"Bean" wrote in message
...
I need to set up a 65-character line, as I am now being paid per line
based
on a 65-character line. Is there a standard method for this?

Not since the 80s there hasn't been. Line length is meaningless with
propertional fonts.
Use a mono-spaced font (eg Courier), count across 65 characters, and set the
right margin.

Or, if you are writing more-or-less plain English, divide the word count by
6.5 -- "normal" written English averages 5 characters per word plus a space.