Friday, November 5, 2010

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!

I AM HEARTSICK, DEVASTATED, STUNNED AND IN SHOCK! For those of you who don't know--and I'm pretty sure most people don't know--if you use OpenOffice for your writing program, your word count is not correct. I just found out (because of nanowrimo) that OpenOffice counts end-quotes as one word! I KNOW! I couldn't believe it either!

There's nothing I know of that will fix it. To find your actual word count for competitions and for your own (and your editor's information) highlight a set of end-quotes somewhere in your document. Click on the binoculars at the top.(the FIND feature) and cut and paste them into the 'find' category. Hit find all. Cut and past end quotes into 'replace with' and then hit replace all. It will tell you how many times it replaced your end quotes with identical end quotes. Subtract this number from your word count. That will tell you your ACTUAL word count.

Actually, I'm not sure if you'll end up with your actual word count. Who knows what other punctuation marks or spaces they're counting as actual words.

I'm just heartsick about this for personal reasons. Sigh. Everything happens for a reason, right? (I hope)

20 comments:

Nicole Zoltack said...

Uh, I didn't know that.

Krista said...

Oh bummer! That makes NO SENSE. Shake it off, Melissa!

Len Lambert said...

Oh my, I didn't know that. I use MSWord, is that similar to OpenOffice? Sorry to hear about this. Now I'm not sure my real wordcount *sigh*...All the best on your NaNo!

N. R. Williams said...

Clearly, it wasn't created for writers. How exasperating. I have Microsoft Word, I suppose it's doing something stupid too.
By the way, I'm running a contest.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Elizabeth Schow said...

Wow, really? That is so frustrating. Maybe if enough users send them a comment about it they'll change it in an upgrade.

Melissa Cunningham said...

And just so you know, it doesn't matter if they are curly quotes or straight.

Summer Ross said...

well thats not happy. I'm so glad i didn't use that.

Rebecca Talley said...

That's bizarre, but don't despair because it will all work out. Really!

Vicki Rocho said...

I use OpenOffice and I had NO CLUE about this quirk. I guess I'll just convert it to a Word doc at work when I'm done and see how far off it is.

Mary E Campbell said...

Wow had no idea. Well at least we won't be over a word count limit if we're sending our work out.

Natascha said...

I've never used OpenOffice before. I've always been a Word for Mac girl, or a Word girl, but I know there are even a few discrepancies with the word count there too. Sorry you're bummed out. That DOES suck!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

*HUGS* That's how I felt when I discovered ellipsis equals 3 whole words. Talk about stingy word programs! GRRRRRRRR

Old Kitty said...

Oh NO!!!! Oh dear!! I'm so sorry about this. It sounds such a complicated procedure just for a word count - there must be an easier way to do this? Good luck anyway - this glitch of openoffice has truly upset you and I'm really sorry - I wish I was techie enough to be able to help you practically but all I can offer you is lots and lots of positive vibes!!!!!

Hang on in there and good luck with your writing!! Take care
x

Unknown said...

I stick to Word, sounds as though I made a good choice, what a nightmare!

Melissa Cunningham said...

Those of you who use ms word... don't feel too secure. I've heard that word has some irritating glitches too. I guess it doesn't matter what program you have, you just need to be aware of what they are and aren't doing.

Wendy said...

That would be shocking alright. Hope you get it figured out soon. I'm sorry it has taken me awhile to come over and visit your blog after you came, visited and followed mine! It's taking me a little while to ease back into routine after our vacation--but I'm getting there!
Thanks again for following! I like your "real" way of writing and your sense of humor. Trust God with how things are going to work out--He has it all under control.
Blessings,
Wendy

Rachel said...

Sorry about the OpenOffice thingy. I've never used it before as i stick to MS Word. Anyway, good luck with NanoWriMo as i am also a participant.


Please, feel free to check and follow me on my blog.

www.rachelsquest.blogspot.com

LARCHMONT said...

That is very strange and very annoying. Why would they do that? Sounds like a real flaw in their system. Sorry to hear about it--things like that can be incredibly irritating.

MTeacress said...

I know someone who uses this program. I'll have to let her know. If a wip is too long, this oddity could be a good thing. :)

The Happy Whisk said...

I'm with Krista. Shake it off. There's work to do and your characters need your attention.