Whenever I compile a document into Word.docx, the word-count is consistently higher than it was in the draft I wrote in Scrivener.
So, if I’ve scrivened a document for a client, and I compile it into docx before sending, it ends up being wordier than what I thought I produced. This is problematic. My clients often have strict word-count maximum requirements.
What is causing this? How do I correct it?
Different counting algorithms in different programs:
literatureandlatte.com/foru … =2&t=28999
Slàinte mhòr.
Ugh! Well, I guess it’s good to know this now. I’ve been submitting count-sensitive drafts using the Scrivener counter for several months now, without knowing this.
Thank you so much.
So, I guess there’s no way to program Scrivener to follow a certain word-counting rule?
R.
I am currently experiencing word count differences between Win Scriv and iOS Scriv–something like 300-500 word difference in a 135k project–so the algorithm is different even between L&L products.
Scrivener 3 brought the word count more in line with Word as it now counts hyphenated words as only a single word (previously a hyphenated word would count as two words or more, depending on the number of hyphens).
One thing to bear in mind is that when you Compile, titles and other elements may be added which will increase the word count. You can find the word count for the text as it would be if you compiled it using the current Compile settings in Project > Statistics…
Other than that, there will always inevitably be slight discrepancies between word counts in different apps, depending on the algorithms used. Scrivener uses Apple’s word recognition algorithms (with the refinement added for hyphenated words). Word’s algorithm may be different, but it’s not “better”. In fact, I just pasted several chunks of text into Word and it came out with a larger word count than Scrivener each time. And a couple of hand-counts showed Word to be wrong (I’m not even sure where it was getting the extra words from). I understand that Word is the standard, though, so that this isn’t particularly helpful, but all apps will have some disagreement with word counts. Apple’s is pretty good, though.
All the best,
Keith