Reading is one of the best ways to improve your own writing and worldbuilding. So, to start the new year with a bang, we have a reading challenge for you! If you want to really up your writing game, keep reading!
Want to learn how reading can help you become a better writer? Check out our blog post about this!
The Reading Challenge: WorldEmber 2021
In a nutshell, this January we challenge you to find 10 articles on World Anvil, give them some feedback, and then write about how each one inspired you, made you think differently, or taught you something! In more detail, this is your task:
- Choose 10 articles written by someone else during WorldEmber. Read them carefully and give each a comment (remember to be nice and say at least one positive thing!). You can find articles on the WorldEmber landing page, and in the special categories there, or by joining our Discord and seeing what people are sharing. You can also get amazing articles delivered directly to your notifications by following worlds!
- Create a generic article for the reading challenge. In this article, list the 10 articles you chose and write a small paragraph about what you learned or how it inspired your world. Remember that this is not about giving critique, but about thinking how you can improve after reading these articles!
- End your article with a few new years’ resolutions. What will you do with your creative projects in 2022?
- Share your generic article in the comments of this blog post (remember to make it public and published!) before the end of January 2022.
If you complete the challenge and submit your article to the blog before the end of January 2022, you’ll get the WorldEmber 2021 Reader’s Achievement badge in your World Anvil profile! And, of course, you’ll also have a ton of new ideas and inspiration to improve your worldbuilding—as shiny as the badge might be, taking your writing to the next level is the goal of the challenge.
Time to get reading! Can’t wait to see your resolutions in the comments!
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Okay so I was fired up to do this. Here it is: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/alven-moondare/a/reading-challenge-2022-article?preview=true?
Here we go, I wasn’t sure if I’d have the time or energy to do this later in the month so I got it done now. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-dapper-archives-dappercapricorn/a/reading-challenge-2021-article
I had to reply to this because I really want to call you a Dappricorn
The weekend was a perfect time to relax and get some article reading done! 10 authors, 10 cool articles, my reflections about them, and a few goals for my world 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/13-mgatta/a/post-world-ember-reading-article
Ta-da! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/operaquest-mezzopatricia/a/january-2022-reading-challenge-article
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/hislariya-krostatina/a/reading-challenge-article?preview=true
Done!
Here are some snippets of inspiration (plus tips you can try out in your next article) from 10 excellent worldbuilders who inspired me 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/Melior/a/we21-inspirations
this was a really fun challenge (and very hard to pick 10)!
The perfect thing to do after WorldEmber. So many cool articles out there… 😊
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/kaleidechse-s-library-kaleidechse/a/the-we-2021-reading-challenge-article
Great way to start 2022 and get inspired with all these cool articles 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/araea-qurilion/a/reading-challenge21-article
Here is my reading article! 🙂
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/niorath-kefkejaco/a/reading-challenge-article
I found ten articles. Please give them all a chance. [articleblock:9ed66443-0c78-4270-9782-09a6c21cd031]
Ooops! I dropped the block and not the link! here is the link! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/pangorio-dazzlinkat/a/reading-challenge-article
My reading list.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-long-night-asaliuru/a/we-2021-reading-challange-article?preview=true
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/pearl-directive-hughpierre/a/reading-challenge-article
I thought this was going to take me the whole of the month — I didn’t expect to get so immersed in reading articles and examining them like this. This was surprisingly fun. Thanks for the journey!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/tarrochi-hiyami/a/january-2022-reading-challenge-article
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! <3
Was a lot of fun reading through these amazing works by others! Excited to see what everyone brings in 2022!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/revole-ace-infinity/a/my-inspiration-from-10-amazing-articles-article
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the challenge!
Was so much fun reading through these articles! Excited to see what everyone creates in the new year! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/revole-ace-infinity/a/my-inspiration-from-10-amazing-articles-article
My review page is ready! I left some room so I can keep reading during January if there is time. My reading list got bigger as I went along. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/anhult/a/reading-challenge-article
The things I have read. I am not a great reader usually, but that was fun to do for once. 🙂 https://www.worldanvil.com/w/alana/a/reading-challenge-january-2022
Took a while but here it is https://www.worldanvil.com/w/profound-atlas-senix-blackwood/a/reading-challange-article?preview=true
Took a while but here it is, don’t know why google account doesn’t seem to connect but here we go https://www.worldanvil.com/w/profound-atlas-senix-blackwood/a/reading-challange-article?preview=true
So much more reading to do, but here are my 10 articles:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/noevalne-ilmaine/a/world-ember-2021-reading—eng-article
It was harder to choose than I thought!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/symbols-of-power-naelin/a/the-reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-article
I have chosen 10, but followed Q’s lead and decided to add a little sidebar bonus. 😉
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/Adeos-angantyr/a/reading-challenge-202201-article
While the pressures of School once again force me to pause in my Worldbuilding “work”, I have, after about a week, managed to finish my article submission to the Reading Challenge! 10 different articles, and a brief (or not so brief) review of each of them.
I have also included my N.Y. Resolution, and while you can see that for yourself I will add something related to that here: This community is the first internet group I can really consider myslef to be a part of, and quite frankly, I couldn’t have picked a better one to start with. You all are awesome, creative, and so, so kind, andI am honoured to know you all, and consider myself as part of this group!
So, all that said, here is the article itself, enjoy!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-12-worlds-thearchmagos/a/2022-reading-challenge21-article?preview=true
Well, after a week of delay, I have finally completed my Reading Challenge article. This whole experience was, if not precisely fun, than at least pretty enjoyable, as I got the chance to check out just how creative this community is. Here’s the article!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-12-worlds-thearchmagos/a/2022-reading-challenge21-article?preview=true
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/elunara-drake-ragon/a/reading-challellenge-jan-2022-article
That was quite enjoyable. I usually do not have as much time, as I would like to have, to read all the awesome things. At least this way I got to read a few more and some great ideas on top of that.
This challenge was so much fun! It was great to read so many inspiring works. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/sanzera-princessesh/a/2022-reading-challenge-article
So many wonderful articles this year, it was hard to pick just 10! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/kald-kriltch/a/2022-reading-challenge-article?preview=true
There were so many good articles this year, it was hard to only pick 10!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/kald-kriltch/a/2022-reading-challenge-article
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/overlord-lady-grayish/a/reading-challenge-2022-article
Fun challenge! It was awesome to have a good reason to look at other articles, and really examine them.
I had fun reading lots of mushroom related articles for this! 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/etrea/a/reading-challenge-january-2022
I’m so glad – ALL HAIL THE FUNGHI! <3 😀
So I’m honestly having trouble picking the winner for the Ethnicity Prompt that I’m sponsoring. So I’m publishing my shortlist and the article with the most comments on my article wins the prize!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/world-of-wizard-s-peak-kitoypoy/a/worldember-2021-reading-challenge-and-ethnicity-shortlist-article
Power to the voice of the people! I’m excited to see who is chosen :D! And the prize is amazing~. I don’t think I have ever seen a Philippines-inspired setting before that goes so in depth. Have you used Sina Una in any campaigns you’ve run and/or seen it in action?
My list. I read a lot of articles about naming things, for some reason 🙂
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/lapis-of-nicodem-kwyn-marie/a/inspirational-articles-from-worldember-2021-article
As a fellow lover of languages, this is an incredible list~. I’m deeply taken with how you’ve described VoxEterna’s The Apolex Ambiguity. Have you had any ideas for your own world inspired by what you’ve read so far :D?
Almost forgot to post the link here! Here’s what I read up upon!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-fabulae-anthology-endrise/a/reading-up-on-worldember-article
These articles are fantastic! I really liked both the Wyrm article because it feel like an “Inscryption” style cover image, and the “Timeline” Vehicle because I wanted to had one burning question; what happens when you break the timeline xD?! — Thank you so much for sharing these. What’s something you really liked from any one of these articles?
Lots of great articles out there!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/domen-aria-solstice/a/reading-challenge-article?preview=true
Hey there, Solstice! I love your take-aways from these great articles you’ve found! Have you built anything out of inspiration from what you’ve read?
All done and enjoy
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-sagas-jester25/a/10-inspiring-and-creative-articles-from-2021-article?preview=true
These are GREAT reads, and I really enjoyed reading your “What I Learned” sections! What has been your overall takeaway from what you’ve read?
I finally got it done! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/eccbooks/a/reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-article
NICE~! 😀 What did you think of the challenge?
wahoo! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-connection-zpires/a/worldember-2021-reading-callenge—jan-2022-article
WHOOO xD~! What kind of mediums are you thinking of first including in your future articles?
I couldn’t narrow it down to 10 D:
So I did 20 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/cathedris-stormbril/a/the-true-challenge-is-narrowing-it-to-10—reading-challenge-for-we202121-article
xD We’re spoiled for choice, Stormbril! There’s a lot to be inspired by :D! Have you been inspired to make anything from these articles?
Plenty of excellent inspiration for characters — perfect for the Bard challenge!
Ooo~! I’m excited to see what you make :D!!
here it is!! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/valabrad-melu/a/the-reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-article
Wonderful! It’s really lovely of you to include the titles of authors of articles too~! Have you followed any of the worlds you read articles for?
Better late than never! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/manifold-sky-bcgrwurth/a/new-year-s-resolutions-26-reading-challenge-article?preview=true
“A wizard is never late,” BCGR! And, 😀 Thank you for sharing these! Here is wishing you creative success and joy in your resolutions~!
Well well well, the Reading Challenge. I think the title of my article pretty accurately describes my feelings, but I tried to narrow my favourite articles down to 10. Here they are ^^ https://www.worldanvil.com/w/cathrea-ecl1psed/a/the-curse-of-choice-article
Really glad to hear that the challenge came in useful – and what a beautifully formatted article!
Splendid~! I love how you outline what was inspiring from each article! Thank you for sharing these :D. Which article do you think had the wildest concepts?
FINALLLYYYYYYYYYYYY HOPEFULLY IT ISN’T FEBRUARY YET… WHAT IS TIME?!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/secret-agent-someone/a/world-ember-reading-challenge-2021-article
LOL, WHOOOOO xD! I really love how you organized your thoughts in this article! Is there an article or a few that really gave you a think?
Thanks so much! They all were interesting in their own ways <3
xD LOL!! Thank GOODNESS it’s not February yet!! … O_O Right?!
lol 100% XD
A wonderful way to round off WorldEmber ’21, with some amazing articles by some awesome worldbuilders!
Here’s my submission to the Reading Challenge:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/viscerium-bladeswillfall/a/reading-challenge–22-article
AWESOME! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Slow going but its finally done!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/isekai/a/we21-reading-challenge
You’ve found some gems here, Riverfang! I’ve got to give these a read~. Thank you for sharing!
You know, thinking of ‘what inspires me about this article’ really helps me figure out what it was that grabbed me when reading them. As I was judging geography, it’s of course no surprise that they’re all from my special category.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/out-of-the-shadows/a/reading-challenge-we-2021
I’m really glad to hear it <3 😀 ! Have any of the articles you’ve chosen inspired you to create anything recently?
I’m working on a nicely-styled Conflicts page for a secret project right now. My next step will be to create a template layout for offering adventures, so that my articles have significant consistency. One of the inspirations there is a few articles I read from Tillerz.
(✪ヮ✪) Secret Projects?! The intrigue! That sounds like an ambitious and altogether worthwhile undertaking :). Here’s wishing you the absolute BEST in your endeavors!
Oh yes, it’s hard to not be inspired by Tillerz. The art used in the articles is superb!
Template layout done. I first filled one in until satisfied, then made a partially-lorem-ipsumed template out of it, to easily copy over and fill in later on. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/shadowland/a/run-overview-template
I’ve done the Reading challenge! I’ven’t even read a third off all the notifications yet, But I will do so! But already selected 12 fine articles from 12 people. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/red-sunrise-jacob-w/a/world-ember-2021—reading-challenge-article
:D! Thank you so much for sharing these!! Has reading the articles impacted your writing in a way you’ve noticed yet?
Finally had a chance to finish this. So excited about all the amazing articles this WorldEmber.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/postcards/a/2022-reading-challenge-article
Whoooooop! It looks awesome! <3
I finally got my Reading Challenge done! There was so much, but these articles are really focussed on areas I know i’d like to work more on in my own approach to worldbuilding and writing. Thanks everyone who took part in Worldember, and here’s to a great 2022!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/shadowfire-ononomad/a/reading-challenge-2021-article
Ah, here’s my reading list, in an attempt to get myself more badges! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/muncaelo-nicholas-hoar/a/the-reading-challenge3A-worldember-20213A-nichoals-hoar-article
Congratulations! <3 Your badge will fly on owl-flavoured wings at the end of the month!
It was hard to start, but I’m happy it turned out this way, a great idea!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-spheres-of-oblogga-rumengol/a/down-with-the-quill2C-up-with-the-glasses—reading-challenge-2021-article
Such an amazing approach to this challenge! <3
A basic composition, just to have it done. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/charron-mutterwolf/a/worldember-213A-reading-challenge-article
great start! Love your new years resolutions to make things more playable! Are you aiming for publication or playing around the table? <3
Whoa – reading is hard, especially with all that other stuff going on right now, but: I made it! 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/samtho-kveldulfr83/a/the-reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-article
Actually I read a bit more, but just couldn’t write more down. _
But yeah, I’d recommend giving these a try. 🙂
Here we go
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/mirateia-cow2face/a/the-reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-article
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/The-Void-Between/a/good-reads-and-military-conflicts-article
This is a fantastic read, and you are completely right about “Siege of Raykor” you saved for last. Thank you so much for sharing! Do you think you’ll take any inspiration from what you’ve read?
I finally finished! I really liked this challenge and I definitely hope we get repeats.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/talitha-harbor-desdemonarose/a/reading-challenge-2021-article
That’s awesome to hear! And congratulations on completing! <3
I finished mine! Absolutely loved doing this challenge. Was co-written between myself and one of our settings awful little Gremlins… probably not the best idea, but here we are! 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-chronicles-of-evalaw-chroniclesofevalaw/a/reading-challenge-2022-article?preview=true
Nice!! Thank you so much for sharing this 😀 ! xD We love the Gremlins though~! – What do you think is the biggest inspiration you’ve gleamed from reading these articles?
I think for me it was the authors signature style. I read through a few of their other WorldEmber articles too, and the one thing I took away from each was that little spark that made it theirs and brought the articles to life. I want that same “wow” factor that keeps you hooked to read more. Instead of putting people to sleep like a severe history book, which is what I worry my own writing does! 😀
This is a hard challenge for me I kind of upped it a bit. bye trying to read at least five articles per topic I got through nine of the 10 with five the last one couldn’t do it reading it hard on it brain.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/elema-valcin/a/reading-challenge-2022-article
WOAH! That’s impressive Valcin! I love the commitment you took with the challenge! You’ve hard-won a good rest, friend 😀
It was really hard to pick 10, because there is so much interesting stuff, and work has been consuming time like there’s no tomorrow. But I eventually decided on some. I’ll have to read up more on styling and structuring articles better on WorldAnvil. 🙂
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-colored-dimensions-tetha/a/2021-worldember-read-challenge-article
I’m hoping to get better at styling and structuring too~! Best of luck in your journey :D. Thank you for sharing these~!
A new style of challenge to me, but I might’ve done alright: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/awldor-starfarertheta/a/worldember-2021-readings-article?preview=true
You’ve done a SPECTACULAR job :D! Congrats~
I did the thing!
Added it to my worldember 2021 article because -for once- I like to keep things neatly in one article.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-Sea-of-Starlight-Bonus-Action/a/worldember-2021?preview=true
You did the THING :D!
I really like your list of prompts and ideas~ particular that “Rot Deity” one (Oooo~)!
I did it, and I almost forgot to share the link to this blog article! It’s here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/theoma-rakeela/a/worldember-2021-reading-challenge-article
Finally did it. I hope it’s not that bad that there are 24+2 articles instead of 10:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/yenort-secere-laetes/a/reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-2B-two-articles-from-before2F-zwei-artikel-von-davor-article
Maybe a few fixes but here it is 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/terraloga-adcheryl/a/reading-challenge-article
Finally did it. I hope it’s not that bad that there are 24+2 articles instead of 10:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/yenort-secere-laetes/a/reading-challenge3A-worldember-2021-2B-two-articles-from-before2F-zwei-artikel-von-davor-article
@Madeleine: Could you please delete the first post of me?
Took me longer than it should have because I wrote about twelve, and then wanted to reach an even fifteen to round it off, but I’m glad I did! Once again sliding in just under the wire, which seems to be a tradition for me with challenges!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/placeholder-rey-writes/a/worldember-2021-22—reading-challenge-article
Probably one of the last ones but I had a lot to read (and I haven’t yet finished) https://www.worldanvil.com/w/phaldorya-28eng29-azouniv/a/azoun-s-reader-s-digest-article?preview=true
I finally found the time to get this done! Wish I had more time to both read more and put some more spice into this, but moving takes a toll! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/qet/a/reading-challenge-article
I adore this challenge, and I’m so happy I had time to complete it this month. Thanks for everything you do, WA team! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/here-there-be-musings-maybestewartartist/a/-22-wa-reading-challenge-article
My first entry to a reading challenge.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/maObrah-akimotos/a/reading-challenge-2022-article
It’s a great idea, i had fun reading the articles. (some show amazing creativity!)
i didn’t read the rules corectly so i did read 10 random articles, just to find out i missed the wordember 2021 note. (silly me)
so there are a few more articles in my list. Article number 7 was in polish (cant read it), so i added a new one after number 10. randomly a dutch (i can read dutch) article showed up. A few articles had their comment disabled. so they are uncommented.(sadly)
Here’s my entry to the reading challenge
..and I forgot the link, oops
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/vaalo-throughthechi/a/reading-challenge-2022-article?preview=true
Just finished mine! This was a great way to get a good sample of what can be created at WorldAnvil.
I’m finally done with my reading challenge article 😀
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/empire-of-the-covenant/a/world-ember-reading-challenge-2021-article
I did the thing:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/spirit-of-the-age-frogdrake/a/january-reading-challenge-article
I finally did the thing. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/paldurog/a/world-ember-2021-personal-favorite-items-article . I didn’t have too much motivation to write more, but I did enjoy reading everything as a judge. Thanks all for your contributions!
I might have totally forgotten about this until the very last minute, but here it is. A list of very awesome articles. Sadly, I did not have more time, or I could have included probably a hundred more amazing articles!
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/satriumhub/a/reading-worldember-article
Nicely done! <3
I’m almost late! But I’m here! Deadlines are good for my soul. 🙂
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/adin-golemancer/a/2022-reading-challenge21-article
Oh no – is your article still a draft? We can’t see it!
Ugh, it was! I’m terrible at Anviling still.
I might have missed the deadline, but I really enjoyed exploring these! Next reading challenges will be fun for sure 🙂
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/treasure-box-tris/a/reading-challenge-we-2021-article
I hope I haven’t missed the deadline, but here’s my reading challenge article:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/agia-pantherseye/a/reading-challenge-for-we-article?preview=true
I truly enjoyed this challenge!
slides under wire I humbly lay this at the edge of time and this blog post
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/chimera-d10/a/reading-challenge-2022-article