diff --git a/Startcode/input.c b/Startcode/input.c
index 271e2ec..9c197ab 100644
--- a/Startcode/input.c
+++ b/Startcode/input.c
@@ -13,16 +13,18 @@ int readWords(FILE *file, char words[][MAX_WORD_LEN], unsigned int maxWordCount)
     }
 
     unsigned int count = 0;
+    char currentWord[MAX_WORD_LEN];
     size_t length = 0;
     int tooLong = 0;
     int ch;
-    
+
     while (count < maxWordCount && (ch = fgetc(file)) != EOF) {
 
         if (ch == ',' || ch == ';' || isspace((unsigned char)ch)) {
 
             if (length > 0 && !tooLong) {
-                words[count][length] = '\0';
+                currentWord[length] = '\0';
+                strncpy(words[count], currentWord, MAX_WORD_LEN);
                 count++;
             }
 
@@ -32,8 +34,7 @@ int readWords(FILE *file, char words[][MAX_WORD_LEN], unsigned int maxWordCount)
         else if (!tooLong) {
 
             if (length < MAX_WORD_LEN - 1) {
-                words[count][length] =
-                    (char)toupper((unsigned char)ch);
+                currentWord[length] = (char)toupper((unsigned char)ch);
                 length++;
             }
             else {
@@ -44,10 +45,11 @@ int readWords(FILE *file, char words[][MAX_WORD_LEN], unsigned int maxWordCount)
     }
 
     if (count < maxWordCount && length > 0 && !tooLong) {
-        words[count][length] = '\0';
+        currentWord[length] = '\0';
+        strncpy(words[count], currentWord, MAX_WORD_LEN);
         count++;
     }
 
     return (int)count;
-    
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file