Gifts for Writers in Your Life

Photo credit: Eric Torrontera on Flickr

So the holidays are upon us, which means the time to buy gifts for your loved ones is here! As I've been planning all my purchases for family and friends, it occurred to me I haven't really talked about gifts for writers, so now seems like a perfect time to do it.

So without further ado, here are some gift ideas for the writers in your life. Or, you know, ideas to give your friends and family for you. ;)


Writing craft books

Writing craft books are always a great choice, because there's always more for writers to learn. Some that I've read and loved or are on my list to read include:

• The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
• The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass
• Novel Shortcuts by Laura Whitcomb
• Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
• Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Story Genius by Lisa Cron
• Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland
• Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland
• Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass
• The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson
• 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam
• 2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron
• The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna
• Wired for Story by Lisa Cron
• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
• Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
• Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
• Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer

Nerdy mugs ($12.00-19.90)

There are lots of places to find nerdy mugs, like Barnes & Noble, Hot Topic, Out of Print and Etsy. Some fun options include B&N's Harry Potter Ceramic Cauldron mug, Hot Topic's Disney Alice in Wonderland Cheshire Cat mug and Harry Potter Hogwarts Red mug, Out of Print's Banned Books Heat Reactive Mug or some of the many cute selections from missbohemia's Etsy store.

Bookish candles ($18.00)

Frostbeard Studio has a really great collection of bookish soy candles. With choices like Book Cellar, Headmaster's Office, New Paperback, Old Books, Oxford Library, Reading at the Cafe, Study Break Chai Latte, Wizardry Buttery Drink and more, there's a scent for every book nerd.

Nerdy shirts, scarves, sweaters ($20.00-$42.00)

There are so many places to get bookish clothes and accessories. TeeFury has a whole book collection including The Little Wizard and Extraordinary Novelists, Litographs has awesome selections like Peter Pan,  Scarlet, and The Declaration of Independence, Out of Print has great choices like their  When in Doubt (Harry Potter Alliance) Sweatshirt and Fantastic Books & Where to Find Them t-shirt, and Storiarts on Etsy has some gorgeous bookish scarves like Shakespeare's Hamlet Book Scarf, and The Raven by Poe Book Scarf, and also these cool Alice in Wonderland Writing Gloves.

Scrivener ($45.00)

I've written about the wonders of Scrivener many times. While you'll probably want the writer in your life to play around with the free trial first (because it's not for everyone!), I, for one, can say Scrivener has completely changed how I tackle writing books for the better and I will never go back.

AeonTimeline ($50)

AeonTimeline is a pretty handy—and in-depth—program that could be especially useful to writers who write books with complicated timelines. Some of the features are listed here, but when I tried a free trial last year to help me work out a timeline I found it really visually interesting and useful.


E-readers

E-readers are a writer's best friend. I swear by my Nook e-ink reader, which I got years ago from someone who upgraded theirs and it still works beautifully. The one I have is discontinued but when the time comes to upgrade I'll be getting the Nook GlowLight Plus. If you're looking for an inexpensive tablet e-reader, there's Barnes & Noble's new $50 7" Nook tablet, and over on Amazon there are options like the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Fire tablet.

Noise-canceling headphones

This is a good higher-budget option if the writer in your life frequently works in noisy environments, but even if not they can be really great to help hone focus. They are, however, on the pricier end, so this would be a more luxurious gift the writer in your life would make great use of.

Cool bookends

BookRiot did a post on fifty awesome bookends earlier this year with some really cool options.

Other random suggestions: nice pens and journals, fancy teas, chocolate, bookshelves, PJ pants, fuzzy blankets, fuzzy socks, whiteboards, cork boards, and, of course, books and gift cards for books.


What writerly gifts are you craving this year? 


Twitter-sized bite: 

Not sure what to get the writers in your life for the holidays? @Ava_Jae puts together writerly gifts to consider. (Click to tweet)