Holiday Shopping -- Gifts for Writers

Do you have a writer on your holiday shopping list this year? Are you stumped on what to buy a writer? Worry no more, because this guide will help you select the perfect gift for any writer! This guide not only comes in handy for the holiday shopping season, but it can also work in your favor for birthdays, other special occasions and etc. Any time you need to buy a gift for writers on your list refer to this guide and you'll have a selection of gifts for writers to choose from -- gifts any writer would love to have!

The Writer's Mind CD will do many things for writers: increase their creativity, help them brainstorm, prevent writer's block, help them overcome writer's block, boost their motivation, enhance their concentration and much more. Believe me, they'll thank you many times for this gift!

In this day and age, writers turn to computers to write and submit. Computers allow us writers access to a vast of research information, markets for our work, and e-mail for quicker responses from editors, publishers and agents. Computers also give us writers a way to advertise to millions of readers and fans. With that said, following -- for your holiday shopping -- are gifts for writers you can buy for him or her to use on his or her computer.

- Power Writer Novel and Fiction Writing Software. This software will give the writer on your holiday shopping list the ability to re-organize his or her entire novel. Furthermore, it includes spell checker, thesaurus, dictionary, story development tools and many other features any novel and/or fiction writer will love.

- We writers always back-up our work -- usually by burning it onto a CD -- so a pack of CD-Rs or CD-RWs (rewritable) would make any writer happy; writers can never have too many of these.

- Maybe you know a writer who needs a new printer. Consider purchasing a good color printer for that writer. There are many printers out there for $100 or less. Tip: before investing in a printer as a gift, ask the sales rep to let you test the printer to see how well it prints. If they really want to make a sale, they'll do a quick print test for you on the spot. Check the quality of the print once the test is complete. If you're not satisfied with the results, move on to a different printer. By all means, don't buy a printer with poor printing quality, because many writers also use printers to print out brochures, business cards and other promotional materials.

- Several freelance writers also take pictures, because many markets will pay the writer more for their article if pictures accompany the piece. Therefore, a good digital camera makes a terrific gift for freelance writers. The writer can plug the digital camera into their computer to upload the photos they have. This way they don't have to worry about getting film developed -- everything will be done instantly.

- If you're the spouse, parent or someone special who spends quite a bit of money for this person, then that special writer in your life will love you to death if you give him or her a laptop. A laptop will allow him or her to write while they're on the go. Furthermore, it will allow that special writer in your life to take their laptop and write outside. Many times the outdoors will get the creative juices flowing.

In order to gain more knowledge, learn what's new in the writing and publishing industry, and find places to sell our work us writers turn to books. Consider some of the following titles for as a gift for writers:

- "Writer's Market 2008."

- Stephen King's "On Writing."

- "The Associated Press Stylebook."

- The latest edition of "The Chicago Manual of Style."

- The latest edition of "Merriam-Webster's Dictionary."

Other than the gifts above, some other gifts the writer(s) on your holiday shopping list would love are:

- A one-year subscription to the National Writer's Union. The National Writer's Union is an organization for writers.

- A journal. Most all writers carry a journal everywhere they go. Writers use their journals to write down ideas that come to them, things going on around them and etc. Even if the writer you know has a journal, eventually their journal will become full and they'll need another one.

- Yes, writers may use computers a lot, but writers still write using pen and paper as well. Therefore, you could invest in a nice pen set and some notebook paper.

I hope this guide gave you many ideas for the writer on your holiday shopping list, and I hope you can continue to use the guide for birthday gifts, other special occasion gifts and more. Feel free to post your comment, and writers, you're more than welcome to add other gifts for writers to the list -- think of things you'd love to have. Happy shopping!