diff --git a/counter.py b/counter.py
index 1e2fb56..aa01a40 100644
--- a/counter.py
+++ b/counter.py
@@ -29,11 +29,21 @@ def update_counter(file_name, reset=False):
 	>>> update_counter('blah2.txt')
 	2
 	"""
-	pass
+	if not exists(file_name) or reset:
+		with open(file_name, 'w') as f:
+			dump(1,f)
+		return 1
+	else:
+		with open(file_name, 'r+') as f:
+			counter = load(f) + 1 #incremented
+			f.seek(0,0)
+			dump(counter,f)
+		return counter
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 	if len(sys.argv) < 2:
 		import doctest
 		doctest.testmod()
 	else:
-		print "new value is " + str(update_counter(sys.argv[1]))
\ No newline at end of file
+		print "new value is " + str(update_counter(sys.argv[1]))