Looking Back & Stepping Forward

Many people spend the holiday season looking back at the current year, reflecting on what they achieved, and then making plans for the new year. This can be a helpful exercise in all aspects of life, including writing, especially if you focus on the positives! Rather than looking back and thinking about what you didn't achieve, focus on what you have done in the last year and the progress that has been made.

I find the 12 Days of Christmas by Julie Hedlund a great help for this! If you haven't come across it, I can highly recommend it. It started on Dec 26th but you can still join and follow along at your own pace. It helps me focus on all things that I have achieved over the year, big and small, as they all added up to where I am now. It is done via email and also a FB group.

The main thing that I find helpful is making a list of all the things I have accomplished this year in my writing journey - the big and the small. Once you start listing things out, you will see that list grow and grow, which hopefully gives you a great sense of achievement! Make sure you include even the tiniest things on there as they all add towards your journey.

Some of my achievements this year have been:

• Writing a chapter book and joining an amazing new critique group

• Meeting lovely new critique partners through PB Party Train

• Entering lots of contests (I think at least 8!) and placing in 2 of them

• Going on my first writer's retreat (my local SCBWI group rented an AirBnB for the weekend - it was fantastic!)

• Starting this blog!

This can also help you see what gaps there might be that you can focus on next year! So, looking back, I didn't write many picture books this year - I spent more time revising, which is a great win in itself. So, looking forward, I know one of my goals for 2026 is to write 12 new picture book drafts.

One resource I absolutely love that is going to help with that goal is Tara Lazar's Storystorm! It runs throughout January and is a great way of generating ideas for the year. I am still referring back to my ideas from January 2025 and am looking forward to adding to them next month. If you haven't tried it, I can highly recommend giving it a go.

If you love a list and a calendar, now would be a good time to make a plan for 2026 and write down your goals! These can include both the little and the big goals. Some that I will be including are:

• Read 50 new picture books (number TBD as I need to see what I did in 2025!)

• Take 2 new courses/classes

• Review 1 book a week

• Write 12 new picture book drafts

• Write 1 new chapter book (I am currently taking a class where this is the outcome, so I am confident including this!)

I am also tempted to add "Write a Middle Grade novel" to that list, as I have an idea

burning at the back of my brain, but I don't want to set myself up for failure by overloading the list. So make sure you keep it reasonable and know the amount of time you have to dedicate to your writing.

What goals are you hoping to achieve for 2026? What resources do you use to help you reflect on the past year and plan for the next one? Please pop them in the comments!