How does a writer measure progress? Is the number of words written in a day? Is it three pages of words, a paragraph, or a single word? Is it a finished story, or the number of publications? How many words need to be written before a writer can sit back and say, "I'm done for the day. I've reached my daily quota of words." Many famous authors have written hundreds of stories only to have them lost. Most writers have filing drawers full of unpublished manuscripts most of which the author may feel unworthy of submitting, but may in fact open the hearts and minds of readers. Were those stories measured on the progress scale? They should be.

To me, the writing is never finished and each word is progress. My computer stays on, and sometimes in the middle of the night when a thought flashes through my mind I get up and write it down, be it a page or a single word. By telling myself, "I'm going to write four pages today," forces the words and decreases the level of creativity that goes into the pages. It doesn't matter how many words are written in a day. What matters most is that the writer is writing.

Of course, a published manuscript is the highest level of progress, and seeing your book in print is the ultimate goal. My congratulations goes out to a fellow cowriter and friend, Jon Sprunk, for the publication of his debut novel, SHADOW'S SON. SHADOW'S SON is a rich, fantasy novel published by Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus books. It is the first in a series and can be found in book stores throughout the country. Jon will be at Barnes & Noble book store at the CampHill shopping center in Pa. on June 16 at 6:00 for his book signing event. I just received Jon's book yesterday, and can't wait to read it.