COUNTdown to NIGHTfall #7

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Fiction writers put themselves into two camps based on their work habits: the Plotters and the Pantsers, or as I prefer, the Architects and the Gardeners.

Plotters put extensive time and effort into constructing scenes, chapters, and arcs before starting to write. The most organized Plotters fall into the larger category of Architects, who not only plot their stories in advance of writing them but also prepare extensive worldbuilding, backstory, timelines, and psychological profiles.

Pantsers write by instinct, moving their plotlines forward “by the seat of their pants,” hoping to reach a satisfying conclusion that fits within a novel-sized manuscript. The most organized Pantsers fall into the larger category of Gardeners, planting seeds, trimming back unnecessary branches, but otherwise allowing their stories to grow organically into their fullest potential.

Neither approach is better than the other. Many authors use a hybrid approach, or select whatever works best for any given project. Personally, I’m inclined toward Gardening, but some stories can only be written with advance Architecting.

Wordlers is an experiment in extreme Gardening, based on prompts that pop up fresh from each day’s Wordle. The answer from a successfully solved puzzle may launch new chutes in unexpected places, while a failed puzzle can derail everything. Each episode requires a new champion, which means introducing an original protagonist each day, or else promoting an existing character into that role.

The challenge has been in keeping the story moving forward under these constraints, providing consistency with all that came before, presenting event that are consequential to the characters, and planting seeds for the future.

The project format itself is being Gardened over time.

On the frontend, Wordlers is a growing series of rough, unedited, typo-ridden drafts that are being regularly released to thousands of interested subscribers. Over time, these have evolved from the first two-sentence summary to a few that are emotionally draining tales that reference a growing body of lore.

On the backend, Wordlers is a growing collection of durable assets being held by thousands of collectors. The format of the collection has changed recently and will change again, expanding into an ecosystem of multiple collections, formats, and blockchains.

On the creative end, Wordlers is a growing blob of worldbuilding, character development, and plot that needs to be wrangled into a cohesive form by every piece of storytelling equipment in my Gardening shed.

First, I’ve started to clump the daily episodes into storylines. I’m considering the first 40 episodes to be a “sandbox season,” where the elements were under development and don’t necessarily count as official. That makes NIGHTfall the first real storyline. It fits nicely into September with a week to spare, is complete when the start of it is being posted, and comes in at about 20,000 words total, making it a respectable novella. You can start the story with Day 393 and be drawn right in.

Second, I’m acknowledging the inconsistent technology levels seen in the “Wordle Quest” storyline. In some episodes, we saw airplanes, cell phones, cars, and television sets. Other stories seemed to be set in a fantasy land with Medieval technology. NIGHTfall comes down on the side of old-school fantasy, but there will be technology plausibly introduced in bits and pieces.

Third, I’m addressing the confusing terminology that cropped up in the conceptual stage. I’ve been using Wordler as a demonym for residents of Wordler Village, but also as the title of the numbered champions. Consider it a retcon that the demonym has always been Villager. Each morning, a Wordler is chosen from among the Villagers. Done.

Keeping those three points in mind, you are now ready to dive into the Extreme Garden of NIGHTfall.

The Wordlers project is not endorsed by or associated with the New York Times or its affiliates.