I've used the past 12 weeks or so reading too much pandemic news and procrastinating writing my next novel. But I haven't been unproductive. I wrote a 300-page Earthpillar Encyclopedia to capture my world-building covering my 3 novels and several short stories. So what’s in it?
Full profiles for 85 characters, along with pictures of actors that I imagine them to be like (character casting!). Profiles for 30 distinct cultures. An arcanae compendium (shroud eggs, candle alchemy, etc). A master timeline. Dozens of maps and many charts, notes, and lists. And a ton of future story seeds organized from a decade of notes.
Here are some examples: an inset from a map showing the colonial progression across Pemonia, and a language map that I use to help create distinct naming conventions.
In short, I really cleaned my writing house and got things in order. This also puts me one step closer to writing the direct sequel to Lords of Deception. First, I'll re-read it because it's been about 5 years since I wrote the first draft, and I want to make sure I retain consistency in every detail.