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11 Gifts Writers Will Love (2024)

Emily Pogue
December 16, 2024 | 3 min read

If you ask a writer what they want for the holidays, their honest answer would likely be: “More hours in a day.” However, as we are not time benders, we’ve rounded up a list of some more practical gifts for the writer in your life.

For their dedicated writing station 

Freewrite Smart Typewriter

Nothing says “this is my writing space” like a Freewrite Smart Typewriter perched on a desk. The typewriter-for-the-21st-century merges the nostalgic feeling of pressing down keys with the modern features of a frontlight and automatic cloud data storage. When inspiration strikes, your writer will be grateful they have a designated device for diving into their creative world.

Wooden Pen Tray

How many of us know a writer whose pens are housed in a should-be-discarded mug? Take their pen display to the next level with a solid walnut or maple pen tray from Studio Neat, available in our Desk Friends collection.

Author Clock

What if checking the time could be a literary experience? That’s what Author Clock aims to achieve. Every minute of the day, a literary quote that correlates with that exact time will pop up on the screen. You can’t go wrong with entertaining and informative.

For their adventures beyond the desk

 

Freewrite Traveler

Free-roaming writers don’t always want to lug around their laptop. For a lighter option that streamlines the drafting process, get them the Freewriter Traveler.

Traveler’s long battery life means your writer’s wordsmithing session won’t be cut short due to a plug-in ultimatum. Whether they’re at a coffee shop or lounging in a park, your scribe will be able to comfortably read their words on the 135-degree adjustable screen.

Pen Type-C

You know how difficult it is to find a pen out in the wild. The Pen Type-C from CW&T alleviates this issue by easily clipping onto whatever you have handy — whether that’s a notepad, book, or even your wallet.

For their current read

Perch Bookmark

Any reader knows that not all bookmarks are created equal. The flimsy paper ones can easily fall out, while the bulky novelty ones can actually bend your book (the horror!) For a sleek bookmark that oozes class, get your writer the Perch Bookmark from Craighill.

Cal Bookend

We’d wager that your writer has a love of print books. If there’s a book that really knocked their socks off, they probably want it in their physical library. To help that library look its best, get them Craighill's stunning Cal Bookends.

 

For those unfocused days

Freewrite Alpha Cosmic Edition

Every day, we’re bombarded with hundreds of distractions — many of them connected to the Internet. If you know a writer who often laments about not being able to focus on their work, gift them the Freewrite Alpha Cosmic Edition. Not only will they be freed from notifications on their screen, but when they do need a break, you can bet they’ll crack a smile as they admire the celestial theme of their new gadget.

Analog Starter Kit

Sometimes it’s best to go old school to prioritize your tasks and goals. Rather than give your writer a pack of sticky notes, though, offer them a more elevated option: the Ugmonk Analog Starter Kit.

Part of our Desk Friends collection, writers love the three categories of cards — Today, Next Day, Someday — to help bring focus to their work.

For notes and jotting things down

Kepler Pen

Some writers do their best work the old fashioned way: handwriting their content. For a fine writing instrument, you can’t go wrong with the Kepler Pen from Craighill, available in our Desk Friends collection. Clocking in at the perfect weight, choose gold, silver, or black to best accent your writer’s style.

Keepbook

Finally, what is a pen without paper? Surprise the writer in your life with the Studio Neat's Keepbook. This layflat design means your writer can type away with their sleek notebook staying open beside them. Blank, ruled, or with a dot grid, any analog lover will appreciate the thought that went into this present.

April 15, 2026 4 min read

Break up with Final Draft for good. Get the best screenplay workflow in Hollywood: Freewrite + Highland Pro.

April 01, 2026 0 min read
March 22, 2026 3 min read

If you're new here, freewriting is “an unfiltered and non-stop writing practice.” It’s sometimes known as stream-of-consciousness writing.

To do it, you simply need to write continuously, without pausing to rephrase, self-edit, or spellcheck. Freewriting is letting your words flow in their raw, natural state.

When writing the first draft of a novel, freewriting is the approach we, and many authors, recommend because it frees you from many of the stumbling blocks writers face.

This method helps you get to a state of feeling focused and uninhibited, so you can power through to the finish line.

How Freewriting Gives You Mental Clarity

Freewriting is like thinking with your hands. Some writers have described it as "telling yourself the story for the first time."

Writing for Inside Higher Ed, Steven Mintz says, “Writing is not simply a matter of expressing pre-existing thoughts clearly. It’s the process through which ideas are produced and refined.” And that’s the magic of putting pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard. The way you learned to ride a bike by wobbling until suddenly you were pedaling? The way you learned certain skills by doing as well as revising? It works for writing, too.

The act of writing turns on your creative brain and kicks it into high gear. You’re finally able to articulate that complex idea the way you want to express it when you write, not when you stare at a blank page and inwardly think until the mythical perfect sentence comes to mind.

Writing isn’t just the way we express ideas, but it’s how we extract them in the first place. Writing is thinking.

Or, as Flannery O'Connor put it:

“I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.”

Writing isn’t just the way we express ideas, but it’s how we extract them in the first place. Writing is thinking.

 

Freewriting to Freethinking

But how and why does it work? Freewriting makes fresh ideas tumble onto the page because this type of writing helps you get into a meditative flow state, where the distractions of the world around you slip away.

Julie Cameron, acclaimed author of The Artist’s Way, proposed the idea that flow-state creativity comes from a divine source. And sure, it certainly feels like wizardry when the words come pouring out and scenes seem to arrange themselves on the page fully formed. But that magic, in-the-zone writing feeling doesn’t have to happen only once in a blue moon. It’s time to bust that myth.

By practicing regular freewriting and getting your mind (and hands) used to writing unfiltered, uncensored, and uninterrupted, you start freethinking and letting the words flow. And the science backs it up.

According to Psychology Today, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex goes quiet during flow state. This part of the brain is in charge of “self-monitoring and impulse control” – in other words, the DLPFC is the tiny home of your loud inner critic. And while that mean little voice in your head takes a long-overdue nap, you’re free to write without doubt or negative self-talk.

“With this area [of the brain] deactivated, we’re far less critical and far more courageous, both augmenting our ability to imagine new possibilities and share those possibilities with the world.”

Freewriting helps us connect with ourselves and our own thoughts, stories, beliefs, fears, and desires. But working your creative brain is like working a muscle. It needs regular flexing to stay strong.

So, if freewriting helps us think and organize our thoughts and ideas, what happens if we stop writing? If we only consume and hardly ever create, do we lose the ability to think for ourselves? Up next, read "Are We Living through a Creativity Crisis?"

 

Learn More About Freewriting

Get the ultimate guide to boosting creativity and productivity with freewriting absolutely free right here.You'll learn how to overcome perfectionism, enhance flow, and reignite the joy of writing.

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