Your gift buying guide for writers

It's the season of giving, and we asked our community to share their gift suggestions. Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming response! Check out this list of gift suggestions that every writer will love.

Ashley O'Brien loves this pen:

I love these retractable gel pens and have used the exact same one for years, it brings comfort and familiarity in everything I approach. It’s a great fidget and stands out so no one dares to swipe it!

Melissa Champeau also recommends a great pen:

I have always considered myself a pen connoisseur. A good pen should be comfortable and have smooth ink flow that promotes precise writing. As a writer, there is no tool more useful than a pen. When an idea hits, I might not be near my tablet, but I always have my Brass Grafton Mini Twist – Everyman pen on me. For a cheaper option or a stocking stuffer, I found the Pilot Dr. Grip to have all the qualities I look for in a pen.

Jim Hall likes several pens:

I love my Sharpie S-Gel in black. It writes smoothly and cleanly. Although recently, I got a free Sharpie felt tip as a conference giveaway, and I've been using that a lot too, but I have to be more careful so I don't "smoosh" the tip with too vigorous writing. If I'm going to do a lot of handwriting, I prefer a fountain pen; I have several from Levenger that I like, but I don't see my exact model on there.

Jeremy Rosselot-Merritt also recommends a favorite pen:

I'm a fan of a nice, portable ball point pen. The more comfortable it is, and the easier it travels, the better. A nice medium-point pen like the Uline Comfort Grip is always welcome in my laptop bag.

Ben Cotton suggest a cool notebook:

I recently received a Rocketbook Core, and it's changed how I take notes. Although I can type faster than I write, I prefer to jot down notes when I'm in a conference session, a meeting, et cetera. Not only does it help with retention, but it helps me stay focused. It's very hard to check my email or social media on paper. The difficulty I've always had is that it's hard to go back and search my notes later. I forget which notebook I grabbed, so going back to look later is a challenge. As a result, I can't really do anything with my notes.

The Rocketbook notebook is (a slightly slick) paper. You write on it with a (special, but mass-produced) pen. When you're done, you can quickly grab a picture on your phone and upload to it a variety of services. The app will optionally perform optical character recognition (OCR) and create a separate file with the transcribed text. Then you wipe the pages clean with a damp cloth and start over.

Admittedly, the OCR struggles with my handwriting a bit. But after I scan the page, I copy it to a digital notebook anyway. During that process, I fix transcription errors and fill in any missing thoughts I forgot to write down.

At less than $50, the Rocketbook Core makes a great way to take notes for later writing.

Chris Hermansen recommends both pens and notebooks:

Who doesn't love Moleskine notebooks? I like the plain (unruled, because I'm unruly) black large. The XL is too big for convenience but a nice idea. The smaller ones don't give me enough elbow room.

Or lovely Pentel pens? every one I've tried has been great. I'm not a fan of fountain pens nor drafting pens, though I used to be. I don't write enough and they get plugged up, scratchy and globby for me.