New Year's Resolutions 2024
Well, Worldmember is over. While I had fun in worldbuilding, I achieved less than I hoped for due to a lack of discipline. I did manage to pass the 10k mark, but I know I could have easily cranked out 25k. Nevermind, I'm still glad a managed to get some worldbuilding done, while also identifying the main problem that held me back. Now I know what I have to work on this year :)
But before that, I'm going to do some creative warm-up for the year ahead by reading a couple of articles from other creators. Below are some of the articles I found and actually learned something that I can use going forward:
- This is a relatively simple article about a simple profession and its simplicity is what I like about it. I often get lost in building long articles about the grand stuff, like kingdoms, noble house, nobles, wars, etc. For my future novels I want a world that feels lived in and such professions are a step in that direction. Also, I'm planning a kingdom, that has a large protion of its economy depend on river trade.
- A great article about an unknown entity in this world. What's really great about this article is that Ghost, the entity, is not directly described in it, only the reactions people have to it, an approach I certainly will try in the future.
- A short and simple story about a less simple event. What I learned here is that a good article doesn't have to be long. It's something I often struggle with as I get lost in the writing process and wander off-course. I'll keep this article in mind in the future, when I have the urge to expand on something less important before I finish what I set out to do.
- An article with the perfect amount of content. Not too short and definitely not too long. An cleanly broken up into small sections. Being new to worldbuilding, I often struggle with this part and it's helpful to find articles like this. The content itself is also interesting :)
- A nice little article about a certain ethnicity. I also tried my hand in writing ethnicities during WE, but they ended up being underdeveloped in hindsight. I focused a lot more on their history and not enough on the culture or way of life. This article certainly didn't make that mistake and going forward I'll keep it in mind.
- A well-written article about a military conflict that also includes the lead-up and the aftermath. A haven't yet tried my hand at writing a military conflict, but when I do, I'll definitely use this as an example. Also the general vibe of Culinarypunk is really cozy :)
- This article might not have the best CSS editing(or any CSS at all), but the prose in which it is written is of high quality. For someone who isn't really interested in drawing or painting, this article is a great example to me just how much detailing is possible with written word only.
- I didn't take away anything specific from this one, I just LOVE the setting.
- One of my favourite articles I ever read. A nice tradition, that could easily be a thing in the real world.
- A nicely detailed, thorough article about a festival. Reading this made me think about traditions in my own world, an area to which I gave little to no attention so far.
- The Forgotten Houses: When I started out using WA, I did so with the sole purpose to build a setting for my novel(s). I got seriously sidetracked along the way and so far, not a word has been put to "paper" for the novels. I didn't forgot about them. In fact, I'm thinking about them when commuting, when standing in line in the grocery store, when bored at work, in the bathromm, even when reading other books. Only I haven't actually done anything to make them happen, but that WILL change. My main writing goal for this year is to write at least the first draft for my first novel, 'The Forgotten Houses'.
- A Collection of Tales from Old Hallia While my main goal is a full-length novel, I also enjoy short stories and I want to write a few as an attempt to flash out my world. While a collection of wiki articles is an okay way to build a world I always enjoyed more the kind of worldbuilding that's interwoven with a story. As such, my main worldbuilding work this year will be writing short stories about various aspects of life in Hallia, the kingdom I am working on right now.
- Review, rewrite and expand on Notwarr: The tertiary writing goal this year is Notwarr itself, the world I'm building at the moment. This world started in this past WE and I achieved much less than I set out to do and even what I did write is in need of some serious review and rewrite. I also want to learn some basic CSS and editing to make my world look more inviting.
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