With Linda out of the writing game I was disappointed when Beth, our local artist also withdrew from the November novel writing challenge this week. “The written word is a marvellous thing but my sea-faring young woman simply ran out of wind. I might come back to it next year with a new story,” she explained.

“Never mind. You enjoyed it for a few weeks.”

“Yes.”

“Catherine says it’s perfectly fine to give it a shot but not make it to the end. It took her a few attempts before she hit her stride.” She had also mentioned that the drop-out rate was pretty high as many people underestimate the time you need to commit if you want to write a novel, but I decided not to discourage Beth.

“Absolutely. There’s always next year, although...

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