diff --git a/amanuensis/parser/__init__.py b/amanuensis/parser/__init__.py
index a4bccb3..1b89b90 100644
--- a/amanuensis/parser/__init__.py
+++ b/amanuensis/parser/__init__.py
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ Module encapsulating all markdown parsing functionality
 """
 
 from amanuensis.parser.text import parse_raw_markdown
-from amanuensis.parser.render import PreviewHtmlRenderer
\ No newline at end of file
+from amanuensis.parser.render import PreviewHtmlRenderer, WordCounter
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/amanuensis/parser/render.py b/amanuensis/parser/render.py
index 1016fda..7cddcc8 100644
--- a/amanuensis/parser/render.py
+++ b/amanuensis/parser/render.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ Internal module encapsulating the render logic for parsed articles. Rendering
 is done via a rough approximation of the visitor pattern.
 """
 
+import re
+
 
 class PreviewHtmlRenderer():
 	def TextSpan(self, span):
@@ -22,4 +24,22 @@ class PreviewHtmlRenderer():
 	def ItalicSpan(self, span):
 		return f'<i>{"".join(span.recurse(self))}</i>'
 	def CitationSpan(self, span):
-		return f'<a href="#">{span.cite_text}</a>'
+		return f'<a href="#">{"".join(span.recurse(self))}</a>'
+
+class WordCounter():
+	def TextSpan(self, span):
+		return len(re.split('\s+', span.innertext.strip()))
+	def LineBreak(self, span):
+		return 0
+	def ParsedArticle(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
+	def BodyParagraph(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
+	def SignatureParagraph(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
+	def BoldSpan(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
+	def ItalicSpan(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
+	def CitationSpan(self, span):
+		return sum(span.recurse(self))
diff --git a/amanuensis/resources/editor.js b/amanuensis/resources/editor.js
index d81db22..d1d9978 100644
--- a/amanuensis/resources/editor.js
+++ b/amanuensis/resources/editor.js
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ function update(article) {
 	req.onreadystatechange = function () {
 		if (req.readyState == 4 && req.status == 200) {
 			// params.article = article;
-			document.getElementById("preview-control").innerHTML = req.response.rendered;
+			document.getElementById("preview").innerHTML = req.response.rendered;
+			document.getElementById("preview-control").innerHTML = req.response.word_count;
 		}
 	};
 	req.send(JSON.stringify(article));
diff --git a/amanuensis/server/lexicon.py b/amanuensis/server/lexicon.py
index f8fbe6f..a940c34 100644
--- a/amanuensis/server/lexicon.py
+++ b/amanuensis/server/lexicon.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from amanuensis.config import root
 from amanuensis.config.loader import ReadOnlyOrderedDict
 from amanuensis.errors import MissingConfigError
 from amanuensis.lexicon.manage import valid_add, add_player, add_character
-from amanuensis.parser import parse_raw_markdown, PreviewHtmlRenderer
+from amanuensis.parser import parse_raw_markdown, PreviewHtmlRenderer, WordCounter
 from amanuensis.server.forms import (
 	LexiconConfigForm, LexiconJoinForm,LexiconCharacterForm)
 from amanuensis.server.helpers import (
@@ -239,12 +239,16 @@ def get_bp():
 		# TODO verification
 		parsed_draft = parse_raw_markdown(article['contents'])
 		rendered_html = parsed_draft.render(PreviewHtmlRenderer())
+		word_count = parsed_draft.render(WordCounter())
 
 		filename = f'{article["character"]}.{article["aid"]}'
 		with g.lexicon.ctx.draft.edit(filename) as a:
 			a.update(article)
 
 		# TODO return more info
-		return {'rendered': rendered_html}
+		return {
+			'rendered': rendered_html,
+			'word_count': word_count,
+		}
 
 	return bp