Writing is my main creative outlet these days. Putting words on paper (or blogs like this one) helps me communicate concepts to an audience sometimes better than I can verbally. Writing our thoughts can help us make sense of the ideas in our heads. Writing can help people make connections and expand their businesses. And it can create opportunities and generate income. We should encourage and support writers and their craft.
If you know someone that likes to write, help them cultivate their interest. Nobody is born with an inherent skill for writing. But passion can be cultivated. Passionate writers exist because their enthusiasm has led them down a path of learning and disciplined practice. Send a gift to the writer in your life. These are some gift ideas that any writer would be happy to receive.
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Masterclass – Writing Courses
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of best-selling books The Tipping Point and Blink, is a well-respected New York Times journalist. His non-fiction books top the book charts thanks to his particular style of journalism that uses storytelling to explain concepts. A great gift for writers is Gladwell’s Masterclass on writing. The course teaches Gladwell’s techniques for finding, researching, and creating great stories.
Outranking – AI Writing Assistant
Outranking.io is a data-driven content optimization platform that makes it easy to plan, draft, and generate SEO-friendly content articles on any topic. It's one of the products in the new wave of AI tools that help writers and bloggers speed up their workflow (and even write content automatically)
But before you throw your hands up in disgust, I'm not suggesting any self-respecting writer use this software to write entire articles. Think of the software's Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine as an assistant.
It's surprisingly good at creating outlines in seconds, scanning the web for topics people are already talking about, making suggestions for turns of phrase, and generating copywriting lines that you might not have come up with.
For people that create content for the web, blog on social media, write press releases, draft business documents, and create manuals, Outranking is a huge timesaver.
If you looking for a gift idea for a writer or blogger friend with writer's block or someone who complains that writing takes up too much of their time, a subscription to Outranking might make you a hero. A great gift for anyone that wants to write faster.
On Writing – Learn the craft
Stephen King’s On Writing is one of the best books for learning the craft of writing. Strictly speaking, this a guidebook to crafting fiction. But the knowledge bombs in this short book apply to any genre. Even if you’re not a fan of Stephen King’s stories, this book will provide you with a ton of value.
It’s an excellent gift for any aspiring writer. Writers of any genre will love the words of wisdom in King’s book. I don’t write fiction but I still found this book a fascinating read.
Scrivener – Writing Software
Scrivener is a word-processor, writing tool, outliner, book draft organizer, and more. It's a tool I use for all of my blogging and article projects, helps me organize projects and tasks. Scrivener comes with a powerful set of tools for jotting notes, organizing keywords, collecting references, and creating outlines and structures.
There’s a distraction-free writing mode, split-pane view mode, markdown formats, and other efficiency-focused features. Scrivener is packed with tools that help writers improve the creative process.
Google Docs is free and there are plenty of ways to make it work. But for writers above “amateur” level, a real writing tool is essential.
Notion – Research Organiser
How to organize the research, photos, links, and other bits and pieces that a writer gathers while working on an article, novel, or blog post? Notion is a productivity and research tool I use every day. It lets you store your thoughts, web clippings, travel photos, and anything else you want in labeled documents and folders. It’s like a second brain in the cloud.
Many writers use Notion like a digital moleskin journal. But it does even more than that. It’s versatile. It acts as a place to dump your brain and organize the information. It lets you easily recall information based on tags, keywords, and notebooks. Better still, you can record a lot more information in Notion than you can in a physical journal
Notion's free plan is generous, and an upgraded plan for people who want AI-suggested content, integrations, and bigger uploads.
ProWritingAid – Writing Coach
No, I don’t mean you have to hire someone to sit beside you as you write. Nor, do you have to attend classes on writing, although that’s not a bad idea. Software products can take over some of the responsibilities of a human writing coach these days. In fact, it can do a better job sometimes. Nothing beats the touch of a real person but real people are expensive to have on call.
ProWritingAid is a grammar checker, style editor, and spell checker all rolled into one. It’s a tool every writer could use and a subscription makes one of the best gifts for writers, and one of the easiest to buy.
An alternative to ProWritingAid is Grammarly. Grammarly is a free tool with a premium plan that helps writers with their grammar (in case it wasn’t obvious). The free version is great for spell-checking and typographical errors but to get the most out of Grammarly, the subscription is a must. I prefer to use ProWritingAid but both tools are excellent for cleaning up any style.
ProWritingAid now offers a Chrome Extension so you can check your spelling on sites like Medium, Facebook, Twitter, MailChimp, LinkedIn, and others. A great tool for removing that writer’s block and helping to make your work shine.
There's also a plagiarism checker service, which can be a lifesaver for bloggers who want to rank on Google, writers who want to have their own unique voice, and journalists who want to avoid getting sued.
Documentary Streaming Services
Documentary streaming services are a great way for writers to do research and find inspiration. They can help fuel creativity by providing a wealth of information and ideas. Whether you're looking for information on a particular topic or just wanting to explore something new, documentary streaming services are a great resource.
If you're looking for a gift for a writer who's feeling stuck, consider giving a subscription to a documentary streaming service. They might just find the inspiration you need.
Physical Journal Notebook
Most of us work online these days. 99% of the writing that people do is on a computer. From my experience, writing with a pen takes three times as long. Not to mention the wrist and finger ache. My pen handling skills from school are long gone.
But there’s something beautiful and tactile about writing on paper with a pen. My computer is bursting with To Do apps, writing tools, and easy ways to jot down whatever comes to mind. But I still keep a nice journal beside me.
Here’s why:
- I can take a break from the screen to write or doodle in the journal
- Using paper can bring out the creativity in me. For the same reason why people like to change location for working and thinking, changing the medium where one writes can help spark creativity.
- Scribbling on paper feels great.
Unique journals inspire the writer in us. If you want to impress (but not spend a whole lot) these sexy refillable handmade traveler’s notebooks are just the thing.
Genuine leather. Thick paper (love that). Refillable. The perfect gift for a travelling writer.
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