A Gift Guide for Writers

Treat yourself or the writers you care about!

Dec 09, 2022

1. Latest News from the Desk of Sooz

I am deep in the Witchlands right now, drafting away in Aeduan’s POV—and having a ton of fun doing it. I actually just finished the first half of Merik’s POV yesterday and shifted over to Aeduan’s POV today.

This is very exciting for me, given all the personal trauma you all know is wrapped into this series. But I have been able to work past that, and the drafting is really going splendidly.1

Meanwhile, Cricket started daycare last week (woohoo! Celebrate! We finally got into a daycare!). Then of course, she got sick on her second day, and we have all now gotten sick too.

Also, my dog Leia has pneumonia. So we’re just a very wheezy, sneezy household right now.

P.S. Who else is watching Miss Scarlet & the Duke? Thank you to Alex Bracken for introducing me to that series last year. I am obsessed, and season 3 is excellent.

P.P.S. Did you read all the recent posts on here? Find links below!

Finishing What You Start (paid with a preview!)
What I Need to Know Before I Draft
Author Self Promo & Social Media (paid only!)

2. Writing Prompts

SHORT STORY ✍️

Two best friends compete every summer in a swimming race across the lake. Just the two of them, and they’ve been doing it ever since they were kids. This year, though, something goes horribly wrong.

JOURNALING ✍️

It’s that time of year where we all contemplate the past and plan the future. If you had to pick one thing you can discard from 2022, what would it be? A habit that isn’t serving you well? An item you’ve dragged your feet about tossing? A goal you set that no longer makes you happy?

3. For the DenNerds:

For those of you who have already finished The Luminaries and are hungry for book 2, I shared a sneak peek of book two over on the LumiNerds hub!

Be sure to read the chapter if you want to see where the gang is headed…but also, be warned: it’s a rough start for Winnie and Hemlock Falls and there ARE spoilers for book 1.

4. For the Daydreamers: A Gift Guide for Writers

It’s that holiday time of year, and I’ve got a few ideas for all of you writers out there—or all of you with writers friends or family. The price points vary, so hopefully you can find something that will slot into your budget and make yourself or someone you care about very happy!

1. An Alphasmart or Freewrite

I always recommend these as gifts because I think they can really revolutionize productivity for people who are easily distracted by the internet. 🙋‍♀️

For the Alphasmarts, there are a variety of models available that you can buy on eBay. Most people are familiar with the Alphsmart Neo2, which I have used for many years. But last year, I tried the Alphasmart Dana, and I have never looked back. I love the larger screen, the backlight, the touchscreen, and the ability to save onto a memory card.23

THAT SAID, Alphasmarts are notoriously finicky, and there’s a much greater risk of losing what you’ve written on the Alphasmart than a more modern Freewrite devices.

To work around this risk, I transfer my data frequently. BUT, even with frequent transfers, I’ve still had a battery die and lost my words. It has only ever happened twice, but it definitely sucked both times.

As for the various Freewrites, I have heard nothing but good things about them. I just find them prohibitively expensive for most people (myself included). Still, they aren’t nearly as risky to use! So something to consider…

2. A subscription to 4theWords

I discovered 4theWords a few years ago, but it was a newer, less developed product back then. I couldn’t make the format work for me.

It has since expanded pretty dramatically, and thanks to a free trial during NaNoWriMo, I decided to give the program another try.

I am SO glad I did! You guys, I have absolutely loved using it to write! Since I dove in last Friday (lol, my free trial was about to end), I’ve consistently written 2,000-3,000 words every single day.

I suppose this shouldn’t come as a surprise given my alter ego as a gamer, but it’s not even the game itself that works for me in 4theWords. In fact, the RPG elements are kind of meh.

However, the “killing of monsters by hitting certain word count coals in a predetermined amount of time” has been so effective for my brain. It’s like sprinting, but I don’t have to do it with anyone else.4

I also love the quests. It’s just super satisfying to fulfill a quest’s requirements by killing the right combination of monsters…and I can only kill monsters by writing words.

I don’t think I’m doing a very good job explaining this! So I highly recommend you just give it a try for yourself! It’s not expensive ($3/month as of writing this), and if you don’t enjoy after a month, then quit!

Also, a warning: the interface is a bit daunting at first, but once you get comfortable with it, it’s really easy to navigate and work in.

3. Writer Workshops

If you have an aspiring author in your life—or even a published author who likes to keep learning (🙋‍♀️)—there are so many great workshops out there to help us improve our craft.

There’s a huge range in price though, so here are a few I recommend at different price points:

Writing with Maggie Stiefvater ($)
- This is a broad workshop that covers both craft and writing motivation. It’s so much bang for your buck!
Jessica Brody’s Workshops ($)
- So. Many. Workshops to choose from here! And they’re all at a very, very affordable price. I highly recommend checking these out!
Becca Syme’s Write Better Faster ($$$)
- This workshop is focused on finding a writing process that best aligns with your brain’s unique wiring. It’s great for motivation and learning new habits for your particular writing style.
- I would be lying if I didn’t say that all of Becca’s products (her books, her podcast, her workshops) really changed my approach to writing. The Sooz who is drafting right now is not the Sooz who drafted a year ago. My toolbox is totally different!
Erin Bowman’s Plotting with Revelations ($$)
- This workshop is great for those of you who need help with story structure and connecting your plots to your characters.
Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel ($$$)
- Holly Lisle has a somewhat caustic tone in her lessons that might not work for some of you. She is very “this is the only way to do it,” and I don’t agree with that. HOWEVER, I do think her revisions course is absolutely fantastic.
- If you’re new to revising a book and don’t know where to start, this is a great place to dive in. I used this workshop to take my debut novel Something Strange & Deadly from a total mess to a book that got me an agent and my first book deal.
- Yes, you read that right. This course took me from mess to sold.

4. Writing Supplies

Look, I can never have enough notebooks.

I know some people are afraid to tarnish the fancy paper products people gift them, but I ain’t one of those people. In fact, I can’t WAIT to crack open a new, fancy journal/notebook/diary and get to brainstorming on its crisp, fresh pages.

My favorite notebook at the moment is this (admittedly) pricey one from Appointed. I love the pocket at the back, and I prefer notebooks with rings that allow me to fully flip my pages.

I am also obsessed with anything from Cognitive Surplus, and I love to pick out notebooks that fit the “vibe” of whatever book I’m working on. (ALSO, LOOK AT THIS WASHI TAPE. I just ordered so many, it’s embarrassing.)

And of course, don’t forget pens! You all know I’ve loved Frixion pens for many years, and I still do! They’re the best for brainstorming and hand-revising.

But pro tip! You can buy one pack of Frixion pens and then purchase ink refills to save on money and reduce waste.

5. A Subscription to a Writer-ly Substack

Is this a plug for my own Substack? Of course it is. (And you can offer my Substack as a gift right here!) But there are also so many other excellent writing Substacks out there!

I’ve got a few recommendations on my home page, but you can find a whole host of other newsletters to sign up for. Just go to substack.com and use the “browse” function on the side.

Here’s a list of publications under the tag “writing advice”—maybe one will catch your eye!

6. A Writer-ly Escape

This is especially important for any parents out there, but it’s also true for anyone creative: getting out of our homes can be so good for our brains!

As a gift for someone else, this might look like:

A gift card to a local coffee shop, to encourage them to get somewhere new
A few hours of childcare, so a writer parent can leave the house to focus
A weekend rental somewhere so a writer can home in on only the words
A museum/aquarium/zoo pass so the writer can get out of the house for some idea input
An in-person writing workshop (if you live in a large enough area to have such a thing)

I could keep suggesting more gift ideas, and I actually have on my Instagram (scroll back to December 2020!). So hopefully there’s something on this list or my old one that will make a writer in your life very happy—or else something you can ask for from your friends and family!

Or hey, you can also treat yo’self too. I think we all deserve a little reward for getting through another truly tough year. 💚

5. Upcoming Events

I don’t have any in-person events on the horizon (stay tuned for next year!), but I will be doing a TikTok Live with Alexandra Bracken next week!

We’ll be on the Barnes & Noble account page on 12/14/22 at 4:30 PM ET!

And for all paid subscribers, don’t miss my Live Chat about Author Self Promo and Social Media!

I’ll be hosting that on 12/17/22 at 2PM ET!

Thank you all for reading and continuing to subscribe! I’ll be back in your inboxes soon with more writing and publishing goodness.

Have a fantastic weekend!

🐙 - Sooz

Please don’t let this proclamation somehow jinx it!

Note: the Dana has a dramatically reduced battery life compared to the Neo, especially if you use the backlight. But I bought reusable batteries for it, and I just regularly charge them.

The memory card can’t be used anywhere BUT on the Dana. So while I don’t lose files if the battery dies (like on the Neo), I do need the Dana to ever read what I’ve written. So like, if the Dana dies…I will need to buy another Dana to access anything I didn’t transfer to my computer.

Listen, y’all, I don’t play team sports for a reason. Whenever other people are “watching” me perform, I choke. And while I have done many sprints on my own, I do like a little bit of accountability…