How do I start Microsoft Word in "safe mode"?

When you start Word and attempt to save or close a document, or quit Word. Word unexpectedly quits. Everytime you start Word, it automatically opens the previous documents.

One solution is to delete the preferences, but this doesn't always work.

The solution is to hold down the shift key when starting Word, this will start Word with the Template Chooser, you can then quit Word and restart Word without the error happening again.