The Plan For 2026

Articles That Inspired Me

Summer Night

- Unknown Shores by Solomonjack

I've been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon, but I didn't start writing until I was in my thirties because I had the mistaken impression that I wasn't good with words. Now I paint with words more often than I paint with brushes, and I would love to be able to "paint the world, not as it appears, but as it feels when you're standing inside of it" like Alaric Vanderlune did in Solomonjack's article: Summer Night. I also liked the images and the design of the article despite the fact that I don't usually like when things are moving on a site. The motion of the quote blocks is so subtle that I didn't find it distracting at all. It created the sensation of being adrift on the waters of "Unknown Shores" and I liked it.

Summer Night inspired me to want to combine images and words to paint a vibrant picture of Kantostara, and all her many worlds, that seems so real and alive that you feel as though you are actually standing inside of it.

The Narrator Who Wouldn't Shut Up

- Kena'an by Make Lore, Not War

The Narrator Who Wouldn't Shut Up by Make Lore, Not War was hysterical and it reminded me of the kinds of disagreements I have with my own characters, who seem to have minds of their own, but what really struck me was that it was in the plot category. As a writer, I’m a total pantser who couldn't write an outline if my life depended on it, so I've always stayed away from that category. I didn't know what to do with it because I assumed it would have to be a list of plot points that neatly summed up what was going to happen, and that just isn't how I work. Now I see that it could simply be a story about what's happening in the story and that's something I might actually be able to do.

The Narrator Who Wouldn't Shut Up inspired me to try writing a plot article about the goings-on in Kantostara that might even turn into something I could use in the redesign for my homepage.

Tribal Rites of Shatter Night

- World of Wizard's Peak by Kitoypoy

In my inner world, everything is interconnected, so bits and pieces of songs, movies, images, events in my life, and pretty much anything that catches my attention or captures my imagination, often show up in my writing in one way or another. I love the way Kitoypoy took inspiration from an iconic movie to write a beautifully poignant story in Tribal Rites of Shatter Night. The inspiration was clear, and yet, the story was told in a way that fit perfectly into the World of Wizard's Peak. As someone who reads tarot, I also enjoyed the clever use of the cards and the fact that their images uniquely reflected the story instead of being just a standard deck.

Tribal Rites of Shatter Night inspired me to consider what methods of divination the Oren'ile from my mystical world of Bane'ile might have used. It would be fun to have something that could show up as omens along the way in the stories, or should I say songs, from this part of Kantostara.

About Hoist the Colors

- Hoist the Colors by Kummer Wolfe

I just discovered Hoist the Colors by Kummer Wolfe and immediately fell in love with the premise of it. I've been having so much fun exploring this world that, even though I'm not a gamer, I'm tempted to roll the dice. The article that I chose to include in my inspirations list is About Hoist the Colors. I love the tongue-in-cheek humor and all the fun little references, and the attention to detail, right down to the footer, is amazing. By the way, my characters and I tend to disagree a lot too. I recently had one outright refuse to use a nickname that I made up for him. He launched into an entire diatribe about the power of names until I was forced to agree that he was right. I thoroughly enjoyed this article and had to include it in my list even though picking an article that wasn't written during WorldEmber might be bending the rules a bit, but then, they're really more like guidelines anyway, right? (My apologies, Kummer, but I just couldn't help myself either)

About Hoist the Colors inspired me to be more mindful of engaging my readers. When I read, I enjoy authors who sprinkle in those fun little touches and easter eggs, so I naturally tend to do those things in my own writing, but I've noticed that I seemed to have lost a bit of that in the writing that I did during WorldEmber. I also found the homepage of this world very inspiring. I love how the writing draws you in. The opening line is "At the stroke of midnight on October 31, 1712, the world came to an end." How could you not be intrigued by a line like that? When I redesign Kantostara's homepage, I will be aiming for something equally as engaging in both my writing and the overall design.

Mochi's New Year 2026

- Yonderverse by Mochimanoban

When I read Mochi's New Year 2026 by Mochimanoban, I was amazed at the sheer volume that they produced during 2025. I knew that Mochi was a prolific writer, but wow! And all this during a "rough year"? It made me wonder why I seem to have had the opposite response to my own rough patch. My life on planet Earth began to crash and burn in a spectacular fashion in September of 2023, and I didn't even touch Kantostara again until WorldEmber 2024 which, by the way, I didn't even complete. I only started to get back on track again in Summer Camp 2025, and then at the end of July, the last vestige of my old life went up in smoke. I managed to finish the last four articles I needed to reach my goal, but that victory felt hollow. The funny thing is that Kantostara is where I go to take a break from my problems in real life. I actually find it healing to spend some time playing there, so I probably would have benefited from doing at least a little writing here and there.

Mochi's New Year 2026 inspired me to remember that Kantostara is my passion project, so it's helpful for me to take regular vacations there no matter what's happening on Earth. Who knows? If I don't abandon my little galaxy again, one day I might have a million word badge too. Seeing the way Mochi is so active in the community, always cheering on their fellow Anvilites is inspiring for me as well. I know that it's way past time for me to stop lurking in the background and join the conversation.

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My Goals For 2026

• My main goal this year is to finally get my World Anvil site organized and looking beautiful. When people ask me what I write, I would love to be able to feel proud to give them the link to Kantostara's home page knowing that they will see something visually appealing with an engaging overview of the galaxy. I'd like for them to feel drawn in, wanting to know more, and have a clear path to explore further. I'm so inspired by the stunning worlds of my fellow Anvilites, and I want that for Kantostara, but I know that means I really need to step up my game. I need to create more and better images and settle on a coherent visual style as well. I need to learn to use all the bells and whistles, that I haven't been taking advantage of, to help me break up the text and make each article visually exciting. Since I have zero knowledge of CSS, when I first started with World Anvil a few years ago, I was delighted to be able to take a template and tweak it enough to give it a distinctive look, but now I want more. Kantostara deserves better than just good enough. It deserves some of that wow factor.

• Another important goal for me is to interact more with my fellow Anvilites. This is such a friendly supportive community of highly creative talented individuals, and I've barely introduced myself. I show up randomly, share something, disappear again for months, and then I complain about feeling lonely and isolated. My social skills are not the best, and I get overwhelmed when I try to keep up with the level of interaction typically required to be part of a group, but I really like this community and would love to feel more connected here. I just need to find a way to participate that's comfortable for me and doesn't leave me feeling drained or stressed. I've decided to take small steps beginning with being mindful of acknowledging when someone leaves a comment on one of my articles or follows my world. Then I can experiment with other things to see what works for me.

• I'd also like to challenge myself to write all forty prompts during Summer Camp again. While that makes July a bit of a pressure cooker for me, it feels exciting rather than exhausting. It gives me a chance to stretch myself creatively and forces me to keep most of the articles short and sweet. I write categories that I usually don't, like military conflict, and I learn surprising things about my galaxy. For instance, one of my main characters has eighteen siblings. I don't think I would have come up with that if I hadn't been trying to write the prompt about a person known for having a lot of children. Not all of these articles turn out well, but even the ones that don't, contain a seed of something that will blossom somewhere else later on.

• Last, but not least, I would like to continue bringing the worlds of Kantostara and the people who live there to life, so that my little corner of World Anvil becomes a window that lets others see what, up until recently, only I could see whenever I looked into my inner world. I'd like to learn to use all of the tools that are available to me, and that feel good in my hand, to paint such a vibrant picture of my little galaxy that anyone who sees it feels as though they could actually stand inside of it.

MY FIRST PLOT

I chose to write a plot for my worldbuilding article because, apparently, I've been writing plots all along and just didn't know it. I was mindful of drawing the reader in, so that they want to know more, and I also experimented with some design ideas including new fonts, a custom quote box, and containers. It's a good start, but there's a lot more that I would like to do. I just couldn't get the CSS to work properly since I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to that stuff. It's late at night on February 6th, and I have to get these articles posted, so without further ado, here is my first official plot:

Kissed by the Eternal Flame