Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

Creativity

2021 Holiday Giving Guide for Writers: Best Gifts for Writers

by

Looking for the Best Holiday Gifts for Writers?

You may have seen my guest post for the San Francisco Writers Conference on great gifts for writers where several writer friends from the SFWC community and beyond shared the best writerly gifts they’ve ever received.

Lisa Tener book coach

I got a little carried away with that post. My 500-1000 word maximum turned into over 2,000 words, more of a holiday giving guide for writers than what I’d originally planned.

Sure, “Kill your darlings!” Easy for some people. But I think you’ll want to read the previously expurgated bits — the personalized guide based on finding gifts for your writer friends based on their specific challenges, needs and situation, which I had to cut from the post. I’ve also included fun, inspiring and clever delights I found on Etsy, Pinterest and beyond. So, here we go…

How to Find the Perfect Gifts for Writers—Personalized

In the blog post for the San Francisco Writers Conference, Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) shared how difficult it is for gift givers to find a journal or pen he likes, while Sabrina Ricci and Elisabeth Kauffman loved their gifted notebooks and journals. One man’s ho hum is another writer’s howdy-do.

dream journal
A favorite notebook

Some of us writers LOVE a beautiful blank journal or smooth writing pen (Yes, please, I say) and others may re-gift your gift. So, when giving a gift to a writer friend, think of his or her specific situation. What does he really, truly need? What might delight her? What could change the course of their writing life?

Here are some specific writer challenges and appropriate gifts to solve each writer’s problem or meet their goals:

Does your writer friend need the gift of time to write?

  • Offer to take their kids for a meal or outing while mom or dad writes.
  • Cut down their cooking time to buy them an hour plus of writing time: stop by with a home cooked meal, order a meal prep service, or send a hot meal from their favorite local restaurant.
  • Give a time saving kitchen device like an instant pot to cut down on cooking time.
  • Or simply hang a beautiful “Do Not Disturb: Writer at Work” doorknob hanger on their door.

Does your writer friend need more confidence?

  • A good book on writing or editing can help them gain the skills that foster confidence, books such as Stuart Horwitz’s Book Architecture or Jennie Nash’s Blueprint for a Book.
  • Writing coach services or conferences can also help build skills and confidence, plus both offer the support of a coach or community.
  • In my guest post for the San Francisco Writers’ Conference, I shared Frances Caballo’s story of a family friend who believed in her as a writer when her own mother did not. How can you show your writer friend you believe in her? Kind words? A mug or t-shirt with an inspiring affirmation?

Does your writer friend have a new book out?

  • Buy their book! Buy extras for gifts for other writers or readers!
  • Assuming you’ve bought yourself a copy and found a lot to like about the book, considering taking the time to write a thoughtful Amazon review. You can even upload a picture or video of you sharing what you love about it (yes, Amazon lets you enhance your book reviews by uploading a photo or video). While technically, it’s not a gift, it is a wonderfully supportive activity that will mean a great deal to any author.
  • Gift writers with a book on book marketing, such as Rusty Shelton’s and Adam Witty’s Authority Marketing, Frances Caballo’s Social Media Just for Writers or Penny Sansevieri’s From Book to Bestseller. Have a favorite book marketing resource to suggest? Share it as a comment below!

Is your writer friend financially strapped (and are you swimming in stupid money)?

Think about a writer’s gift that is out of the writer’s price range and could mean a great deal to them:

Is this a writer who attends the San Francisco Writers Conference?

How about adding on an extra for them:

  • Speed Dating with Agents featuring more than 20 literary agents. Attendees can pitch their books face-to-face to agents for $75.
  • Agent Conversations: Registrants for the conference can sign up 15 minutes one-on-one with particular agents ($100 per conversation/agent).

More Great Gifts for Writers—Get Playful! Go Etsy!

Still looking for gifts for writers? Let’s visit Etsy: I love to support creative and artistic entrepreneurs and their gifts are often special:

I thought I’d test this out for us before recommending. Isn’t it fun?! The pendant includes your front and back cover artwork, as well as the spine!
  • A beautiful “Storyteller” mug on Etsy.
  • Bookish chocolates. These are cute. I first had in mind some gourmet chocolates in the shape of a book but I’m afraid you may need to order them from across the pond—Cambridge, England.
  • I bought myself a book necklace on Etsy customized with my book cover—front, back and even the spine. It’s super cute and well made! This is another special gift for the recently published author, although you will need to get the author’s book cover design to see the project through.
  • I bought these cute and sturdy book-themed tote bags one year as a gift for writer clients who participated in a focus group. They were a hit.
  • Or how about some “write” and “edit” earrings?
  • A book-inspired lamp is the perfect gift for writers to create ambiance.

I received a fun book, recycled into folding paper art that spelled my name (thank you Jackie Mitchard, author of The Good Son, which we’ll be talking about in January!), a pen that flowed smoother than any other (alas, I do not remember the make) and beautiful journals, some of my favorite made by PaperBlanks.

What’s the best writer’s present you’ve received? What great gifts have you given to the writers in your life?

Great Gifts for Writers—My Guest Post for the San Francisco Writers Conference

by

Today, The San Francisco Writers Conference featured my guest post on Great Gifts for Writers.

No ho-hum holiday gift guide, in this post, members of the SF Writers Conference and some other dear writer friends shared the best writing-related gifts they’ve ever received!

Hanukkah isn’t over yet. Christmas and Kwanzaa are yet to come.

Lisa Tener Great gifts for writers

Authors all, Literary Agent Regina Brooks shares two favorite and super-practical gifts, Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo shares his favorite gifts and a couple of cautionary tale gifts.

No worries, Sabrina Ricci and Elisabeth Kauffman will happily accept the gifts discarded by Grant.

Brooke Warner and Eric Maisel share inexpensive, meaningful and fun gifts they received.

And Gael-Sylvia Pullen, Amanda J. Clay and I share some over-the-top gifts that changed our lives.

Finally, Frances Caballo and Rusty Shelton share a couple of gifts that cost nothing but meant the world to them.

Head over to the San Francisco Writers Conference Blog for Great Gifts for Writers!

Day 30: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

by

Today, I invite you to list at least 5 possible ways to support your journaling habit and then imagine your day as journaling impacts how it flows.

My Journaling List

My list includes:

Photo credit: Paula Schonewald
  • Journal most mornings—first in my dream journal, recording dreams and sometimes interacting with them, then in my journal-journal. If I feel so inspired I will also work on other writing after journaling.
  • Spend time with my muse. Asking my coach to facilitate me in my “Meet Your Muse” exercise twice a month or more.
  • Spend time in nature every day.
  • Schedule journaling time with a friend at least twice a month.
  • Use the October Journaling Adventure to work through The Joy of Writing Journal for a second round!

Today’s Writing

I imagined my day starting with journaling in bed upon waking—which is often the case. I see myself allowing for the journal to inspire additional writing, perhaps a few final chapters for my next book (almost done)!

I also envisioned time spent meditating from within the field of infinite possibilities.

In my imagining, “work is breezy and opportunities to share my passion for journaling and creativity easily come to me.”

I envision my books supporting my calling: “I show up alive and awake—inspiring others to write / create / connect / express / flow / innovate / believe / trust / enjoy.

“I write, teach and connect authentically from my true self, and inspired by those writers who have sparked my creativity: SARK, Anne Lammot, Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, my coach Tama Kieves.”

Your Turn

joy of writing journal

What do you imagine journaling does for you in your writing, your other creative projects, your home life, your relationships/family and more?

Please also share:

  • What this group adventure in journaling has meant to you
  • Anything that changed for you
  • What happened during this month of writing/journaling in community?
  • What’s next? How will you keep up the momentum? What do you commit to?

I’ve also been thinking specifically about what I can offer you to help you keep your journaling and writing momentum going. As a result, I’ve opened the doors to my Get Your Writing Done Program, which is a phenomenal way to support your creative habits.

In this out-of-the-box virtual workshop we employ the TENER Method for Creative Flow to enter into a state conducive to inspired writing; then we write! No staring at a screen in “zoom room” state. Instead we move, write, connect, then move and write some more—just like you’d do in person. FUN! Plus, the accountability and community are a great boost to writing consistently. It could be just what you need to complete your writing project(s). Find out more here.

Thank you for joining me on this journaling adventure.

Day 29: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

by

Lisa Tener journaling
I don’t have a picture of me journaling in bed, so this will have to do!

Wow. I wrote some really embarrassing things in my list of “things you don’t know about me.”

I settled upon something mundane—that I like to garden barehanded, pulling on the roots of [what I believe is] mugwort.

I journaled about my experience gardening that day—transplanting Hosta with the help of my son and his friends and digging out weeds that were suffocating the Hosta already there.

I learned a few things about gardening from two of his friends, one whose grandmother is a horticulturist who planted rooftop gardens in New York City, and has a lovely garden of native species here in Rhode Island.

soil
Photo by Chris Yang on Unsplash

We pulled out many plants to support the Hosta—goldenrod, mugwort (so I am told), wood sorrel, porcelain vines and many plants I do not know. I argued with myself in my journal about whether I was tampering with nature.

At the same time, many of these vines and weeds were non-natives, pushing out the native plants.

In the end, I wrote:

I shrugged off these thoughts, dug my hands into the soil, tugged hard at the orange root lifted from its home and parted the loamy, dark earth.

Your Turn

joy of writing journal

Did you find it easy or hard to list things that most people don’t know about you?

How about picking one to explore?

What was it like to write about it?

Share an excerpt, an insight, a struggle or question. Comment below.

Day 28: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

by

Today I ask you—and me—to think of a most exotic, thrilling or memorable vacation spot. Then we write about an experience there, incorporating all our senses.

On Day 28, I write about a trip between my first and second year of business school at MIT. I traveled to Japan with two male classmates, one Japanese and the other Korean American. In some ways, our trip was the precursor to a class trip scheduled for later in the fall that we had helped to organize.

Having two parents who bought, sold and sometimes repaired Japanese art and particularly antiques, I had always dreamed of traveling to Japan to see the artwork, Shinto shrines, landscapes that inspired the art, and, of course, modern Tokyo.

Japan Alps Travel writing
Photo by Yoko Saito on Unsplash

Much of our trip was extraordinarily beautiful—the monasteries, the train ride through the Japanese Alps, the “fire flowers” (fireworks), the art. And then there was also this strange experience I recall in my current journal (I “released” my original Japan Trip journal during a big purge!).

The three of us sleep in an attic loft, giant cicadas flying about. My two companions have gone out “to find E____ a Japanese wife.”

I experienced some awkwardness in traveling with two men—one from an entirely different culture and the other, somewhat so.

Yet something else feels strange. At times—walking across a footbridge in a park, sitting on a park bench eating scallion pancakes, and now, here, alone in the attic room with all these cicadas, I feel my sense of who I am slipping away. I experience a visceral feeling of not really knowing who I am.

I shed all that I thought and believed about myself.

I feel strangely vulnerable and uncomfortable—like a mollusk whose shell has been removed.

The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day

Your Turn

Looking for the full prompt? You’ll find it in The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day.

Then Go Write!

What do you recall about your travel experience?

Is it a humorous anecdote or something deeper?

Does the place feel familiar? foreign? A little of both?

What happens to you inside?

Share an excerpt, insight or a little of both as a comment below.

Note: Spend time on the Week 4 summary page: Note things that happened this past week that you can write about; make note of things that inspired you; schedule your writing times.

Day 27: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

by

Welcome to Day 27 in our community jaunt through The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day.

memoir

In her memoir, Bless Your Little Cotton Socks, Diane Radford, MD shares the quirky sayings of her delightfully inventive Scottish mother. The saying inspired the title of today’s prompt.

In my journaling, I explore a phrase my Dad often used, “I’m tickled by _____.”

I immediately think of something that tickles me—the 5 beautiful air plants that hang in my bedroom, a room too small for even a small side table to hold a plant.

I’ve always wanted a plant in that room and I finally found my solution when I discovered a beautiful wall hanging air plant holder on Etsy.

Ever since I hung these plants in our bedroom I feel lighter, happier in that room. And these plants truly fill me with delight.

In today’s journal I imagine a conversation with my air plants and I name them each.

You, with the thin, feathery stalks? I think I’ll call you Fred.

And #2 (from the left), your leaves remind me of the juicy succulent aloe plant. I’ll call you Aloo.

#4- tall and majestic you hold the center. You reach for the heavens, unbound. There’s that one tallest, skinniest stalk that curves more than the others, the way fine hair curls, and thick hair falls straight. The opposite of what one may think. I’ll name you Magic Johnson for your height.

We come to you—sleepy. Too narrow a base to fit into the hole (you’d slip right through), I lay you down on the side between holes 3 and 4. You certainly disturb the symmetry. I tried you on the windowsill but that felt dangerous. One too rough lowering of the venetian blinds would be the guillotine for you. And so, here you are, representing all in life that slips out of the box I’ve made for it—every emotion I’ve tried to suppress, every embarrassing impulse, every faux pas or act of greed. Is it a heavy burden to hold all those projections? No wonder you prefer to lie on your side. Maybe I need to take some colored wire and beads and ribbon and make you a home of our own. Make the world fit to your specifications—and not the other way around—celebrate your beautiful differences.

Number 5, in hole #4, owing to Sleepy’s current position at 3.5: Cousin It, for the way your leaves curl. But no. Cousin It’s hair curled own to the ground and yours is more star-like, extending in all directions. Spiny? Tumbleweed? None of these captures your grace. I shall need to sit with this and name you when you’re good and ready.

Now, I feel silly naming you. I should have asked you your names! What’s that 5? Squiggly? Squiggle? But Squig for short.

What do you imagine your readers saying after you publish or share some creative project?

If you’ve never shared a comment on today’s blog before, this is your chance to share a little something—a phrase or even a word from your imagined reader. We want to hear your voice! Sharing even a word can empower you to feel:

a) a sense of belonging

b) more confident

c) bolder

Your Muse will thank you for it!

Write a Book
Courses + Programs
Services + Successes

Contact Lisa

Screen Shot 2020-09-07 at 10.05.50 PM