Holiday Gifts for Writers
What does your favorite writer want this year?
In some ways, writers are easy to buy gifts for—because: books. There’s not a writer on the planet who wouldn’t appreciate a thoughtfully chosen book as a holiday gift. If you aren’t sure of a writer’s taste in reading, just give a book that you have loved or would love to read. And if that makes you nervous, there are always gift certificates. Bookshop is a great place for that, or Powell’s.
A subscription to writing software, such as Scrivener, Dabble, or Highlander 2, or Living Writer. These are highly personal choices, so you might want to consult with your writer first—or just give them the money for it. There’s also the more general One Stop for Writers, which isn’t writing software per se but has all kinds of reference material incorporated into the site: thesauri of various types, helpful info on story structure and world building, lists of character traits and wounds, help in organizing research, and more.
A writer can never have enough journals, period. I’m a big fan of the Nuuna notebooks from Germany, though I will admit they are often difficult to find. If they are unavailable, the Leuchtturm1917 is wonderful. It comes with numbered pages and an index at the beginning, which has long made if a fan of the bullet journalers. But even if you’re not willing to go down that road (been there, done that) it’s a wonderful journal for everyday use. And it comes in all the colors! You also can’t go wrong with your garden variety Moleskine. Jenni Bick has a huge selection of options.
And what’s a journal without a pen? Nothing, I say, absolutely nothing. I go through phases on pens, but here are some of my tried and true choices: The Pilot Vball, Pilot G-2, Papermate Flair pens in bright colors for fun. I also love the R2 Rollerball but be aware it bleeds copiously. And finally, there’s the Schneider, a pen my friend Debbie and I discovered and fell in love with at a copy shop in Ceret, France, but widely available here in the States as well. Pens make great stocking stuffers! A writer can never have too many of them, just like journals.
I never met a writer who didn’t adore office supplies. All of them. But my own personal preferences leans to sticky notes, legal pads, and spiral notebooks of all kinds. There’s also fun paper clips and staplers. I don’t know about your favorite writer, but I know I’d love getting a gift certificate to an office supply store where I could shop to my heart’s content. Besides the usual Office Depot and Staples, I always find good office stuff at Target.
One good thing about the age of Covid is that there are tons of online classes available. Look at offerings from Story Summit, David Corbett, Writer’s Digest, and Jane Friedman. I’m interested in this class from Susan deFreitas. You can also gift memberships in organizations, most of which offer a full array of classes and resources. I recommend Women’s Fiction Writing Association and Sisters in Crime. I used to belong to RWA, but they’ve had problems lately and I’ve not kept up with how they are doing. There are also groups for thriller writers and horror writers and likely tons more I’m not aware of. Ask the Google.
How about a tarot deck and a book about how to use it for writing to go with it? The tarot is a handy tool for many things, including writing. I have fifty million decks so I’m hard pressed to make recommendations, but one of my current favorites is the Crow Tarot. And here’s the book about how to use your tarot deck for writing.
A good desk lamp can make all the difference for a writer. I one similar to this from Amazon a couple years ago and used it daily until I got a new desk and no longer needed it. A versatile choice. Along the same lines, how about a bulletin board to pin up notes and ideas, or a white board on which to parse out scenes? Or maybe the desk needs some greenery—house plants to the rescue. Try ordering from Pistil’s (local to me and my fav), Lively Root, or Bloomscape, or The Sill. Yes, you can reliably get plants delivered. And speaking of desk ambience, I just about always have a candle burning on or near my desk.
Maybe your writer needs a planner or calendar? I swear by my digital calendar on phone and computer but I also keep an analog planner at hand. New to me this year is the Eule planner from Kerstin Martin (from whom I learned Squarespace) and I adore it. Thoughtfully designed with extra space for notes and also highly adaptable to your own personal needs. There are also some beautiful leather planner covers for those writers who prefer the Traveler style of notebook.
A pair of wool socks to keep toes warm while writing. These from Darn Tough are life-changing (my feet are always cold). And don’t forget the writer’s hard-working hands. Fingerless gloves are a wonderful thing also. I just got a pair of these from Gudrun Sodjen. If you’re really ambitious, knit your writer a sweater or shawl to keep her warm. The go-to source for patterns is, of course Ravelry. And for yarn, I like my local options (who ship all over) Twisted or Starlight Knitting Society. Big online retailers are Webs and Lovecrafts.
There’s also warming from within and nothing does that better than a hot cup of tea. I like the teas from August Uncommon and Smith Teamaker. And there’s always coffee. Writers need lots of it. Gift cards to Starbucks or a favorite local shop would be welcomed.
And, you can always go big—maybe your fav writer needs a new laptop or tablet! Again, very personal choice here. But just think, you might be contributing to literary history by giving a writer a trusty machine to write on. In a similar vein, if you look on Ebay you might be able to find an Alphasmart, an old school version of a word processor. It’s great for distraction-free writing.
That’s all I’ve got for now! Happy gift giving!
(Some of these are affiliate links, which means I get a small bit of change from them.)