Kourtney's 2023 Gift Guide for Fiction Writers

Written By Kourtney Spak

The holidays are here and I thought I’d put together a list of some of my favorite things that I use daily as a writer and editor, but also things that I think would be incredible gifts for the writers in your life or yourself.

Make sure to pass this along to your significant other if they’re terrible gift-givers because nothing says holiday spirit like getting exactly what you want.

(And that’s not even sarcasm on my part. Returning things after Christmas is hell on earth.)

Let’s get into the gift guide! 🎁

Writing Software & Classes

🏛Masterclass

Masterclass is the Netflix for online courses. A subscription is $120 for the year, but when you compare that to a single writing class that can definitely cost more than $120, it’s a good deal.

Writing greats like Dan Brown, R.L. Stine, Jude Blume, Shonda Rhimes, Margaret Atwood, and more teach classes on writing within the platform.

Legends of their craft.

📝Scrivener

Microsoft Word and Google Docs don’t hold a candle to Scrivener.

I’ll let it sell itself: “Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won't tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing.”

👩🏼‍💻Microsoft Word

I have to mention it. I do. It’s not only my favorite, it’s an industry standard.

If your writer friend wants to work with editors, agents, and other publishing industry professionals, they’re all going to ask for manuscripts to be sent in .docx files.

So, you can just get Word for $159.99—Microsoft’s website is unclear if that’s a one-time payment though. If you’re wanting to get Microsoft 365, that’s $6.99/month or 69.99/year.

🎓Local College Writing Courses

This one feels random, but I was shocked when I saw the amount of one-off writing courses at my local community college. They averaged $150 for a 6-week course, but, caveat, prices may vary depending on where you live.

It’s worth checking out your local community college or university to see what they have. Most of these classes will likely be online, making it seamless to fit into anyone’s schedule.

Writing Equipment

Affiliate links below - don’t stress. I barely make a tenth of a penny and sometimes nothing from these links. Why? Because Jeff Bezos is trash.

🐭Ergonomic Mouse

Writers spend a lot of time moving a mouse around and a basic mouse can be detrimental to wrist health—just ask mine.

⌨Keyboard

I’m a thocky keyboard lover. The noises are part of the aesthetic, so you might have to ask your writer friend what sound they like their keyboard to make, but here are some recommendations.

🎧Noise-Cancelling Headphones

I only have one recommendation here, and it’s the BOSE noise-cancelling headphones. They’re superior—I can’t hear anything on a plane. And if you or your writer friend have kids and mayyyybeee want to forget you have them while you’re in the writing zone….

Well, let’s just say, these headphones are good for that:

I’m sure you can find dupes that are less expensive too!

💻Laptop Stand

I’ve gone through two laptop stands in my life, and my favorite one is:

📖Journals

Writers horde books, right? But we also horde journals. A lot of them deemed too beautiful to write in, so instead they adorn our shelves.

Basic Journals

Too Beautiful for this Earth Journals

Writing Craft Books

📚Thesaurus Series

This is an 8-book series, but you can buy them individually:

  • Emotion Thesaurus

  • Negative Trait Thesaurus

  • Positive Trait Thesaurus

  • Rural Setting Thesaurus

  • Urban Setting Thesaurus

  • Emotional Wound Thesaurus

  • Occupation Thesaurus

  • Conflict Thesaurus

If eight books feel like too much of a commitment, then I 💯% recommend starting with the Emotion Thesaurus, Emotional Wound Thesaurus, and Conflict Thesaurus.

🐈Save the Cat

One of the best writing craft books on story structure. It’s an extended 3-act structure and breaks each of its beats down so clearly. And it breaks down several genres based on those beats.

Jessica Brody gives us everything we need in this book.

🧠Story Genius & Wired for Story

If you’re a psychology nerd, Lisa Cron is the author for you. She breaks down why humans are so drawn to stories and gives you little prompts to help you flesh our novel from idea to ready-to-write.

Psych nerds click here for Story Genius and here for Wired for Story!

💖Romancing the Beat

CALLING ALL ROMANCE WRITERS. This book is less than 100 pages and worth every single penny. It breaks down the four phases of a satisfying romance novel.

Kiss-blow-bang your way to a happy holiday.

🐉Fantasy & Sci-Fi👽

While aliens aren’t my things, fae, vampires, elves, mythological creatures, and magic are. Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction is written by Orson Scott Card, Philip Athans, and Jay Lake.

It reads more textbook than anything, but it contains a wealth of knowledge for writers to dig deep into these two popular genres.

✍🏼Line Editing for Fiction

Louise Harnby, Her Majesty the Queen of Line Editing, gifted us Editing Fiction at the Sentence Level—and you don’t need to be an editor or have an MFA to understand the information in this book.

If you have no idea about line editing or how to improve your prose, this is a good one!

Writing Tchotchkes (Miscellaneous Writer-Themed Items)

Almost all of the following are from Etsy. I made sure they were sourced from actual small shops—not those shops that pose as small shops but are just drop-ship designs they ripped from artists.

Wow, Kourt, that felt a bit personal.

Good, that’s exactly how I meant it. This happened to me and the Queen Elizabeth sticker & print I made during the height of the pandemic lockdowns.

Chaos ensured after Her Majesty died, and, well, let’s just say I wasn’t the only artist in the melee. 😤 Anyway…

☕Mugs

While I do think quotes on mugs are cute, I’m going a different route today—handmade. Because just as writers use their hands to write, potters use their hands to…pot. Kidding, to shape beautiful masterpieces for us.

  • Cathy Jay Design from Pittsburgh, PA - unique, handmade pottery and she has much more than just mugs.

  • Kingfisher Potters out of Philly, PA - colorful handmade mugs

  • Jeremy Walsh Pottery, very near my hometown - his mugs (and everything he makes) are absolutely stunning. If you like clean lines, this is your guy.

If you’d like to find potters local to you, you can filter your state via the Etsy search.

🕯Candles

  • From the Page out of New York makes bookish candles from all of your favorite books and she has a sampler 4-pack for those who can’t pick just one.

  • Aarka Origins has over 70 book-inspired candles.

💡Lamps

💥Book Stamp/Embosser

Want something a bit more personalized? A stamp or embosser personalized with their name and design is just the thing.

💵Book Wallet

I’m sure you’ve seen the TikToks from novelbookstore.co! They make wallets, passport covers, and more that look just like books.

Pickpockets who? No one wants a copy of Pride & Prejudice or Peter Pan. I would, but here’s the link to check them out:

Happy holidays!

-Kourtney

Kourtney Spak
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