Easter Gifts for Freelance Writers

As the Easter approaches, it’s time to think of those tired, overworked writers on your Easter gift list. Whether you have more money than time or vice versa, here are my ideas for gifts for freelance writers:

1. Visit their blog or Web site. As much as I cajole and beg, my family and off-line friends never seem to make it over to visit any of the sites for which I write. Remember: visiting is free and often your friend or family member makes more money the more often your visit. Better yet: leave a comment or submit one of their better blogs to StumbleUpon, Digg, or other social networking site.

2. Healthy snacks. Full-time writers are notorious (myself included) for either not taking time to eat or grabbing the first thing that’s at hand. Get your favorite blogger some hummus and vegetable chips or organic peanut butter or better yet, something homemade and healthy.

3. Offer to write a guest article or blog post. If you’ve been writing for some time, you know that some days you just can’t think of a fresh and/or interesting topic for your blog or Web site. Offer to write a post or two for your writing friend. It’s always nice to have a different voice on the blog or site occasionally.

4. Reference books. No writer can be without them. My favorites are a standard Merriam-Webster dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, Chicago Manuel of Style, and “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White.

5. A roller ball mouse. My 85-year-old aunt (who is very computer literate) turned me on to this one. It feels really weird for the first five minutes, then you’ll fall in love. No moving the mouse around, no mouse pad, and precision-like movements. I like the Logitech one.

(photo credit: istockphoto)