Lighten up: 5 Tips for When Gift Giving is Hard To Do

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Sometimes it’s hard to think about “the joy of gift giving” with all the other stresses hovering over us at this time of year. For myself, there are letters to be written, finances to clean up, travel arrangements to be made, and getting gifts together for all the people I care about bought, wrapped and sent. Not to mention the getting the writing done I promised myself I would finish by the end of 2016. That’s so not happening!

Then there is trying to figure out a gift for my husband. He never had a lot of money in his life. He chose an academic research path as his career, leaving behind a possibly more lucrative one in electrical engineering. While still in graduate school, he and his first wife had two children. Even though she worked, they struggled financially. I know many of you have had similar experiences.

How does this relate to gift-giving? Because now my husband is retired, and he actually has enough resources to do what he wants, he does. And if he wants to buy something, he does. Which leaves me scratching my head because each time I think I’ve got an idea for a gift, he beats me to the punch….or should I say store?

So, I’ve been thinking about how I can lighten the load on myself and stop worrying about my failure to find the perfect gift for him. While I can’t help you with letters, finances, or travel plans, thinking about what I might like to receive to aid me in getting my own writing done has given me some ideas for gifts that might help motivate the writer in you or in your life.

The gift of time

This may be the very best thing you can give someone juggling a huge number of competing demands in their life. For academic writers, this is an even bigger worry as their job may literally depend on getting their writing done. The good news is the shorter days and colder weather lends itself to huddling indoors, though the reflective glow of a computer screen may not be as soothing as sitting in front of a wood burning fireplace.

How you give time can come in many forms: watching children, preparing a meal, sending them to a coffee shop, or even giving them hotel room for a weekend away from all other familial distractions.

If you feel like you want to wrap your gift up with a bow, create a gift certificate for the time, put it in a card, and let them open it.

The gift of feedback

We live in a social media age, and many aspiring authors blog, post poems or essays on Facebook, or link articles they have written to Twitter feeds. Artists post photographs of their work, whether for sale or just to show what they are currently doing.

You can take a few moments to comment, to forward a post, to like their posts to up their ratings, or even write a review on Amazon or Google. It means a lot to creative types to know other people appreciate what they do and take the trouble to acknowledge it.

The gift of spreading the word

Believe it or not, I actually get excited when someone tells me that they forwarded my most recent newsletter to a friend. Or posted a link to it on social media.

Considering that I actually write my own monthly piece, rather than buying an article prepared by someone else, it is extremely gratifying to know it got noticed. Not to mention that the additional publicity might even bring me a new client at some point.

The same is true for writers of any genre—spreading the word might get them new readers. You could also post a note on their preferred social media site, thanking them for publishing, or encouraging them to keep on writing.

The gift of a review

If your loved one has published a book, especially if it is available through Amazon or Barnes & Noble, book reviews are invaluable to authors, increasing the likelihood that an algorithm will push traffic to their site.

It isn’t difficult to do; you can treat it like a typical thank-you note of a mere three sentences. “I really enjoyed (title). The author made me aware of (topic). I recommend this to anyone interested in (area).” There, done!

If you really, really want to help an author, buy the book for yourself, or give it away as a gift.

The gift of humor

Where to begin on this one? There are so many funny cartoons about writers and their various dilemmas from New Yorker caricatures of procrastinating authors to PhD Comics by Jorge Cham.

You could frame a cartoon that speaks to a particular issue, give them the link to sign up for email notices whenever Cham publishes a new cartoon. There are also a good many writer blogs out there where humor is used to get a point across. Find a few you like, and give them a list of links. You can always type them up and put them in a holiday card to dress it up.

I often talk about gremlins and their role as a saboteur in getting writing done. I’ve found that it helps a lot to visualize the gremlin, and for myself, I have printed out web pictures that I can literally see and then banish the gremlin somewhere beyond my immediate circle while writing.

Two of mine that rear their ugly heads at different points in the process are “evil goblin” stealing my confidence, and “Mr. Freeze” who can paralyze me from taking action.

Ask your writer if they have a gremlin, and print out a picture for them to prop on their desk or hang on their wall, as a reminder that this is just a piece of our own unconscious trying to protect us from failure.

I hope my ideas have inspired a gift for your hard-to-shop-for loved one. Don’t forget that the best gifts are gifts from the heart. Something personal to let the ones you love know that you care will always be well received.

And if you have someone in your life who could use it, consider gifting a 15-minute laser coaching session to help your loved one solve a specific problem they’re struggling with.