some dreams for 2026

Hello, dear readers! ^^ And a very Happy New Year’s to you all!! I am so so grateful to every one of you who has read my blog and supported my writing, and I am wishing each and every one of you a splendid year filled with writing, reading, and laughing thine heads off like chaotic little gremlins!

My past few days have been spent… well, writing. A few little snippets of short stories here and there, while I work on Island Keepers and snack on marshmallows. I did actually get a new journal as well as a certain piece of jewelry which I think may the coolest piece of jewelry I own yet……

Tis Evenstar!!!! (Which is Arwen’s necklace from Lord of the Rings!!) I love it so much!! As well as the journal — does it not look delightfully old-timey? Though I’ve yet to really figure out where on Earth that place actually is… The spine claims it’s in Spain, and yet there’s this travel stamp on there that says Istanbul…

I’m fairly certain Spain doesn’t have an Istanbul.

But nonetheless it’s a delightful journal, and I love it so much! All the empty, white, fresh pages, just waiting to be written in…..

(And I wrote the beginning of a possible novel down on those scraps of paper in cursive. Which you can’t actually read… which is probably for the best. XD)

2025 was such an incredible year for me. Hard, yes, but also so so amazing. I met so many different people, I achieved some of my dreams (including learning to play an instrument!!), and I have had so many amazing opportunities. And now that it is 2026, I thought I would share some of my dreams and goals for the new year. ^^

I have both loved and hated working on this book this past year — it has given me such grief, and yet I really do love this story. So I think this year, I would like to complete a draft of Island Keepers. I might not finish the book itself, but I would at least like to complete this draft/rewrite before I’m 14.

Another thing I’d like to do, I think, would to be just write without pressure and to have fun with this draft. One of my all time favorite memories was really spring/summer of 2024, where I was just writing without pressure, under the covers of my blanket and just… writing for fun and writing for me. And I think I’d like to go back to doing that.

There really is no better feeling than starting a whole new book, with wide fresh pages just waiting for you to write adventures into them!! Those pages that are full of wide, endless possibility! Act Two pages are……. less wondrous though. I’m certain every writer knows what I mean.

I don’t know if I will be able to do this, but I’d still love to be able to start something new!! A new world, a new main character, a new adventure! Perhaps between drafts of Island Keepers.

I adore short stories, and over the past year, I think I’ve gotten slightly better at having my short stories not blow up into a whole YA trilogy… *cough* The Sparrow’s Last Sacrifice *cough* They’re just lovely, and they’re quick to read and write, and there really is so much you can capture in such few words!

I’d love to find more time to write them and also learn to just enjoy the process of writing instead of winning (though winning would be absolutely lovely.). I used to not really want to enter these, just because I never won.

But after recently coming in second place for the Spread Your Wings competition at Story Blossoms (many, many thanks to Iona for hosting it!! ^^), I’ve learned that you really don’t know if you’re going to win. But you really won’t win unless you take that chance. Plus, it’s good practice for writing, and you can share the story on your blog if you don’t win!!

(Or perhaps even someday compile all your short stories and poems into an anthology and publish them! Which I’m actually considering doing…)

I adore poetry, as well as short stories. Just like short stories, there’s just so much you can capture in so little words! My favorite poems are “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson and Dreams by Langston Hughes. They’re just so well-written and I would love to write a poem like that!!

Some miscellaneous goals….

Why? you may ask.

Why on Earth would you want to learn ventriloquism?

Well, whyever not? Random little goals are simply delightful, and ventriloquism is something I’d love to learn to do! (And I could do voices for all my stuffed animals and make it look like i’m not talking!)

Though their mouths don’t move though…

And my mouth wouldn’t be moving either….

Which would be…………. odd.

XD Ah well, we’ll figure it out.

This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid.

I was recently inspired by The Peach Thief by Linda Joan Smith to start growing things. Alas, my zinnias and marigolds died out due to the summer storms, but I’d love to attempt them against this year!! (And pray that some of them make it past saplinghood!)

I’ll have to make sure to plant more this year though, so even if not all of them survive, a few strong ones might.

The tin whistle is one of my favorite instruments!! Actually, I really do just love music in general. Music, art, writing, anything creative, really. My mom bought me a tin whistle earlier this year, and I’ve been learning to play jigs, reels, and other traditional folk songs on it! Along with an obnoxious perfectly reasonable amount of LOTR music.

I’m still horrid at jigs though.

Perhaps that will change this year.

Likely Perhaps not.

We shall see.

~ ~ ~

Those are some of my little dreams for 2026! I might not achieve all of them, but those are some of the things I’d love to do/learn this new year! I do think that I’d like to put less pressure on myself this year, though. So that these are just fun things I would like to do, but things I won’t beat myself up for if I don’t achieve them, like I did in 2025 — especially with writing!!

This year, I’d just like to write without pressure, just curled up at my desk during the rain and writing for me and me only. Have fun with stories again and just… fiddle around with my imagination, I suppose.

Do let me know down in the comments what some of your own dreams for 2026 are!! ^^ I would love to hear from you!!

Wishing you a wonderful 2026!! Till next time,

-Isabelle