WorldEmber 2025 Prep
World Ember Approaches
As with many people on World Anvil, I am as excited as ever for the upcoming WorldEmber challenge that takes place over the course of December.
Last year was the first time that I was able to achieve a significant number of words, achieving 28,992 words. This year, my goal is to match or beat that number!
In November, the World Anvil team provide prep that allows for us to prepare for this glorious challenge of just writing words to create new worldbuilding. The following sections will dicuss my work towards both this prep and WorldEmber overall.
Last year was the first time that I was able to achieve a significant number of words, achieving 28,992 words. This year, my goal is to match or beat that number!
In November, the World Anvil team provide prep that allows for us to prepare for this glorious challenge of just writing words to create new worldbuilding. The following sections will dicuss my work towards both this prep and WorldEmber overall.
My Pledge
My primary pledge for this year can be seen here. I want to write around 30,000 words for the world of Nonvyrox. This is upping my number of words from last year by a good chunk. However, it is also pushing myself as I recently started full time work finally, meaning that there will be a level of dedication that I need to put into writing in the month of December.
I also pledge here to be more consistent over the course of WorldEmber. It is a time where I can dictate what I work on outside of challenges and my ongoing TTRPG campaign. So my dedication is to try and release at least 2 articles a week.
However, I need to remember self-care in all of this. I am known for giving myself burn out during this part of the year. And my focus is instead developing a better method and habit, while still producing a massive amount of words. Which I want to do! So while I am aiming for 2 articles a week, I am also looking to ensure that I am developing a healthy relationship with if this doesn't happen.
I also pledge here to be more consistent over the course of WorldEmber. It is a time where I can dictate what I work on outside of challenges and my ongoing TTRPG campaign. So my dedication is to try and release at least 2 articles a week.
However, I need to remember self-care in all of this. I am known for giving myself burn out during this part of the year. And my focus is instead developing a better method and habit, while still producing a massive amount of words. Which I want to do! So while I am aiming for 2 articles a week, I am also looking to ensure that I am developing a healthy relationship with if this doesn't happen.
The Prep
BINGO TIME
This year's homework has taken a drastically different format than years previous! The World Anvil team have given us a bingo board with the goal to complete at least a line of challenges.Some Thoughts
This is such a great way of delivering homework, it gives more freedom for me to complete what is relevant to me (while also giving me a drive to complete the full game and get all 25 squares!)I love this and sincerely hope this is the method of homework going forwards. Thank you World Anvil team for something new and different this month!
I already have so many plans on how to complete various challenges from the bingo board, with the intention to see just how much of this game I can complete.
Some Freebies at the Start!
At the start of this bingo challenge, it is fair to say that there are a few of these tasks that I have already completed! As such they will be discussed here rather than in the latter section about the other tasks.Find an Accountability Buddy
For the past year or so Catoblepon and I have been working together as accountability buddies. They have been not only a great motivator, but also a fantastic sounding board on some ideas. I look forward to seeing the amazing work they complete alongside me in the course of WorldEmber!Joining both Cato and myself as a part of The Musketeers is Connie Ruotsalainen who has joined us both to encourage and support each other. Based on the messages already had between us, I think this will be a SUPER productive and enjoyably relaxing event!
Additionally, i have had great support from Mochi in the past few months, and though they have been stolen by another fantastic support in Polina "Line" Arteev, I am excited to discuss the work we've completed for WorldEmber!
Join the Community
Since March 2022, I have been in the World Anvil Discord, communicating regularly with the challenge discussion channel and my chapter the Cookie Cottage.This is by far the easiest box to cross off my list!
WorldEmber Scope
Unlike in previous WorldEmber challenges, I have a rough idea of some of the scope of my worldbuilding this time around!Thanks to Blue Fairy 74 are their missions, I know that I need to develop my continent articles over the course of the next year. WorldEmber is a great chance to get some of these completed, especially now I feel confident in the template that I have produced for this.
Additionally, I know that I want to expand the food and characters that appear in Nonvyrox. Both of which have felt more lacking in recent months. I want to focus on the stories that adding in people can tell, some imporant figures of the world, and the food that many of the nations eat to give the world that extra level of depth.
Next to this section, is an idea of the different articles I want to complete within and beyond the scope written here, because there are some elements that expand beyond the scope of WorldEmber thus far.
Articles to Write
There are many articles on my list to be written in the next 12 months, but among this I want to at least focus on a small set that are to be completed for WorldEmber. I want to set myself a completable challenge over the course of the month, but I want to also give myself some freedom to complete articles not on this list.As a result, I have decided to stick to only including 10 potential articles to write. Within this, there are challenge entries to Blue's Mission for Nonvyrox, articles that have been needing completion for several months to years. I've tried to include a variety of different article types in here for me to complete.
- Heimter - The continent article for the first continent created for Nonvyrox.
- Fiendling - An ancestry article for a common ancestry group.
- Dwarvish - A language article that I've started to develop and needs written up.
- Grantour - The capital city of the Ossalimarian Empire.
- Kalemancy - One of the schools of magic that has been in development.
- Vilura - The continent article for Vilura, the oldest continent of the world.
- Giantkin - An ancestry that I want to expand later on today.
- Giant - The language of the Giants, it needs development as a language but links well to Runic.
- Fae Lands - The planar article of the fae regions.
- Erethas - A character referenced in several articles, but needing more expansion.
Worldbuilding Playlist
Over the past few years, I have found that a combination of both lyrical and instrumental pieces have helped me to write and worldbuild. Sometimes I need a track I can jam along to at a quick pace, and other times, I need an instrumental track that fills me with inspiration for the location I'm writing about.I've also found that certain soundtracks are more inspirational for me no matter the mood I am in. For example, the Critical Role albums "Welcome to Wildemount" and "Welcome to Tal'Dorei" have both been on rotation since their release in my playlists. Additionally, Epic the Musical has been on my lists since the final Saga was released.
This year, I have sat and found a combination of albums, singles, and atmospheres that have been inspiring me over the years and compiled them together into one single large playlist that I can use whenever I am in need of inspiration. This is always changing with new songs being added as I enjoy them throughout the month of November, and each day until WorldEmber ends. It combines my unique tastes in music from soundtracks, showtunes, and the occasional pop song.
As of writing this, the playlist currently sits at 1,185 songs. This runs for a total of 61 hours and 33 minutes. I will need to do a lot of consistent writing to find myself completing this playlist!
If you want to check it out for yourself, you can see the long list here.
Writing Space
The task to tidy up my writing space is a fairly simple one as I try to keep my writing space nice and clean already. I have already had this prepared for the eventuality that was NovelEmber and its various associated challenges. Meaning that I am mostly prepared for this section of the bingo card. However, due to the nature of my work, I won't always be able to write in my preferred space, so I'm preparing myself for any potential on the go writing spaces that I may encounter.There are a couple of things that I want to add to my current writing space to make myself more productive when I'm around my permanent writing space. This includes a notebook to keep some scratch ideas about what I want to write, which should help me get some of my more wild and unique ideas written down.
I also want to put together a physical "Article List" which will be a good start for when I am struggling with deciding what to do. Each item on the article list will be numbered, so I can roll a dice to help guide me with what to write when I hit a roadblock. I think this will become a new feature of my writing space permanently.
The last thing I want to add to my writing space is some decorations that are aligned with the vibes of my current work. Right now, the area still has little mementos from Halloween and this has given me some visual inspiration for some of the more spooky and dark fantasy elements of the world. So I think adding more things alongside this could definitely spark inspirations surrounding the various aspects of Nonvyrox.
Writing Schedule
Prior to 19th December
| Day(s) | Plans for Writing |
|---|---|
| Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday | Due to being a full time teacher, I am at work on these days until at least 4pm. I also find that these days can tire me out, so I want to incorporate working earlier and less frequently on these days. My thinking is to only complete about an hour of writing on these days, with up to 30 minutes before leaving for work at 7am. |
| Thursday, Friday | These days are slightly easier due to having a slightly shorter day, finishing classes before 3pm. As a result, I want to add more writing onto these days while I am working. My hope is to hit up to 2 hours of writing on these days. However, as with all weekdays, I will be more lenient on these numbers. |
| Saturday | In comparison, Saturday is going to be a day of writing and productivity. Of the weekend days, these days will allow me to gather my inspirations from throughout the week and write more consistently. My hope on these days are to hit 4 to 5 hours of writing articles and worldbuilding, without putting a focus on the visual elements of the world. |
| Sunday | Sunday will be a day mostly of preparation for my week ahead. While I try to keep my work at work, sometimes, this is impossible due to the requirements of the job. As a result, my goal would be to hit about 30 minutes of WorldEmber time to update the community on my work and some small tweaks to articles. But my focus will be on self-care and my job. |
From 19th December
| Day(s) | Plans for Writing |
|---|---|
| Weekdays | When my school finishes for the Christmas holidays, I want to use this time to dedicate and focus to WorldEmber. My Goal is to treat each weekday as if this were my job. Using Pomodoro and other techniques, my hope is to get a good 7 to 9 hours of work in the day. This doesn't have to be just pure writing for WorldEmber. I want to also use this time to create special visuals and formatting to ensure that I am keeping the world of Nonvyrox as well fashioned as it has been. |
| Saturday | While I don't have work during the week, I want to take Saturday as a more calm day to focus on self-care. I will limit myself to trying to achieve 2 hours of work, with only half of that having to be writing. This should allow me to keep up a good pace over the course of the last few weeks before the end of WorldEmber. However, Saturday will also be the day of Polina "Line" Arteev's streams which have always been useful in keeping me productive, so I expect later into the evening, I will probably join the stream for however long it runs for some lovely writing time, though I may instead focus on formatting and visual elements of the world. |
| Sunday | Sunday will be a day of preparation, meals, and life. I want to use this time to gather together all of my work from the week and post about it, ensuring that I am communicating more effectively with the community through WorldEmber. In prepping meals during this time, I will also allow myself more time to work on the writing, while taking care of myself. |
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In progress...Read a Book
While I am still working through it, I am going to make completed Timothy Hickson's On Writing and Worldbuilding series. Over the past few months, I have slowly been working my way through all three volumes of this series, with each aspect helping to give me a better understanding of each of the topics covered.I specifically looked back at the content about both Mentor Characters (Volume 2) and Villain Motivations (Volume 1). Each of these have inspired me particularly to focus on some of the ideas of my different characters for the coming challenge. Specifically creating characters who are not necessarily "main characters" within the world of Nonvyrox, but instead figures that have a potential to be both forces for good, evil and somewhere in between.
I wondered when you were going to do homework! I always love how you sound upbeat, goal-oriented, clear-headed, driven, mature, and grown-up (unless you're grown and not an adult) but I also feel like you might too ambitious. I give you permission to not complete everything, to break away, to slow down and do some yoga or yelling in a meadow. I give you permission to not be perfect. I give you permission to breathe and not worry about the goal you've set. Remember, the journey matters MORE than the destination (or the word count, in this case). You need time to breathe, time to relax, time to be with family, and time to do nothing at all. All of us are only human. Some of us are Americans with a dictator government. But we are all human and cannot be expected to act otherwise. Just know I support you. Know that I will try to read your articles (and about dozens of other peoples' articles). Know that I am here if you need me.
Thank you for your kind words <3