Applescripting Automator.

I am starting to work with applescripting Automator apps when I suddenly realized I don't speak applescript. So I beg for help.

I'd like to make a simple automator app that reads the word count from the clipboard.

I know that automator likes

"on run {input, parameters}" to start an applescript and

" return input
end run" to end it. The questions become:

What input and parameters need to be set for the clipbard?
What should the script do to count the words?
Once I have a number, how do I display it?

I found snippet of code that does this in applescript and displays a dialog box:

set myclip to the clipboard as string
set the reportnum to the count of words in myclip
(display dialog) & reportnum & " words"

But how can these functions be used in an Automator applescript?

And is there a way to make an automator dialog pop up and disappear after 5 seconds without clicking on it?

Thank you,

Kevin
.