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Top 10 Posts — and Most Commented — for 2020

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Since I started this blog twelve years ago, I’ve had over 3 million visitors. Almost 23,000 follow me and have contributed over 52,000 comments on the 1,900 articles I’ve posted. I have several columns:

I also participate in two 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 write and how to market what you write, but that’s not true. More popular are first, an ongoing series on genres–through Genre Writing Tips and genres A to Z (there are a ton of genres). Then there is a series I call Descriptors–sixty-nine collections on how to describe a variety of stuff you include in your stories.

Here are my top 10 posts and commented-on posts of 2020:

Top Ten Articles

If I remove the description articles (which blew away the competition in number of readers–see below for those rankings), here are the top ten:

  1. Are you a Writer?
  2. A Secret About my Writing
  3. A Geek Answers, “Who Am I?”
  4. How I’m Doing on Against All Odds–4
  5. 11 Ways to Update Your Online Presence
  6. How are Things in a COVID-19 World?
  7. Marketing My Latest Book
  8. How You-all Market Your Books
  9. Why I Failed at NaNoWriMo
  10. Plotting a Story–with a Spreadsheet

Here are the top ten description articles:

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

Top 10 Most Commented

When readers take time to leave a comment and/or click through to a link I include in a post, it means they trust me, are engaged, and find what they’re reading valuable enough they want to extend it. Since I started my blog, I’ve received over 51,000 comments. I always respond and am inspired to visit their blogs. The perspective I get from visitors’ vast range of experience is like nothing else in life. I live in a bubble and you-all invite me out of it.

The articles that inspire this kind of activity from readers are special to me. I learn a lot by noticing what contributed to the WordDreams community. Here are the ten most commented articles I shared in 2020:

  1. Welcome Diana Peach and her new Fantasy, Liars and Thieves (152)
  2. Does Your Writing Surprise You? (146)
  3. Book Review: The Gate (144)
  4. 3 More Home Runs (141)
  5. Born in a Treacherous Time Receives an Award (136)
  6. 65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing (135)
  7. Book Launch–Born in a Treacherous Time (134)
  8. 19 Self-editing Tips (133)
  9. Why Self-Publishing is Right for Me (130)
  10. How do you create readers for life? (125)

Throughout the year, I share tips on writing and also on technology that helps writers. Some, you can make use of immediately. Others, file away for that cranky day when your writing limps along and you don’t know why.

Top Writer’s Tips

  1. 6 Tips for Western Fiction Writers
  2. 7 Tips for Literary Fiction Writers
  3. 10 Tips for Thriller Writers
  4. 13 Tips for Cozy Mystery Writers
  5. 12 Survival Tips for Writers
  6. 10 Tips on Writing Remotely in a COVID-19 World
  7. 10 Tips Guaranteed to Rescue Your Story
  8. 21 Tips from Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style”
  9. 20 Tips from Bill Bryson
  10. 17 Tips from Writing the Blockbuster Novel

Top Tech Tips for Writers

  1. Cover Your Webcam!
  2. 7 Google Apps Tricks Writers Should Know
  3. Tech Tips for Writers #79 My Internet Stopped Working
  4. Tech Tips for Writers #171: Turn Your 2-in-1 into a Tablet When Flying
  5. 27+ Tips I Wish I’d Known About Blogging
  6. 21 Writing Tips From Twitter
  7. My Favorite 5 Tech Tools for Writers
  8. Yearly Tech Maintenance: 13 Ways to Update Your Online Presence
  9. Tech Tips for Writers #172: 3-step Solution to Computer Problems
  10. Tech Tip for Writers #80: My Internet Stopped Working

Oh–one more thing. I don’t have enough social media followers. If you follow me, I’ll follow back! Here’re my handles:

Twitter: @worddreams

Instagram: JacquiMurrayWriter

LinkedIn: Jacqui Murray

Writer’s Tips Newsletter

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 Man vs. Nature saga, and the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers. 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 NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Laws of Nature, Summer 2021. 

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68 thoughts on “Top 10 Posts — and Most Commented — for 2020”

  3. Those are super impressive stats, Jacqui! You’ve been going at this blogging thing for a long time. I first started in 2007 as well, but on another blog. Yet, there is no way over three million people combined visited both blogs or over 50,000 comments have gathered. Impressive. I followed you on social media wherever I hadn’t before. I think you’re doing just fine, especially on Twitter! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Thanks for sharing these! It’s good to see what worked for you, and consider what kind of content might work at my blog, too. Oddly enough, I continue to get likes and visits on two very old posts: one on the difference between breadth and breath, and one about my cat. Do I need to post more word nerd type posts? Maybe. I do love my cat, but I’m not sure I’m willing to make her a regular part of my blogging life and since I don’t write fiction with a lot of animal characters, it doesn’t quite make sense to me. Maybe one of my characters needs to adopt a space cat. 🙂
    All oddness and joking aside, I’m going to bookmark this post for future reference.
    Thank you, again!
    My IWSG post is here: https://tyreanswritingspot.blogspot.com/2021/01/january-2021-iwsg-book-problems-winners.html

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • By far my most popular post was one about deadly animals. One was a nasty spider complete with pictures. I realized people weren’t coming for my glorious writing skills or to find out how to buy my books but for the lurid spider picture. Once I deleted it, no one visited any more!

      Maybe your cat picture is darling and drawing people to see your wonderful cat?

      Like

      Reply

  9. Wow. I’m impressed, Jacqui. You sure like collecting and interpreting data. Perhaps I should my stats too. I may find something of interest in them too.
    Keep writing your interesting posts!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. You have a great blog, Jacqui, and clearly you’re filling a niche with all those followers and comments. And you’re so organized too. I have to say that I enjoy all of your posts – they’re concise, interesting, and helpful. Here’s to another successful year of blogging!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. Congratulations on your enormous body of work. I will spend 2021 pouring thru these informational and inspiring articles. Thanks so much for supporting authors by sharing your knowledge and experience.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you, Jill. I will say, I feel like lots of my visitors (like you) are actually friends. I’m sad when they don’t post. I want to find out how some medical issue went. Does that mean it’s replacing the real world? Hmm…

      Like

      Reply

  28. Hi Jacqui – you always have wonderful posts, always offering support to us all, and are happy to share with us. Equally you open our eyes to so many aspects of ‘writing life’ … ie genres, etc … take care and all the best for 2021 – looking forward to more. Hilary

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  29. I remember some of these posts, Jacqui. But putting them all here in one post, well, let’s just say a person looking to start a writing career only needs to pause here to know how/where to start.
    It’s a great and resourceful post. I’m saving it for later – I’m sure I’ll need it 😉
    Happy new year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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