'Harsh writing advice' memes take off on Twitter

When trying to write - a quick article, for instance, or an essay or even that tricky first novel - it can be easy to become distracted.

Twitter seems to be full of people who are, or should be, or want to be writing. Many of them have heard plenty of tips and advice from others over the years and are keen to pass some of those nuggets of wisdom on.

"Harsh writing advice" began trending on Twitter in response to a now-deleted tweet, which survived as a screenshot, stating that writing friends are also competition.

It led to some people dismissing the statement.

But it also morphed into Twitter users exchanging pieces of writing advice ranging from the serious...

to the more or less harsh.

The memes became increasingly whimsical, as here...

...or here...

...and even turned gruesome:

In the end, there's only one way to reach your goal:

And now for some real writing advice...

Prominent female writers shared their top writing tips with BBC Woman's Hour last year.

Novelist JoJo Moyes offers some age-old advice such as "make time to write when you can", while Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout urges would-be writers to "find their voice".

But comedian Ruby Wax has a more unusual tip: write down whatever comes into your head.

"Just write anything that comes into your mind," she says.

"Sometimes I just write, 'Hello, how are you? I'm opening the door.' And you hate yourself! But just keep doing it - eventually a little jewel will come out. But it's tolerating the garbage."