Though I have not seen the film, nor read the short story by Alan Sillitoe upon which the movie was based, I have always admired the title, “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner.” It spoke to me the first time I heard it way back when. It is so easy to imagine oneself out on the pavement or dirt track, running on and on, all by oneself, wondering when the course, or even the road itself, will come to an end.

That title comes to mind this morning, as I continue to figure out the last 50 or 60 pages of my third novel. Anyone who has ever written a book, and particularly a novel, will know the feeling. The course is nearly run, or maybe it’s not. It’s so hard to tell. But on and on I write: taking away and adding on, staying the course, one more long-distance writer on the road.