This is K.M. Wyland and you're listening to the 78th episode of the Word play podcast.

I'm so close to finishing the first draft of the deepest breath

that I can practically taste it.

And yet I have this feeling like I'm just inching along.

It's sort of like those cartoons of the man

stuck out in the desert who's crawling along toward an oasis, and it just seems to get a little

farther away with every inch he manages to drag himself forward.

That's pretty much me right now.

December is one of the few months in which I allow my writing to take a back seat to other priorities,

most notably preparing for and spending time with family and friends during the holiday season.

One of the most important commandments for any writer is Know Thy Priorities.

And during the Christmas holidays, writing takes an unabashed second place.

I still try to squeeze my writing time in every day, but when it simply won't fit, I allow myself to skip a session here and there, guilt-free.

Unfortunately, I can't claim the same guiltlessness for all those yummy Christmas goodies.

Turn cliches on their heads.

The latest post in the video series on my blog,

offers a nifty trick by Sir Terry Pratchett's guards,

for taking seemingly worn out ideas and using them to create something brand new.

You can watch the video on my blog at wordplay-K-M-Yland, that's W-E-I-L-N-D.

BlogSpot. Newlog Spot. com.

New videos are posted every Wednesday.

This week's podcast marks the beginning of a new series entitled Most Common Mistakes.

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