What to Gift the Writer in Your Life This Holiday Season … Or Whenever
Finding the perfect gift for the writer in your life isn’t as hard as it seems. [Edited from the Archive.]
In our current world, time is money and money is time, whether we like it or not. And writers always need an abundance of time and money to write but usually lack both.
So, if you really want to give the writers in your life something they can use and desperately need, give them time, money, or both.
Luckily, you can give these things at any time of the year. It need not be Christmas, Chanukah, or your beloved writer’s birthday to give them time or money. But since we’re in the holiday season right now, consider this post a brief yet essential gift-giving guide for what to gift the writers in your life.
Did you know that in 1956 Harper Lee’s friends pooled some funds together for her as a Christmas gift to cover her living expenses for a year so that she would have the time to focus on her writing? The result: To Kill a Mockingbird.
Please don’t discredit what a bit of money and time can do for a writer, and the people of the world who need to read their writing. Trust me. There’s nothing writers want or need more than the time to write, although they need to acquire enough money to cover their living expenses first.
If you don’t have money to give this holiday season, periodically offer to run a few errands for the writers in your life next year instead, so they can have more time to write when they aren’t focused on whatever they need to do most days to pay their bills. You could also offer to do other things that take up time so they can write, like watch their kids, clean up around the house, make meals, mow the lawn, etc.
Allowing them to write for an extra hour or two here and there will make all the difference to the writers in your life, and their writing. It will show them that what they’re working on truly matters to others, especially those closest to them.
Two other gifts you can give your beloved writer that won’t cost you a cent?
The first: tell anyone you can about what they’re writing and share their published writing with others any chance you get. So many writers don’t get their work recognized because they don’t have the time or money to pay for substantial marketing efforts, not because their writing isn’t any good or because people don’t want to read it.
The second: regularly encourage your beloved writer by telling them to keep going when they’re doubting themselves, and by listening to them rant about their characters or a major plot hole they’re trying to sort out. Just be there to listen and encourage them to keep going. Sometimes offering them wine or coffee helps too.
Sure, you can give the writers in your life books and journals and other writerly trinkets this holiday season and know those gifts will be appreciated. But the best gift you can give any writer is your sincere encouragement to keep writing. And the best way to encourage them to keep writing is to support their ability to keep writing in whatever way you can.
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