Need help with MQ line count.

If I take the program on the computer and at the place where you can do either a spell check or word count (6), and I chose (6), the program gives me a "word count".

We were taught in school to use 5 as the average number of characters for a word.

If I take the number of words the program gives me and x 5, I guess I'm getting the character count.

Then take that number and divide by 65, that should give the line count.

But the line count never is what MQ says.

Short of doing character for character counts for each report (I still don't know what a character is in their program!) (is a space counted? is a period counted?)

I have tried doing short reports - counted each character - and it still never comes out with MQ's tally.

Like just now, it finally registered 1 line when I had put 48 characters on the page. When I took one of the characters off, the "1" disappeared off the line count. So for that there was a line = 48 characters. How can that be when I'm paid for a 65 character line?

Help.

Follow Ups:

• i copied an entire chart into Word - and counted characters 16:59:54 03/04/05 (1)
  • Does Word count the same things as characters as MQ program does? - ? 23:29:49 03/04/05 (0)
• MQ line count - MQ2 07:57:26 03/04/05 (2)
  • Now that is an accomplishment! because I sure never have been able to. ?so how - wow 11:48:57 03/04/05 (1)
    • clarification - Aeb 15:05:51 03/04/05 (0)
• Worse still, this would mean (sm) - Oh my 21:47:40 03/03/05 (3)
  • I don't think I understand. Please explain. - huh? 21:56:28 03/03/05 (2)
    • it does not matter - mq mt 10:18:31 03/04/05 (1)
      • So I should be able to look at a report and with a counting program be able to - . 11:57:46 03/04/05 (0)