Motivating Gifts for Struggling Screenwriters

Shopping for a screenwriter can be difficult. How do you find a great gift for the person that spends all their time locked away in their room pounding on a keyboard?

You might start by considering the life of an aspiring screenwriter. The screenwriter's life can be rough. Most screenwriters struggle with rejection and mental blocks on a regular basis. So, if you have a struggling screenwriter in your life, a motivating gift which helps them deal with these challenges can make a great gift.

Magnetic Remedy

A motivating gift that can help screenwriters deal with both rejection and mental blocks is the gift of magnetic poetry. The act of playing with words is not only fun, but can help a struggling screenwriter brainstorm. And when not brainstorming, magnetic poetry can be used to create reminders that will inspire the screenwriter not to give in to rejection and self-doubt.

There are various magnetic poetry kits available, but probably the most suitable gift would be The Writer's Remedy. The Writer's Remedy magnetic poetry kit is available for $14.95 from Magnetic Poetry. (www.magneticpoetry.com)

Motivating Words

Some struggling screenwriters will find it difficult to not question their own career path. After all, following your heart in the Society we live in is not always the easiest thing. A gift that encourages a screenwriter to follow their dreams is not only a motivating gift, but a gift that says you support and believe in them.

An example of this kind of motivating gift is the Thoreau Spiral Paperweight which is available for $16 from Abernook (www.abernook.com). The paperweight reads "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you always imagined."

Peace and Quiet

The inability to write can sometimes be the result of too much noise or distraction in a screenwriter's life. If this seems to be the case in your struggling screenwriter's life, a product such as noise reduction headphones could make for a great practical gift.

The best noise reduction headphones I have found are the Bose Quiet-Comfort headphones. This gift is available in two styles at a price of $299 to $349 from Bose. (www.bose.com)

If distractions are a bigger problem than noise, a weekend getaway is also a great gift idea for a struggling screenwriter. Whether the gift getaway is to a nice hotel in the city, a relaxing spa, a wilderness resort, a country cabin, or a seaside motel, the goal is to find a place where the screenwriter can write with minimum distractions.

Oscar Winners

Reminding a struggling screenwriter what they one day can achieve can make for a quite motivating gift. I don't know many screenwriters who haven't imagined writing an Oscar winning screenplay at some point in their life. Either copies of Oscar winning scripts or the DVD themselves would be a nice gift.

Experience

Sometimes the most motivating gift a struggling screenwriter could hope for is Life itself. Being exposed to new things and different people can be helpful to a screenwriter.

One way to accomplish this is by giving them the gift of a trip to somewhere they have never been. If you can relate the trip to the kind of screenplays the typically write, even better. For example, if romance is their usual genre, a trip to Paris might be ideal.

A far away trip is not the only way to introduce new things into a screenwriter's life. Some of the most fascinating places for writers are cafes, coffee shops, and late night diners. A gift certificate to one of those places is a great way for writers to be exposed different people and interesting conversations, while also providing them with some necessary food or drink.

Reading Material

For screenwriters who have trouble coping with rejection or are plagued with low self-esteem, self helps books make a great gift. And in addition to the personal help they offer, books that deal with psychology can help screenwriters understand the characters they are creating.

If your screenwriter seems to be struggling a little too much, they might benefit from a book actually about screenwriting. Story by Robert McKee is one of the most popular screenwriting books out there. Some other good screenwriting books are Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need, Crafty Screenwriting: Writing Movies That Get Made, The Screenwriter's Bible, and Screenwriting is Storytelling: Creating an A-List Screenplay That Sells.