Stocking Stuffers
A gift bag of coffee or tea and snack foods,
because writers have long thought that caffeine and sugar are their best
friends. At one of our writing retreats, we determined that Hawkins Cheezies are the best junk food ever – and they're Canadian. Yum.
Healthy snacks, because sugar is not truly your bff.
If you're crafty in the kitchen, try some of these homemade treats here.
A bottle of Writers' Tears Copper Pot Irish whisky.
If you're crafty in the kitchen, try some of these homemade treats here.
A bottle of Writers' Tears Copper Pot Irish whisky.
If you're looking for Christmas books, Penguin has a boxed set of six Christmas classics: A Christmas Carol by Dickens,
Christmas at Thomspon Hall by Trollope, The Night Before Christmas by Gogol, The
Nutcracker by Hoffman … here.
You can find a selection of kids' Christmas books here or here or here ... There are a lot of Christmas books for kids.
Good lists of Hanukkah books for kids are hard to find. Try here or here, or just buy all of Eric Kimmel's books here.
A gift certificate to Tim Horton’s, because a comfortable café is often the best place to write {at least if you're not under lockdown because of a pandemic).
Fingerless gloves (type and have warm fingers). You can also get a Pride and Prejudice scarf, a Sense and Sensibility pillow cover, a Black Beauty baby blanket ... here
Reading is Sexy button … here
AquaNotes waterproof notepads (for
shower ideas—yes, these really work!)
Pens
A stamp with a happy face for critiquing your
fellow writers
Board
Games & Creativity Helpers
Apples
to Apples is a great creative game; you need to match a noun card in your
hand to a given adjective card and convince the dealer that your (absurd)
choice really is the best. We had a hoot playing this at the end of the day at the Algonguin Writing
Retreat last June. ~Brian
“The Story Engine” deck of cards with extension
packs. Very helpful for new ideas here.
Dixit may be the most popular writing
board game out there. Players have to convince other players that their
story card is the best way to tell the
story.
With 540 cards, the Storymatic feeds
the imagination. Just pull out cards from each category (such as “Obstacle” and
“What-choo-want”) and let the storytelling begin. Great for writers
experiencing writer’s block and collaborative writing groups.
Writer Emergency Pack. It includes 52 cards
with fantastic illustrations and loads of ideas. Whenever you’re
struggling with a story, you can pull out a card and get inspiration!
(Or at least a giggle.)
The Game of Things makes everyone write.
You’re given a category like “Things that Jiggle” and everybody has to write
down a funny or crazy answer. Then the leader of the round reads them
anonymously and you have to guess who wrote what. If you play with the
right people, it’s fun and funny.
In The Writer’s Toolbox,
there are 60 games to play to inspire writers to create — be the first to
create a story based on “First Sentences, Non Sequiturs, and Last Straws.”
Also, use one of two spinners to generate a random detail that you have to
include in your story.
In Once
Upon a Time, the leader plays cards to start a story, trying to guide the
story toward his end card. Other players try to jump in and play their
cards. First one to use all their cards up wins! Great fun for creative
writers.
Bananagrams anagram game … here
Scrabble Magnetic Refrigerator Tiles … here
The Writer's Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises
for Inspiring the 'Write' Side of Your Brain ... here
For Writers Who Outline
Index cards
Post-It notes
Corkboard & pushpins
Whiteboard with dry erase markers and eraser
For Writers Who Don't Always Write on Computers
Notebooks! Book stores often have great selections of notebooks and other essential writerly tools, and it's a good year to try to shop as much as possible at a bricks and mortar store.
Technology Helpers
Drogon voice recognition dictation software.
Typing program (learn to type faster!), such as KeyBlaze.
Wireless/ergonomic keyboard or mouse
Virtual keyboard for
mobile use
Big Ticket Items
New computer
Bigger computer monitor
Ergonomic desk chair
Cover design or editing costs for self-published authors
Writing Craft and Publishing-Related
Books
The Art of Fiction, John Gardner
The Art of War for Writers, James Scott Bell
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron
Bird by Bird: some instructions on
writing and life, by Anne Lamott.
Conflict, Action and Suspense, William Noble
The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B. White
The Fiction Editor, Thomas McCormak
How Stories Work, James Woods
Spunk and Bite: A Writer's Guide
to Bold Contemporary Style, Arthur
Plotnik
Writing Down the Bones, Natlie Goldberg
The Thesaurus books by Angela Ackerman and Becca
Puglisi (The Emotion
Thesaurus, The Positive
Trait Thesaurus, and The Negative
Trait Thesaurus)
Save the Cat by
Blake Snyder or Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
And don't forget, books are available at actual book stores.
Miscellaneous Suggestions
Comfort clothes (robe and fuzzy slippers, sweat pants,
but be careful; you may never change out of them. See here!)
Gift basket full of writing-related ideas (pens,
notebooks, special beverage and glass, inspirational items or quotes, etc.)
Gift cards for books
Gift cards for office supply stores
Fun reader/writer-type gifts (“Careful, or you’ll end up in my
novel” mug, The Literary Gift Company,
etc.)
Subscription to music source; such as Spotify
Lithographs: Shirts and totes printed with images
and the text of your favourite novels. Tattoos available, too … here.
Out of Print Tee’s: T-shirts, tote bags, iphone
cases – all sorts of things, decorated with your favourite book covers (here).
Premium level of online service (Dropbox for automatic backups, Amazon Prime for free
shipping/lending library, etc.)
Entry fee for a writing contest
Massage gift certificates, a back or foot massager
A head scratcher – which surely no writer can do without! (Dogs love them, too. Cats will tolerate them.)
Writing time (anything from babysitting to a
writers’ retreat to a
housecleaning service)
P.S.
Check out “Books make some of the very best
gifts”
~ Part 1 here. Part 2 here.
See the best Jewish
Canadian books for kids and teens here and here.
Gifts to make the world a better place here.
And
check out some of the very best gifts for writers here.
Plus, don't
forget, try to shop local. Buy your books straight from the publisher or from
a book store.
See
Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly
writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.
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ReplyDeleteI found some postcards on Amazon that I thought were pretty neat. Postcards from Penguin and Postcards from Puffin are both collections of 100 postcards with iconic book jackets featured on one side.
ReplyDeleteI can't write in a coffee shop if I have my kids with me. But if the weather is rainy or cold, I can take them to an indoor playground and get a little writing done while they play. So tokens to an indoor playground are on my wish list!
A hook and a home-made sign that says "Bugger off - I'm writing" or something nicer "Please do not interrupt me - I'm revising"
ReplyDelete