Projects, works, and worlds

Name	Meaning	Not the same as
Project / Workspace	Local organization and management container	A novel's title, prose, or ownership itself
Work	A longform, short-fiction, screenplay, comic, or interactive work	One shared body of content all products may overwrite
World	Semantic settings, characters, rules, and relationships	Images, game progress, or online rooms
World version	Definite world content sealed by the author	A live reference that follows draft edits automatically

Fiction does not require a separate world first

Longform and short fiction can start directly; their internal settings support creation. When other products need to reference that content, the author explicitly derives a world.

Derivation preserves provenance without changing source ownership. Later edits to source and world remain separate.

Adaptation does not overwrite the source

Screenplays, comics, and motion-comic materials retain the source scope/version used by the adaptation. Outputs belong to their own works. Editing a screenplay scene does not edit novel prose.

Game results do not automatically become shared settings

TTRPGs, character chat, towns, and text games own their sessions, relationships, and events. They reference frozen worlds, but player choices affect only the relevant work or save.

To change a shared world, the author must explicitly edit it. One playthrough's outcome cannot be treated as a fact accepted by all works.

Continue: Sealing, production, and release.