Word has a handy feature that displays counts for words, paragraphs, lines, and characters. In Word 2003 go to Tools > Word Count. In Word 2007, you will find the Word Count button on the Review Tab.
If you don't select any text, Microsoft Word counts the words in the whole document. If you want to count words in one paragraph or other specific content, select the text first then go to Word Count.
I know this obvious but for the benefit of the less tech savvy (my mom reads my blog) I offer this tip: To add or remove footnotes and endnotes from the count, select or clear the "Include footnotes and endnotes" check box.
