We're four days into NaNo-less November. And honestly... I don't miss it.
I don't feel as if I'm missing anything. Without M, and with the pressures of married life, it had become a chore anyway.
At this point, I think it will be a good long time before I do a writing month challenge again. I probably will at some point in my life (because I'm completely incapable of finishing a rough draft without the pressure of a 30-day deadline), but I'm guessing that time is years into the future.
This isn't the first time since 2008 that I've sat November out. The first was in 2017, when I replaced NaNoWriMo with a dance-every-day challenge, and the second was in 2020, when I wrote 10k of a sequel to 2253 in less than a week before my brain just shut down completely and I could barely spell my own name. But this is the first time I have planned to not do the event well in advance AND not replaced it with some other challenge.
And... it honestly feels like I have an extra month in the year. I keep thinking Christmas is in like three weeks, because usually that's what happens -- I jump from 31 October to countdown-to-Christmas, with no sense of proper reality in between. Not doing NaNoWriMo has given me an extra four weeks to plan and buy Christmas gifts, to work on other creative projects that got pushed to the side during the unfathomable heat of summer. This year, I'm still in the midst of choreographing Grease for a fairly large theatre company and having this extra time available to work on that will be invaluable.
Although I do plan to work on Kyrie this month, I am expecting no more progress on it than I would any other month of the year. I have placed next to zero writing expectations on myself this month, and I am completely okay with that.
No judgment to those who are participating this year. Best of luck to you all, and enjoy the ride.