Q: We met briefly at the Wilmington Writers Workshop this weekend. Thanks for speaking to me and thank you very much for making yourself available for daily swarms of questions from people like me.

I do have one other question for you: For the past five years, I've worked at a 45,000-circ. daily covering county government in a fairly urban region. Before that, I spent a year and a half in a one-man bureau for a 35,000-circ. daily in a rural area. I'd like to move on to a 100,000 circ. daily. But because of personal matters, I might have to set my sights on something less than that (around the circulation size I'm at now).

I know this all assumes a lot -- for instance, that I can find someone willing to hire me. But if my next paper is in the 30,000 to 60,000-circ. range, would that inhibit my chances of working at a large paper someday? Or is the quality of the work I do more important that the size of the newspaper?

Moving on

A: The quality of the work you do is always important, of course. However, you're setting a pattern in your résumé that looks like three similarly sized papers in a row. In terms of circulation, it looks like a steady, level line, while you say you'd like to see that circulation line cut upward toward 100,000. The longer you stay at this level, the harder it might be to take it up.

However, if personal considerations mean you need to stay with papers of about this size, you have to do it and later deal with what might seem like unfair questions or judgments.

Smart editors do look for patterns in résumés to detect growth, stability, potential.

As you make that next move, do it for reasons that explain why you moved. Go for more responsibility, bigger opportunities, a better team. If you move solely for the sake of doing it or for personal reasons, your career won't seem to have the kind of lift you want to give it.

Move to do better journalism -- and then prove it in your work.