Sub ColorCharacterBlocks()
Dim xlApp As Object, xlWkBk As Object, StrWkBkNm As String, StrWkSht As String
Dim iDataRow As Long, xlFList, i As Long, j As Long
StrWkBkNm = "C:\Users\" & Environ("Username") & "\Documents\CharacterList.xlsx"
StrWkSht = "Sheet1"
If Dir(StrWkBkNm) = "" Then
  MsgBox "Cannot find the designated workbook: " & StrWkBkNm, vbExclamation
  Exit Sub
End If
On Error Resume Next
'Start Excel
Set xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
If xlApp Is Nothing Then
  MsgBox "Can't start Excel.", vbExclamation
  Exit Sub
End If
On Error GoTo 0
With xlApp
  'Hide our Excel session
  .Visible = False
  ' The file is available, so open it.
  Set xlWkBk = .Workbooks.Open(FileName:=StrWkBkNm, ReadOnly:=True, AddToMru:=False)
  If xlWkBk Is Nothing Then
    MsgBox "Cannot open:" & vbCr & StrWkBkNm, vbExclamation
    .Quit
    Exit Sub
  End If
  ' Process the workbook.
  With xlWkBk
    'Ensure the worksheet exists
    If SheetExists(StrWkSht) = True Then
      With .Worksheets(StrWkSht)
        ' Find the last-used row in column A.
        iDataRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, 1).End(-4162).Row ' -4162 = xlUp
        ' Capture the F/R data.
        For i = 1 To iDataRow
          ' Skip over empty fields to preserve the underlying cell contents.
          If Trim(.Range("A" & i)) <> vbNullString Then
            xlFList = xlFList & "|" & Trim(.Range("A" & i))
          End If
        Next
      End With
    Else
      MsgBox "Cannot find the designated worksheet: " & StrWkSht, vbExclamation
    End If
  .Close False
  End With
  .Quit
End With
' Release Excel object memory
Set xlWkBk = Nothing: Set xlApp = Nothing
'Exit if there are no data
If xlFList = "" Then Exit Sub
'Process each word from the F/R List
For i = 1 To UBound(Split(xlFList, "|"))
  j = (Int(i / 150)) Mod 13
  If j < 6 Then
    j = j + 2
  Else
    j = j + 3
  End If
  With ActiveDocument.Range
    With .Find
      .ClearFormatting
      .Replacement.ClearFormatting
      .Format = True
      .Wrap = wdFindContinue
      .Text = Split(xlFList, "|")(i)
      .Replacement.Text = "^&"
      .Replacement.Font.ColorIndex = j
      'ColorIndex values:
      ' 1=Black; 2=Blue; 3=Turquoise;
      ' 4=BrightGreen; 5=Pink; 6=Red;
      ' 7=Yellow; 8=White; 9=DarkBlue;
      ' 10=Teal; 11=Green; 12=Violet;
      ' 13=DarkRed; 14=DarkYellow; 15=Gray50
      .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    End With
  End With
Next
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Function SheetExists(SheetName As String) As Boolean
Dim i As Long: SheetExists = False
For i = 1 To Sheets.Count
  If Sheets(i).Name = SheetName Then
    SheetExists = True:   Exit For
  End If
Next
End Function