Blog of Port Iris Magazine Editor, Casey Seda

It’s that time of year again, one that typically passes me by in a flurry of papers, beakers and coffee. October to November is the busiest time of the year for me because our lab goes to a national conference every year in November to present our research. Since I discovered the existence of NaNoWriMo three years ago, I have considered it my great misfortune that the two events overlap, writing off NaNoWriMo as an impossibility.

Anybody that follows the buzz of excitement that precedes NaNoWriMo knows that the latter half of October is filled with blogs, podcasts and Twitter feeds meant to spread excitement and encouragement. And I’ve been caught up in the infectious enthusiasm this year, so I’m announcing my intent to participate.

My workload is the same, although the conference is set a week earlier than normal. In fact, I’m faced with the extra pressure this year of producing Issue #4 of Port Iris Magazine for December. If there is one thing that I gained from college aside from my education and my lovely wife, it is learning that I work best under pressure.

Nothing works better for my productivity than an intense workload and hard set timelines, which explains my attraction to NaNoWriMo. My immersion into publishing by starting Port Iris has greatly increased my writing output–words produced not published–to its highest point yet. Still, I face the all too common obstacle of procrastination, so I’m taking this chance to force my hand and to join the multitude of others this November to write my first novel.

The beginning of November will still be crunch time, so output will be limited at first. But I will be taking full advantage of the lull that follows the storm, not allowing myself to slack in that time or too much in the inevitable food coma to follow Turkey Day.

I’ll be keeping people posted of my progress on my personal twitter account, @caseysays.

Happy Halloween and good luck to all you fellow NaNoWriMo writers.