Gifts for Writers
I'm blogging a bit late to give Charlotte's post a bit more "face" time. So great of her to stop by. Thanks, Charlotte!I'm rather wound up in Christmas shopping. Normally, I'm stressing at the last minute. For whatever reason, I'm more on the ball this year and it feels so much better. I'm also going simple--one largish present instead of a hundred little ones. And conservative--thoughtful, but not overboard. I have to say...it's nice. I'm enjoying the season a lot more, stressing a lot less and generally feeling happier.
I'm still debating over what to get the members of my RWA chapter board. Flip flopping between a few ideas, which had me surfing around the Internet looking for good gift ideas for writers. They seem to come in three categories: intangible, big or little. I kinda wanted something different, but thought it would be good to list the various ideas I found and hopefully have you all add to them.
- Time, space and support--of course every writer needs those things, but how do you "give" those? I think a coupon book would be a great way--homemade coupons for "Ready to cook lasagna for the family" in lieu of "time"; "Two hours of organization" in lieu of "space"; "Three brainstorming sessions at Starbucks" in lieu of support. You could get really fun and creative with a coupon booklet. Unfortunately, none of my writing friends live close enough for me to use this one. :-(
- Pens, pencils, notebooks--these are ... okay, but I probably wouldn't use them. I've got pads and writing utensils all over the dang house. Maybe a special journal. Better yet, a journal with guided writing prompts or self-discovery techniques you've put in yourself. Or a journal that accompanies a book such as Simple Abundance or one of Eric Maisel's creativity books or any other of the enlightening works out there.
- Books--of course, this one is rather obvious. But maybe look at it from a little different angle--the newest release of a best selling author from the writer's genre, the newest release from one of their favorite authors, a craft book related to that genre, or something that writer has been struggling with.
- Gift certificates--no, not necessarily to B&N, although I'm sure lots of writers would like that too, but maybe for an online class or workshop. Be creative!
Lots of other suggestions come to mind:
- Computer software
- Flypen (this is what I've asked for)
- Alphasmart (looking into this too)
- Scrapbook of story ideas collected from newspapers and magazines
- iPod
- iTunes
- Inspirational notes or signs
- Calendar
- Magazine subscription
- Online subscription (i.e. autocrit, Publishers Weekly, etc.)
- Bookclub subscription (i.e. Writer's Digest)
- Netflix subscription (they've got great documentaries, too)
Okay, I'm dry. Help me out here -- what are your ideas for great writer gifts?
Labels: Joan's posts
posted by Joan Swan at 5:21 PM
4Comments:
OMG. I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. And gifts for my executive board?! Ugh. I'm still trying to come up with gifts for the members of my chapter who are consistently plugging away at our 100-day challenge. Since the chapter Christmas party is at my house in two weeks (and I promised to have gifts for all those who participated), I better get on the ball.
Great suggestions. You've got me thinking...
You don't need a gift for me Eli- I haven't been doing a very good job of plugging away!
Joan, I really, really want a new laptop with a battery life of more than one hour- think you could handle that! LOL Or at least put a good word into Santa for me.
As a writer, I guess the thing I want and the only one who can give it to me is more time to work on my projects. The things like books, and office supplies are things I pick up all year as I need them. I started a journal once of word count and projects, it lasted about a month. I'd rather work on a project than journal about it. :)
Guess I'm not much help. Sorry!
Can I join your chapter! We've never given our exec board gifts.
Paty,
My laptop is having the same problem -- lousy battery life. I just bought a new one on ebay for 1/2 what it costs on discount battery sites.
Guess I can't use that as an excuse not to write anymore. :-(
I like writer t-shirts with cute sayings.
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