• Dragon Flies for Species Challenge
• TBC for Fantastic Flora
• Augalai - my Dryad-like spezies
• November Recap (it will count for the word count)

  Home work for this week also mentioned meta, but I just did this for SC so I will not do anything new here. And therefore I already finished home work for week one.  

Week 2: Prepare Your World for New Readers

  The homework for week two was something I already took care of over the last weeks and months. I had edited my navigation sidebar and switched the version of book covers I'm using, so the categories work again as intended. Those books, because in my setting those are really supposed to be books, now also have a short description of what to expect inside of them. Everything is now easier to find and the whole navigation is set up to add more and more content.   As there is currently no need for different subscriber groups, I'm leaving them as they are and the community tools are there anyway.   Then there was the task of CSS. Those who know Mirintha from a year ago will surely have noticed the changes I made. Basically, I changed everything. From the background images over fonts up to special drop caps and containers. I also changed the whole layout of the articles. My intention was to give it the looks of a book, where somebody scrippled some comments on the side. When starting with this, I pretty much had to ask nnie constantly why things don't work as intended and now I'm more or less confindent with the dozens of containers I need for the layout. So thanks to nnie for her patience with me.   At this point it is mandatory to thank all the incredible people in the #css-help channel on Discord. Without them, a lot of my CSS and layout would not have been possible.   Last topic for the homework was a primer. Which, up to now, I don't have. I was thinking a while about how to implement something like that so it fits the whole vibe of my world. In the end I decided to go with a spoiler that looks like a scroll that unrolls. It took me It took Hanhula some time to get things set, because she had to explain to me a lot of stuff for the whole thing to work. I have not written the actual content of it yet, but at least now there is somes space for it reserved.   After this was done, I took in some inspiration on what to include in it and my biggest problem here was to find some conflicts. I do understand that conflict is neccessary in every world to make it more interesting. But I didn't want any big wars, so not to make it to complicate for my players in a campaign to travel and work together. Luckily Rin gave me some advise and therefore I was able to come up with some ideas.   Feel free to check out what I have accomplished on my world homepage!  

Week 3: On the Hunt for Inspiration!

  I read a lot. Currently, it's just not fitting my setting, as I'm reading The Silo. Futuristic apocalypse setting doesn't really combine with a high-fantasy medieval world. But at least we are currently playing Dragon Age Veilguard and Avatar, both video games that keep me inspired.   I'm right out skipping the mood board thingy. Not interested in it, no time for it, so just moving on here.   The last point of the homework was to create a writing playlist. Normally, I don't listen to music while writing at all, and if I do so, then it's just some random fantasy playlist on Apple Music.   With this, I can check the home work for week three as done, although it feels like I cheated on it.  

Week 4: Harness the Power of Friendship!

  Already, I have two communities, both on Discord. The first one is my fellow German speakers, like CrazyEddie, Tyrdal, Secere, Tillerz, BlueFairy and Satrium. The second one includes a lot of people in the challenge channel, like Mochi, nnie, CoolG, Imagica or Alan. Those two groups are helping a lot with feedback and input, especially Tyrdal. I wouldn't still write anything if it wasn't for them.   Frankly, a writing schedule is not working for me. I just have to write whenever an opportunity shows up, which might be an evening when my TTRPG rounds are canceled or some hours on the weekend. But I'm fine with that. Sure, I might be able to write more if I were to dedicate more time to it, but I just have to many other things to do besides writing, so I'm happy about every minute I get for this special hobby.   As I'm commuting on bike about 2.5 hours per day for three days a week, I really get a lot of fresh air. And I use this time wisely, as a lot of ideas are forming during those rides.   And with this last few words my preperation for World Ember is finished. Well, not really, because I want to do some research on things I want to write about. But at least the official prep is done and I'm looking forward to the actual writing.