Thanks! That’s immensely helpful. 🙂

Hi Leslie – So hash tags can definitely get confusing. There’s this great online guide to twitter by Inky Girl (Debbie Ridpath Ohi https://inkygirl.com/a-writers-guide-to-twitter). She talks about hash tags and also lists all the writing chats (with associated hash tags). I remember being super-confused when I first started using twitter and her site is where I learned all the basics. I can’t recommend it enough!

As for what some hash tags mean, mostly they tend to be abbreviations (and a quick ask to The Google can fill you in on what the hash tag means and what its purpose is.) A few important ones to know #myWANA (WANA=We Are Not Alone) is sort of like a virtual water cooler for writers where you can post updates on your current project, vent frustrations or worries, and chit chat between writing sessions. #amwriting is similar, but it’s more focused on the actual writing where you”clock in” when you start writing, then report back and say how it went. They also do group writing sprints periodically.

Some hash tags focus around writing events and those are great to follow before and after the event, so you can connect with other attendees and speakers. If you are dying to go to a writing event and can’t make it live, check if there’s a twitter hash tag for it. Then you can follow what people there are tweeting about the event while they’re there. Some people even live-tweet events, sharing soundbites from various workshops and speeches. (Again, my go-to way to find the specific hash tags is to ask The Google.)

Hope this helps!

Just a question about hash tags – how do you know what they mean, or what group you’re posting to? Some of them, like #writetip, seem fairly self-explanatory, but others, like #myWANA, not so much. I’ll admit, Twitter confuses me.

Ooh, those communities look very cool. I’ll definitely have to look more in-depth at those when I get a chance. Thanks for sharing!