Display a countdown of the number of Words in a MS Word/Mac document.

March 5, 2006 9:06 AM

Here's my idea: I am working on a project that requires me to write 1,000 words a day. As a motivator, I want to have a BIG display that counts down the number of words I have left to go. My first idea was to have an LED display, clock radio style, attached via USB that would somehow retrieve the native count from MS Word and display it (in reverse, since word counts up - but a countup clock might also be OK.) Ideas on that would be great, but it also seems quite hard - so I thought maybe an Applescript that would simulate the display on my monitor would work. How to do this, I have no clue. :)
posted by soulbarn to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

I don't know exactly how you'd go about doing it, but it does sound like the kind of thing suited to Konfabulator or Dashboard Widgets maybe.
posted by BorgLove at 10:41 AM on March 5, 2006

not very helpful, i know, but i'm sure this is the sort of thing you can do in vbscript within word.
posted by ori at 11:17 AM on March 5, 2006

Thinkgeek has a few user-programmable monitors that interface via USB or serial. I remember having seen one or two there that were user-programmable pseudo-analog dials (useful for checking the number of unread messages in one’s inbox, etc.). Maybe you could make one periodically grab the content of a plain-text file with a recent word count, divide that number it by 1000, and then use the thing as a ‘pressure gauge’. :-)

As for creating a ‘word count updater’ that would, presumably, dump some number value to a plain-text file dedicated to this purpose (to be read at some user-defined interval by the ‘status’ module you choose), An Applescript is probably the most extensible option; an Automator workflow would be much easier than an Applescript to create (and would probably interact better with MS Word on a Mac, since MS’s current version of Word for Mac is a monstrosity of patch-ups and hold-overs, and Automator operates at a ‘higher’ level with applications than does Applescript); and finally, a Quickeys macro would be the easiest to create and to fiddle with (but it, unlike the other two options, will set you back the cost of a license).
posted by Yeomans at 12:02 PM on March 5, 2006

This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but I find that writing 1000 words goes a lot faster when you don't actually have the wordcount right there in front of you and you're not compulsively checking it.

Besides that, this sounds like something that you could sit there and mess with for hours and kind of forget to actually do the writing itself.
posted by blacklite at 12:10 PM on March 5, 2006

Here's some code for a VBA macro in Word that would do what you want (or at least something very similar). It should be easily modified to do a countdown. You can click on Tools>Macros>VB Editor and past the code in, then save it as a template.
posted by i love cheese at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2006

This sounds like exactly the sort of time-consuming, open ended project perfect to distract yourself from the business at hand, which is sitting your ass down and writing a thousand words. Do some speed trials, get an idea of roughly how long it takes you to write a thousand words, check your word count in your document program at regular intervals, and stop wasting time and avoiding writing.
posted by nanojath at 10:52 PM on March 5, 2006

nanojath: word nazi. in another life were you the guy pounding the drum while the others rowed?
posted by MeatLightning at 11:42 AM on March 6, 2006

FYI, 1000 words is about 2-1/2 pages (single-spaced, Verdana 10 pt). But don't obsess with how many words you've already written, or how many more you have to crank out. Focus on getting each word right.

How? Clear your mind and think about what you're trying to say. Then try and get it down, as clearly and concisely as you can. Don't censor yourself or try to edit while you write. Just get the ideas down.

Later, go back and clean up your first draft. Cut the crap, trim the junk, try and make it interesting and compelling.

btw, I'm blogging about how to write well this week, and offering seven suggestions. There's a link in my profile if anyone's interested.
posted by wordwhiz at 5:14 PM on March 7, 2006