Five Clutter-Free Gifts For Writers

Every year around now, we start seeing posts on gift ideas for whatever the topic of the blog you’re reading. “25 gift ideas for a handyman.” “25 gift ideas for elementary teachers” “25 gift ideas for a librarian”. You get the point.

Since I visit a lot of writing sites, I see tons of these geared toward writers. But in most of those posts, it’s never a practical thing and is simply something that will add clutter to your already cluttered office (or in my case, the kitchen table or the living room floor, since my writing office has been converted in a bedroom at least one kids ago.)

But I don’t want to bah humbug over this stuff either. And while the consumerism of the holidays my get on my nerves, I know that most people don’t see it that way. So in the spirit of presents, I thought I throw out a few gift ideas for writers of my own.

A subscription to Writer’s Digest.

I still think Writer’s Digest is the best magazine for writers on the market today. With eight issues a year, available in print and election formats, this is a gift sure to help your writer friends improve their craft, while keeping the clutter to a minimum.

A subscription to Duotrope.

Dutrope is one of the most useful market listing sites out there. It’s got nearly 6000 active listings of publishers for both short stories and novels, and also allows the users to track their submissions and keeps stats. It’s only $50.00 for an annual subscription, and well worth a look if you know any writers out there hoping to find a place to accept their stuff.

Their favorite drink

Every writer has their favorite writing drink, so this leaves you with a couple of options. You can get a can of their regular coffee brew, or a bottle of their favorite liquor. Or for the writer who likes to camp out a Starbucks or Scooters, you can load up a gift card.

A subscription to Scrivener

I’ve talked about Scrivener before, and I stand by everything I said in that post. It’s just such awesome software for the novelist. And with a one-time only, lifetime purchase, it’s one of the best gifts you can buy for a writer.

More time to write

Most of us still have day jobs and other real responsibilities, so regardless of how much desire or talent we may have, time is still the biggest obstacle when it comes to reaching our writing goals, so simply saying “Hey, why not go work on your novel for a couple of hours,” can be the biggest gift of all.

So there you have it. Five gift ideas for that crazy loner in your family or circle of friends, who as bad social skills and even worst self-esteem and would much rather be reading a book than talking to anyone–sorry started to get carried away. Ehem. So there you have it. Five gift idea for your fun writer friends who just look like they need you to spend money on them for this fine holiday 🙂

And as a fun disclaimer, you don’t need to buy anything for me! And as a not-so-fun disclaimer…

Some of the items listed are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase or click on the link. For more information on my advertising and privacy policy, click here.

So thanks for reading, and if you can think of any other “clutter free” gifts for writers you’d like to share, please leave a comment and let us know!