In other issues of WordTips you learn how you can use one of Word's fields to insert a word count in your document. Many authors, editors, and publishers adhere to the rule that you determine word count by dividing the number of characters in your document by an average word size, such as 5. Thus, if there were 24,317 characters in your document, there would be 4,863 words. You can use fields to insert this type of word count in your document in the following manner:
{ ={ numchars }/5 }
You could, if you wanted, also include a bit more of a formula in your field in step 7. For instance, if you wanted to make sure that the value returned was an integer, you could use this as your field code:
{ =int({ numchars }/5) }
There is one other thing to keep in mind. If you compare the value returned by this approach to the value returned by Word's internal word counter, the values will be different. This "divide by 5" approach is an old rule of thumb for those in the publishing business. Word's internal counter calculates words by, essentially, looking at the number of spaces and punctuation in a document—the elements that normally denote the end of a word.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10026) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: A Quick-and-Dirty Word Count.
Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!
People don't normally think of using fields to do any calculations. Even so, you can use fields to perform a simple ...
Discover MoreFields are used for all sorts of purposes in Word, but typically to provide some sort of dynamic information. This tip ...
Discover MoreFields (sometimes called field codes) allow you to insert dynamic information in your documents. If you want to see the ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2022 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments