TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter Hashtag: Popular Authors Tweet

July 28, 2015 3:35 PM EDT

Best-selling novelists, journalists and amateur writers alike gathered on Twitter today to turn a hashtag into a nationwide trending topic.

The hashtag in question? #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter. Writers have been chiming in to vent the everyday frustrations of the profession (or, for some people, the side job.) The most common grievance seems to be the fact that some people refuse to regard writing as actual work. They assume it’s an easy task that anyone could do if they just had time.

If you want to avoid making a writer angry, check out some of the best tweets:

"Like, who reads BOOKS?!?"
--a t.v. executive, to me, about 6 years ago#mayexplainwhyidontwatchtv #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Kristin van Ogtrop (@kvanogtrop) July 28, 2015

I thought you were dead. #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— S. E. Hinton (@se4realhinton) July 28, 2015

"You're a writer? Awesome. What's your real job?" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Paul Hudson (@MrPaulHudson) July 28, 2015

"Writer's block doesn't exist. Get on with it." #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Emma Gannon (@emmagannon) July 28, 2015

"You're a writer? Awesome! We're looking for writers. We don't pay but it's great exposure!" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Elizabeth Esther (@elizabethesther) July 28, 2015

"oh my husband's half-brother's cousin's cat writes poems, maybe you guys can collaborate" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— peter laberge 🌺 (@tweeterlabird) July 28, 2015

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