by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.
Amaze Your Writer Friends
Punctuation, Hell, and fake websites were in the list of our first 5 gifts. The last 5 are filled with sugar plums and the dust of ground-up elves.
Or maybe something even better.
(But seriously, who doesn’t savor the nostalgic scent of ground-up elves sprinkled lightly on sugar cookies? So spicy, so wickedly good. Like cinnamon, red velvet shoes, and high-pitched laughter in every, single bite. Yummy-yum.)
Gift #5 This is your life. Do what you love. And do it often.
From Core 77, I was introduced to the Holstee Manifesto Poster.
It’s like someone figured out how our writer-hearts keep on beating, and wrote it down for the world to see. Poster, $25.00.
Who is that someone?
Mike, Fabian and Dave who have a company together.
“It wasn’t about shirts and it wasn’t about their old jobs. It was about what they wanted from life and how to create a company that breathes that passion into the world everyday. It was a reminder of what we live for.”
Gift #4 Your Own Theme Song
Ever since Ally McBeal I’ve wanted my own theme song.
Dr. Tracey: You need a theme song
Ally: I need a what?!
Dr. Tracey: A theme song. Something that you can play in your head to make you feel better
Ally: Am I on one of those hidden camera shows?
Dr. Tracey: Theme songs are vital.
See? They’re vital, I’m tellin’ ya!
And someone agrees with me. Raleigh Coaching offers MUSEic Coaching.
“Our lives can be thought of as movies with their own unique soundtrack. YOU PICK THE GOAL | WE PICK THE MUSEic.”
Tell Santa about this. He’s all about the jolliness of music. And he believe in theme songs, too. That’s why there’s so many songs about him at Christmas.
Gift #3 Rain
Nothing makes me feel cozier or want to write more than the sound of rain. You curl up inside, just you and your imagination. A warm cuppa joe. Comfy socks. And a writing project all your own.
It’s like you’re cut off from the world, safe, warm, and full of dreams.
(Don’t give me that look. It’s not just me, you know.)
As the Rainy Mood website says, “Rain makes everything better.”
And it’s a free website. Who are these generous rain lovers, anyway?
Also, there’s an app for IOS and Android (not free but for $4.99 you take the mood of cozy with you).
Gift #2 GeoPalz
Kick in the ass, anyone? No, wait, I mean, get off your ass and walk. No, wait, it’s just wrong to say ass on a Christmas gift list.
Yet, that’s how I think about it after I’ve been sitting in a chair writing for 8 or 12 hours a day, months on end.
Honey, it’s time to do something about your a**, and I’m so psyched about this kid’s pedometer, I can hardly stand it. (Yes, I said it’s for kids, but we’re going to ignore that and buy it anyway.)
Okay, get this.
A) You log onto their website, track your steps, and win prizes.
B) In the “parent” role, you can buy things to put on your prize list (in addition to what’s there), and then set about winning something you care about.
C) You can create a family of other writers and cheer each other on.
D) The pedometer ($25.00 or less) is ten times better than the one I’m wearing right now.
My pedometer:
- The buttons are easily mashed so that the steps are zeroed out randomly all day long.
- The display is too small to see (multiple modes, can’t tell what mode I’m in).
- The clip will barely fit over the waist of my pants.
- It can’t be worn anywhere else.
- It’s an ugly gray.
- And (sob) no prizes.
- It does a great job at counting steps.
- The pedometer has an attached cover (no accidental resets).
- It comes in many designs to make you feel happy when you look at it.
- There are prizes and friends for accountability and good cheer.
- The website is free (and free for those who don’t have Geopalz).
- The new version 2 (out now) stores 21 days of data, so you don’t have to enter number of steps into the website each day, and it automatically resets at midnight. Plus this new version will track minutes of moderate/heavy activity, can be mounted on your hip or shoe, plus it’s waterproof!
GeoWOW.
Gift #1 Creativity Gets In Bed with Organization (ooh la la!)
Daniel Wessel at Organizing Creativity…. He’s a genius!
He’s figured out the thing that sinks most writers (and other creative-types): how to organize your creative process (the key to your business) so that it’s even better. And how to actually troubleshoot the Gordian knot that is a finished product.
Result? Yes, indeed, a book of epic coolness. You can get the pdf for free-ish. Just pay if you find it useful.
Daniel, dude, even your pricing is creative. (I’ll be applauding with money soon!)
And the rest of Freelance-Zone readers? Check out his blog. It totally rocks.
I hoped I rocked your world…
…with these gift ideas. I feel like I’ve seen all the usual gifts for writers and something needed to be done about that. We needed something unusual.
May your gift giving be inspired and worthy of ground-up elf. Happy holidays.
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Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: (1) Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and (2) Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Writing.
