Word Count Tips
romancingwizard
Romancing the Wizard
Word Count Tips
You may wonder why we take word counts seriously here at Romancing the Wizard. The reason is that this is a writing challenge with specific requirements. We want to see what you can do with a limited number of words. This keeps the playing field level for all authors too. (Plus, someday your editor will ask you to write a 500-word summary for the back cover of your first novel. You'll be an expert by then, so you'll easily produce an intriguing and concise synopsis of your plot.)
Behind the cut, there are some notes about word counts and MS Word. Please take a moment to read them.
Word Count Tips
Placing a space before and after an ellipsis (word … word) or an em dash (word -- word) will throw off your word count in MS Word.
If you have one ellipsis (with a space before and after), then your final word count will be 751. Please
highlight the ellipsis anomaly for your Proof Witch.
Alternatively, you can anchor the ellipsis or em dash to the word before it, then MS Word will not count it as a separate word. (word… OR word…word)
Note: If an em dash or ellipsis is followed by a quotation mark ("Word word--"), Word will count it as a separate word.
The best thing to do is to run your cursor over the item and check word count for each anomaly.
Space divider symbols (***) will throw off your word count too.
Highlight them. If you have one space divider, then your final word count will be 751.
Note: Always anchor your HTML tags to your words, so it doesn't throw off your count.
Do this: Word.
Not this: Word.
Anything you use in the text of the story is considered in the word count. So, titles of sections, dates, locations, or numbering will be counted.
When I'm writing a story for RTW, I usually highlight anything that will throw off my word count. It helps me keep to the limit as I endlessly tweak my ficlet. The Proof Witches also appreciate when an author highlights anomalies.
Susan, aka SeaIsleWitch
Your Lead Moderator