Word Counter
Word Counter websites give writers and students free access to online word count technology to help those who need to keep an accurate count of their words. There are a whole number of sites that offer the free word counters, so I’ll direct you to a few that have caught my fancy.
You might ask yourself why someone needs a word counting function, especially if they have Microsoft Word or some other word processing program on their computer. I’ll give you my own personal reason for the second part of that question. I’m a little different, so when I write for something like this blog, I either write it directly into the Word Skit blog dashboard, or (more frequently) I write the words in Notepad. Notepad takes the formatting out of the script, so my words are free of any html that might screw up what I write when I post it.
But that means I don’t have a word count function readily handy. So if I’m wanting to know exactly how much I’ve rambled, I’ll just click on a word counter web page that I have in Favorites and find out real quickly. Obviously, all of that is idiosyncratic, but it’s what I’m comfortable with after all these years and I’m probably not going to change. I imagine there are a hundred other reasons you might want to use an e-word counter, which is why they exist. I suppose word counters online are like online calculators. Sure, there are other ways to do it, but everything is more fun on the internet.
People Who Could Use a Word Counter
There are certain types of people who need their words counted. Here are several of the types, though I’m probably omitting all kinds of people who like to keep an accurate online word count.
- Students Writing Papers For School – Whether you are writing an essay in grade school or a term paper for college, most of your instructors are going to want you to stick to a word count. Most of the time, that means a minimum word counter, so you’re always clicking about seeing if you’ve hit the threshold. In other cases, you might be long-winded, and not have to figure out later on that you’re going to have to edit your essay. (I had a professor who stopped reading a term paper at a certain point if the paper went over the count, counting off for the person not technically finishing the paper – or finishing it in the assigned format.) So word counters are a must for student writers.
- E-Writers and Freelance Writers – If you’re writing for just about anyone online, you’re probably going to get paid by the word. So if you’re writing on eLance or some other online publishing market, you’ll want an accurate online word counter that your employer can reference. This way, the two of you always agree on the word count. If you each use your computer’s word count function, you’re inevitably going to come up with different numbers. That can lead to tension, so get on the same page by using the same word counter.
- E-Publishers – For the very same reason, if you’re a webmaster or e-publisher who hires writing talent, you’ll want to have a reliable word counter at your disposal, so you and your writers can agree on payment. You don’t want to pay any more than you have to, and you don’t want a reputation for stiffing people on their work, so a good word counter eliminates those problems.
- Article Writers – Often, a writer will have a specific sized article that their editor wants. When you’re writing for a newspaper, you’ll need to have an article a particular size. So you’ll be counting words particularly closely. The online word count tool helps journalists of all stripes: both article writers and their editors.
Javascript Word Counter
The “Java Script Word Counter” is my favorite word counting tool on the internet. It’s simple and no-frills and allows me to quickly count my words, then cut-and-paste the words where I want to put them. I think there are a number of other interesting resources for bloggers and webmasters on the Javascript Kit site, such as coding forums, references and tutorials, but I’ve actually never used them. With this word counter, I get in and get out on this one page.
Word Count Tool – Free Online Tool to Count Number of Words
The “Word Count Tool” is another no-nonsense word counter designed with a pleasant and simple orange outline. Word Count Tool dotcom describes itself as a “free & fast online word counting tool”. The word counting website also describes exactly how it conducts its word count, so you know exactly how to adjust your figures if you have a teacher or professor who is a stickler for word counts.