Writers don’t need more mugs. We need things that help us do the work, or get through the days when the work won’t come.
Here’s a list for the writer in your life, or for yourself. Everything here solves an actual problem.
Writer's Toolbox
Your brain is empty. You’ve been staring at the page for twenty minutes and nothing comes. This kit has 60 exercise sticks, 60 prompt cards, and four spinner wheels for plot twists. It’s made by a creative writing teacher, and it’s designed to get you unstuck when your own ideas refuse to show up.
The Writer's Oracle Deck
Fifty cards with prompts and exercises. Keep it on your desk, pull one when you’re frozen. Sometimes you just need a starting point that isn’t your own blank mind.
Soundcore Anker P30i Earbuds
I use these daily. You can control the noise suppression through the app, so during a writing session you can block everything out and stay in your bubble. Switch to transparency mode when you’re outside and need to hear that scooter before it hits you. The case has a little tab that works as a phone stand. I always forget to use it, but it’s there.
Beginner Crochet Kit
I finished my first scarf today. Crochet became an obsession this year because my hands needed something to do while my brain recovered. It’s repetitive, pairs well with audiobooks, and once you get it, it’s genuinely relaxing.
Creative blocks usually have nothing to do with creativity. They’re about your life being too narrow, too focused on one thing. Pick up a hobby that has nothing to do with words. The rest feeds the writing later.
Surface Go 2
This is the best thing I bought. It’s a hybrid tablet with Windows, and with the Type Cover it becomes a mini laptop. Ten inches, fits in any backpack or handbag. I have a gaming laptop at home with an extra screen, but the Surface is what I grab when I want to write at a café, while traveling, or cozily on the couch (beside my cats, naturally). Buy the pen and you can write on the screen too.
Around €200 refurbished. Portable, versatile, actually useful.
Vigo Wood Lap Desk
If you write on the couch or in bed, you need a proper surface. This one has adjustable height, a cushion underneath, a wrist rest, and a drawer for your mouse and cables. You can pull out a side tray for your mouse if you need it. It works sitting up, lounging, or fully horizontal. The perfect marriage with my Surface Go 2.
Boox Palma 2
Think Kindle, but with Android. You can install Kindle, Kobo, Audible, podcast apps, even Wook if you’re Portuguese like me. One device, all your reading ecosystems, without juggling three different gadgets.
E-ink is easier on the eyes than a tablet or phone screen. If you read a lot (and writers should), this saves your eyes and keeps everything in one place.
I don’t have one yet. I’m waiting for a sale. But it’s on my list.
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
This book talks about staying available to creativity, letting it come to you. I listened to the audiobook during a low phase, crocheting through it, and it reminded me why I care about any of this.
For the days when you can’t write but need to remember why you ever wanted to.
Castle & Dragon Bookends
Your research books keep sliding into a pile. These hold them up and add a dragon to your desk. If you’re going to stare at your workspace for hours, it might as well have something interesting in it.
The best gift for a writer is something that makes the hard days a little easier. A prompt when your brain is empty. Something to calm your body. A setup that lets you write anywhere. A book that reminds you why this matters.
Writers need to be functional. These help.
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I use or genuinely want.
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