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10 Hits and Misses for 2018

Posted on by 53 Comments

writing b logSince I started this blog eleven years ago, I’ve had over 2.471 million visitors, 3300 on my busiest day, with over 35,000 comments on the 1,623 articles I’ve posted about writing. I have several columns:

I also participate in three blog hops:

In between, I write what’s on my mind, but always about the art of writing.

If I didn’t look at the statistics on my blog, I would guess that the most read posts were about how to market what you write, but that’s not true. The series I wrote a couple of years ago on Genre Writing Tips was so popular I used that theme for my A to Z Challenge–and will again this year (there are a ton of genres) though not in the traditional #AtoZChallenge way. Then there is a series I call Descriptors–sixty-nine collections on how to describe a variety of stuff you include in your stories.

What a surprise to find out what you-all actually are reading. I am thankful for the WordPress statistics section. Here they are–my top 10 and bottom 10 of 2018:

Top Ten Hits

If I remove the description articles (which blew away the competition in number of readers), here are the top ten:

  1. 103 Most Beautiful Words? You Decide
  2. 35 Weird Traits Your Characters May Have
  3. 70 Collections to Infuse Your Writing
  4. 13 Tips for Cozy Mystery Writers
  5. Word Count by Genre
  6. How to Write
  7. 14 Websites to Read Free Digital Books
  8. 7 Tips for Literary Fiction Writers
  9. Book Launch–Born in a Treacherous Time
  10. 21 Tips from Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style”

Here are the top ten description articles:

  1. 65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing
  2. 51 Great Similes to Spark Imagination
  3. 72 Ways to Describe Sound
  4. 24 Ways to Describe Pain
  5. How to Show (Not Tell) Emotion–E to O
  6. How to Describe Nature
  7. How to Describe a Landscape
  8. 57 Ways to Describe Talking in a Novel
  9. How to Describe a Fight
  10. 29 Ways to Describe a Headache

Here are the ten that received the least amount of activity, but were no-less carefully-written:

twitter novel

Top Ten I Thought Would be Popular but missed the mark

  1. Is Your Character MacGyver-esque? Read On
  2. A Rejection Simply Means ‘No’
  3. This Guy’s Funny
  4. How to Publish Your Blog on Kindle
  5. 10 Tips Plus One More About Beautiful Words
  6. Book Review: A Study in Silks
  7. I’m Adopting a Word
  8. 5 Simple Ways to Bring Your Story to Life
  9. 27+ Tips I Wish I’d Known About Blogging
  10. Why is Honesty so Difficult as a Writer?

How about you? What topics did you write about that people couldn’t get enough of or couldn’t care less about? Hmm??

Oh–one more thing. I don’t have enough Twitter followers. If you would follow me, I’ll follow you back! Here’s the handle (with a link):

@worddreams

And one more thing: I’d love if you’d subscribe to my newsletter. Subscribers will be first to see the new cover for Survival of the Fittest–oh it is amazing!

 

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and Born in a Treacherous Time, first in the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for TeachHUB and NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Survival of the Fittest, Spring 2019, first in the Crossroads Trilogy. You can find her tech ed books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning

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53 thoughts on “10 Hits and Misses for 2018”

  2. Sometimes there’s just no accounting for which posts attracts eyeballs and which don’t. The articles I’ve written on craft, particularly anything specific to Save the Cat!, tend to get a lot of hits, but the blog itself didn’t start attracting regular commenters until I transitioned to more personal essays — those just connected/resonated with people in a very emotional way. I do more of the latter these days, and don’t spend a lot of time worrying about stats — which might make me a happier writer, but admittedly doesn’t make me a very efficient blogger!

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    • That’s a really good comment. Part of that–in your particular case–is your background and life is pretty darn interesting. The way you connect the dots and pursue life–I’m always intrigued. Dare I say entertained?

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      • Aw, bless your heart! I’m not a “smart” or strategic blogger, I just made a conscious decision to blog about my interests and experiences with as much honesty and enthusiasm as possible, and if readers happen to respond to it, I’m happy. There’s no “brand strategy” behind it; I just use the blog as an “intellectual incubator” — a place to air what’s on my mind and see if I can’t extract some kind of meaning or takeaway from it. There’s catharsis in writing, after all!

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  4. Great stats 🙂 I haven’t looked at mine in ages. I should probably make more use of them! I can’t believe I’m not following you on Twitter already! Followed now 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Jacqui, you are the master statistician, but more than numbers is the passion and knowledge you put into your posts. I’m also surprised about the articles that didn’t generate much attention. I just tread your post about honesty – it is excellent, and I don’t know why I missed it the first time around.

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  11. I’m taking the month off of non-essential online activity, but I check my email 2x/day and couldn’t resist reading this post. Your blogs always resonate with me. I loved the blogging tips from #9, and #10 really resonates with me. In fact, I actually wrote a few posts on that topic this year. Here’s to a wonderful 2019!

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  13. Thanks, Jacqui as always you’re on top of the latest in the world of writing, blogging and social media. I have noticed that the rules for writing and marketing shift every six months or so. You are the go-to person for what is the best and most up to date trends for authors and bloggers. Look forward to 2019 and its latest trends in your blog.

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  15. How interesting. I’ve not really looked at the statistics on my blog, and as you’ve proved, they provide some useful insights. Well done on your blogging history. That’s a lot of writing.

    I wonder if the time-of-year had any impact on your statistics?

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  18. Jacqui,

    I don’t pay attention to the stats anymore. It’s too stressful. 🙂 What can I say, it’s numbers. lol You always bring interesting content to your site and while I’m not a ‘novelist’ I take something away from what you share to improve my blog writing.

    You know, I’m undecided on participating in the A to Z Challenge this year, too. It’s a lot of fun but I’m feeling a bit drained. I don’t want to rule it out completely. I might get my second wind by the end of the month and decide to jump in with both feet.

    Have a good day and keep it up, you’re doing something right with those stats! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

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  19. Hi Jacqui – I’ll be back to read properly … I don’t look at stats – just get on with writing the posts and am happy when I get comments. However I love the topics you cover and your blog – it’s a great resource to have to hand … and I know you’re there if I need help or advice. Congratulations on all your work – and here’s to a fun 2019 … see you again soon! Cheers Hilary

    PS I suppose one question I could ask you to enlighten me (and perhaps us on) is the subject of privacy and cookies that each blog post seems to ‘throw up’ – as yours does … and what we need to do about them … just accept them, then clear the fields occasionally or what??!! Thank you – when you can …

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Yes, to the privacy bar that sits at the bottom of my blog as we chat. I ignore them now, once I found that ‘accepting’ was only for that page. Every time I go to a new page, it pops up again. Very annoying. It’s part of the European Union’s crackdown on privacy, mailing lists, that sort of stuff. Not a bad idea but I don’t think it’s well pushed out.

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      • Thanks Jacqui – good to know I can ‘ignore’ … it’s a pain all the constant extra button pushing one has to do to say no or not needed nowadays … though can understand – just wish the internet was full of good, well-intentioned people and we wouldn’t need the constant monitoring!! Cheers H

        Liked by 1 person

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  22. You’ve covered so many great topics, Jacqui. Although I don’t pay attention to my stats, many of my most popular posts have been when I’ve written about the benefits of blogging and when I’ve had guests. Happy New Year!

    Liked by 2 people

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