Writers can be a tough breed to crack in the gift-giving department. Luckily for you, we’ve rounded up all the best gifts for writers, authors, poets, screenwriters, copywriters, journalists and more. Whether it’s a birthday, Christmas, or celebration of accomplishment, here’s a list of the best gifts and tools for every writer and creative on your list.
50 Gifts for Writers and Authors
Productivity Tools for Writers:
Freedom App
Of course, we’re a little biased with this one, but we do have a lot of writers in the Freedom community. Give the gift of focused writing and mental clarity with the Freedom app. Use the app to block distracting websites and apps across all your devices so you can focus on what matters most. [$29.00]
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Bagby Phone Sleeping Bag
Give the gift of a phone-free bedroom or workspace. Unplug, sleep better, improve your focus and reconnect in a mindful way with the present moment. Get Bagby, the world’s first sleeping bag for your phone. [From $ 12.95]
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Skillshare Subscription
Give the gift of lifelong learning with Skillshare subscription. With Skillshare Premium you gain access to over 18,000 online courses, including writing classes, taught by expert practitioners. [$99.00/year]
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Udemy
Udemy Productivity, Mindfulness and Time Management courses
Udemy is a global marketplace for learning and teaching online where more than 24 million students are mastering new skills and achieving their goals by learning from an extensive library of over 80,000 courses taught by expert instructors. [$9.99 with Freedom Perks]
Sanebox
An average employee spends 28% of their time processing email. That’s 650 hours/year. An average SaneBox customer saves 100+ hours/year using Sanebox to filter and organize their inboxes. “This Is By Far The Easiest Way To Fix Email Overload.” – Business Insider [$69.00/yr]
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Trello
Trello is an online organizational tool for task and project management. Based on the Kaban system, Trello allows you to visually break down large assignments into manageable tasks. Organize your tasks into lists or categories, assign due dates and members, and visualize your progress as you go. [$9.99/month]
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Dragon Anywhere Dictation Software
Dragon Anywhere professional-grade mobile dictation makes it easy to create documents of any length and edit, format and share them directly from your mobile device—whether visiting clients, a job site or your local coffee shop. [$150.00/year]
BUYOn How to Be More Productive:
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price
Many of us find ourselves glued to our phones these days – so this year give the gift of a better relationship with your phone. Catherine Price’s How to Break Up with Your Phone is a research-backed guide to creating a relationship with your phone that actually feels good. [$11.69]
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Make Time by Jake Knapp + John Zeratsky
Make Time is a new book about finding focus and energy in your daily life. Make Time is not about productivity, life hacks, or time-saving tricks. It’s about creating time for what matters by rethinking the defaults of constant busyness and distraction. [$17.70]
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Atomic Habits by James Clear
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones This breakthrough book from James Clear is the most comprehensive guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day. [$16.20]
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Deep Work by Cal Newport
In Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, author Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four “rules,” for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. [$17.63]
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HyperFocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction by Chris Bailey
A practical guide to managing your attention–the most powerful resource you have to get stuff done, become more creative, and live a meaningful life. Hyperfocus provides profound insights into how you can best take charge of your attention to achieve a greater sense of purpose and productivity throughout the day. [$17.60]
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Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi
Bored and Brilliant shows the fascinating side of boredom. Manoush Zomorodi investigates cutting-edge research as well as compelling (and often funny) real-life examples to demonstrate that boredom is actually a crucial tool for making our lives happier, more productive, and more creative. [$17.11]
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity–principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates. [$11.47]
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Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
In his #1 bestseller, Emotional Intelligence, Goleman outlines five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships, work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is an entirely new way to talk about being smart. [$12.23]
BUYBest Notebooks for Writers:
Leuchtturm A5 Notebook
A favorite of writers and a strong alternative to the popular Moleskine notebook. The Leuchtturm A5 hardcover notebook is the perfect all-purpose notebook for any writer. Offered in a variety of colors and ruling options including ruled, squared, dotted, and plain. [$ 19.95]
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Rocketbook Wave Notebook
This smart notebook gives you the Freedom of a traditional pen and paper notebook with the ability to upload all of your notes instantly to the cloud with your smartphone. When using Pilot FriXion pens, this notebook also allows you to erase your notes using your microwave oven and reuse your notebook. [$27.00]
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Rite in the Rain All-Weather Spiral Notebook
For writers that need a notebook that will survive any weather condition, the Rite in the Rain top-spiral notebook is the perfect option. Its paper that won’t turn to mush when wet and will repel water, sweat, grease, mud, and even survive the accidental laundry mishap. [$21.43]
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Rhodia Webnotesbook
This French brand offers a variety of notebooks and notepads and is known for having the best paper quality for its price – perfect for all the paper nerds on your list. [$19.95]
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Unni A5 Notebook
Based out of SanFranciso, the Unni notebook has quickly become another favorite of writers with quality paper and a cheaper price than many of the popular alternatives. Offered in a variety of colors and sizes and ruled, dotted, squared, and plain. [$10.95]
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Moleskine
Moleskine is the brand that popularized leatherbound notebooks in the modern day. Although there is some controversy of the brand’s strong reputation, it still has millions of fans around the world. Notebooks are available in a variety of sizes, colors, and rulings. [$15.99]
BUYBest Pens for Writing:
Fisher Space Pen
This pen can write at absolutely any angle, including zero gravity, and in extreme temperatures. Perfect for those writers that like to write laying down. [$20.50]
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Zebra F-701 Retractable Ballpoint Pen
The Zebra F-701 is one of the most popular pens on Amazon and is known for being the best value for money. [$5.43]
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Le Pen
Le Pen is a fan favorite of felt tip lovers. Perfect for writing, journaling, and even drawing. [$15.49 – 12-pack]
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Muji Hexagonal Polycarbonate Ball Point Pen
Muji has become a household name in many circles that admire the company’s sleek design and quality products. The Muji Hexagonal Gel Ink Pen is no exception. Writers love its hexagonal body that makes it easy to grip and its smooth and flowing ink. [$15.70 – 5-pack]
BUYEssential Writing Software:
Ulysses
A pleasant, focused writing experience combined with effective document management, fast syncing and flexible export make Ulysses the first choice for writers of all kinds. [$39.99/yr]
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Grammarly Premium
Give the gift of flawless grammar with Grammarly Premium. A software designed to improve your writing in real-time, Grammarly checks grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary, plagiarism, and more! [$139.95/year]
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Scrivener
Scrivener is a word-processing software that allows you to write, edit, organize, and manage your writing. Organize your thoughts on notecards in the virtual corkboard mode, view your research and writing side by side, or use one of Scrivener’s academic templates to get you started. Whether writing a romance novel or dissertation – Scrivener is a great gift for anyone with a lot of writing to do. [$45.00]
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ProWritingAid
This editing tool is a great way for any writer to improve their craft as they write. ProWritingAid allows writers to edit faster with thousands of automatic style suggestions, fix style issues by checking for vague wording, repetitiveness, passive voice, convoluted sentence structure, and more, eliminate spelling and grammar errors, find the perfect word using the advanced thesaurus tool, and learn more about language as they write. [$40.00/year]
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Evernote Plus
Give the gift of organized writing with Evernote Plus. Evernote is a platform designed for note-taking, organizing, and archiving all of your thoughts and ideas. The application allows users to store text, photos, web pages, links, or voice memo, while allowing you to access and search content on all your devices. [$34.99/year]
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DayOne Journal
DayOne Journal allows a user to quickly capture their thoughts and memories on any device and have them synced and backed up on the cloud. The simple and focused design encourages users to make writing a habit while capturing all of your most treasured memories. [$34.99/year]
BUYFor Writing Help and Inspiration:
The Writer's Toolbox
Designed by a longtime creative writing teacher, this innovative kit includes a 64-page booklet filled with exercises and instructions that focus on a “right-brain” approach to writing. For any aspiring writer, this toolbox is the perfect first step on the path to literary greatness! [$18.52]
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Writing Masterclass
Give the gift of expertise with a writing Masterclass. Masterclass has writing courses taught by the best writers in the world and includes options to gift a single class or a yearly subscription. [$ – varies]
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Writer Emergency Pack
Help any writer banish writer’s block with the Writer Emergency Pack. With 52 idea and detail cards, this kit will help resurrect any story in need. [$19.00]
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On Writing by Stephen King
On Writing by Stephen King is this writing legend’s personal memoir dedicated to the craft itself. This bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. [$11.07]
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Magnetic Poetry
A fun and creative writing aid for all. With over 300 magnetic word tiles to create endless possibilities, magnetic poetry is a fun way to stop writer’s block in its tracks. [$19.95]
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The Emotion Thesaurus
One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying a character’s emotions to the reader in a unique, compelling way. This book comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each. [$14.24]
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Writer's Market 2018
This year help a writer on your list get published with Writer’s Market 2018, which offers thousands of publishing opportunities–including listings for book publishers, consumer and trade magazines, contests and awards, and literary agents. [$27.51]
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The Storymatic
The Storymatic is a writing prompt, a teaching tool, a parlor game, and a toy – all in one little box. Pick a few cards and watch a story take shape before your eyes. [$29.95]
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QueryTracker
This year, give a writer you know the gift of a good agent – or at least the ability to find one. QueryTracker provides invaluable data on each listed agent such as number of queries they receive, accept/reject rate, response time, seasonal data, and more. [$25.00/year]
BUYFor Setting the Tone:
Brain.FM
Brain.fm is an AI music composer that uses music’s ability to influence your cognitive state. Brain.fm’s music can be used for focus, relaxation, or sleep and has been proven to improve productivity and your ability to focus. [$47.40]
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Coffitivity
For many writers and freelancers, the light buzz of a coffee shop can help create the perfect work environment. However, the struggle of finding a seat, outlet, and a coffee shop with just the right amount of activity can be tricky. That’s where Coffitivity comes in. Coffitivity allows you to choose from a selection ambient of coffee shop sounds without the hassle of the coffee shop. [$9.00/year]
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Focus@Will
Help a writer get in the zone with Focus@Will. Focus@Will provides scientifically optimized music to help you focus. Get music customized specifically for your personality type or browse over 50 channels of unique tracks optimized for productivity and focus. [$9.95/month]
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Todoist
Todoist is an elegant task manager that allows you to simplify your goals, tasks, and projects into actionable lists. With Todoist, you can easily break down projects into manageable tasks, share and collaborate on lists with others, and visualize your progress and productivity. [$28.99]
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Stick-Up Weekly Calendar
The Stick-Up Weekly Calendar is both sticky note and calendar. You can write down your to-dos for the week, peel off a sheet, and then pin it on your computer or wall as a reminder. Stick it to a fridge for weekly menu planning or grocery lists and enjoy the satisfaction of peeling it off when all your tasks are complete. [$10.00]
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Whiteboard Sticker
Help any writer brainstorm and plan their schedules with these customizable whiteboard stickers. Perfect for a variety of uses and surfaces. [$8.99]
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Freelancer Planner
The Freelancer Planner is the only planner that gives freelancers one place to organize income, goals, client bookings, and tasks. [$23.00-30.00]
BUYFor the Love of Writing:
Out of Print Clothing
Out of Print has a large selection of socks, tees, hoodies and totes, and accessories that feature prominent authors and covers of iconic books – the perfect gift for any writing enthusiast! [$10.00]
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Literary Candles
Named for the locations in literary classics, these soy candles evoke the book’s most memorable moments. [$16.00]
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Aqua Notes Waterproof Notepad
The shower can be one of the best places for new ideas. Now with the Aqua Notes notepad you can capture your ideas before they slide down the drain. [$14.99]
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ScribeDelivery
Gift a gift that keeps giving – every month! With a SribeDelivery subscription, you’ll be giving your favorite writer the gift of fresh notebooks, pens, and the inspiration to use them. [$29.00]
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Writer Cufflinks
Keep the writer in your life looking sharp with these fountain pen cuff links! [$16.94]
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My Booket List
Writers love to read almost as much as they love to write. My Booket List helps book lovers create a bucket list of all the books they want to read. [$14.99]
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Mini Book Wine Glass Beverage Charms
Writing and drinking go hand-in-hand. Use this set of clay mini book charms to identify your glass in a crowd! Let the powerhouse writing trio of Charlotte, Emily and Anne adorn your glass stem. [$45.00]
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Please Do Not Annoy the Writer
Help a writer get straight to the point with this cheeky mug. [$7.20]
BUYFor Making Writing More Comfortable:
NatureBox
Give your writer the fuel they need to do their best work with NatureBox. Let them snack confidently knowing that everything is created with high-quality ingredients that are free from artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. [$ – Varies]
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NC Made
Food for thought. Give the taste of NC handcrafted gourmet foods with NC Made snack boxes. [$52.00]
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Super Footwarmer
Give a writer the gift of warm feet to help make the writing process more comfortable. [$46.06]
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Croissant Coworking Space
This year give a writer a new home to work with a Croissant coworking membership. [$39.00/month]
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Mr. Coffee Warmer
Most writers run on coffee. Give the gift of eternally hot coffee with the Mr. Coffee Warmer. [$7.99]
BUYDID YOU KNOW?
In a Freedom user survey, 86% of users reported gaining an at least 1-2 hours per day while using Freedom to block their distractions.
