Sunday, December 4, 2011

10 Christmas Gift Ideas for Writers

I just asked Clay what kind of Christmas gift would he think I'd want as a writer. He thought for a few minutes and said he would take a walk through a book store and just . . . look around. You know, peruse through in hopes that something would catch his eye as a good gift. In his imaginary walk, he ended up with a day planner.

Well, Clay (and others who are clueless as to what to get a writer)  - any gift is a great gift, but let me help you out a little bit!

1 - Paper...mainly for the printer
We writers do lots of printing and editing and we always need paper to print on.  There is nothing worse than trying to print out the latest version of a manuscript and there's not enough paper on hand to complete the job.

2 - Ink...in different forms
This might be the only thing worse than running out of paper! If there is not enough paper, we might be resourceful enough to print on the backs of something that was previously printed. However if we run out of ink  - we have to stop our creative flow completely and run to the store.  It's helpful to have ink at hand!  Throw in a couple of ink pens too - multicolored pens are always nice!  And if you really want to go big, a collection of Sharpies! Ooooo!

3 - Book Store Gift Cards
Writers love books. We love things that bookstores sell that are not books. Notepads, and coffee mugs, and pens and puzzles. Journals and calendars and letters carved from wood. Colorful pencils, and pencil pouches, and a cup for paperclips. You can't go wrong with a nice Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble gift card.

4 - Coffee Shop Gift Cards
Books and coffee go hand in hand. Who doesn't love a book and a Starbucks cup filled with something yummy? Even if the writer in your life doesn't like coffee, we like the authory look of that warm cup.  If you don't want to go the Starbucks route (as they are waaaaaayyy overpriced), find a special mug - maybe one with our initial and over sized, and pair it with a selection of gourmet coffees, hot chocolates, flavored ciders, and/or teas. Mmmm!!

5 - A Portable USB External Storage Drive
Bigger than a flash drive, and holds a ton of material, an external storage drive makes a fantastic gift for holding ALL manuscripts, drafts, edits, book covers, random thoughts and other important things that a writer would have a breakdown over if they were ever lost via a tragic computer crash.

6 - A New Journal
Yes - we probably have 1,000 of these already, but we can never have enough of these.  New journals spark new ideas, whether those ideas are story and plot oriented, task oriented, goal oriented, or a ton of other things.  Sparks start flying when we see a new journal

7 - A Subscription to Writer's Digest
Help us keep up with what's going on in the world of writing by doing a simple subscription. It's not very costly and makes a great investment into our writing careers. If you do this, be sure to buy the current issue from the store while you wait for the subscription to kick in.

8 - An Ereader Device
The Kindle leads the way in ereaders, but there are others to choose from.  There's the Nook, the Ipad, the new Kindle Fire, which is selling like crazy, and some others. Today's writer, regardless of how much they love the feel of a book in their hands, will truly appreciate an ereader once in hand.

9 - A Pair of Headphones
These can be used to plug into our new ereaders, or allow us to listen to music from our laptops while we sit and bed and write, without disturbing the loved one sleeping besides us (or others in the house). If we need to edit a recording for a video book trailer, these come in handy there too - so you don't have to hear it a million times over while we get it just right!

10 - A Basket with All of the Above
Oh! How great it would be to open a box that had a basket inside filled with all of these things!  Throw in the new Forever Lazy Snuggie thingy (or some footed PJs) and you will undoubtedly be remembered all year long!

List your other ideas below!


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