for an penniless aspiring children's writer, with a budget of £50-£60.
Any ideas?
Trouble is, as far as I can see there is really nothing a writer needs
beyond paper, a pencil and perhaps a Thesaurus. A laptop? Well beyond
the proposed budget. Time, will-power and inspiration? Not in the gift
of even the most generous of friends.
I couldn't recommend my favourite book for writers, "One Continuous
Mistake" by Gail Sher, as both gift giver and recipient are members of
an evangelical Christian church, and Sher's book is explicitly Buddhist
in inspiration. (Or rather, I did recommend it, but with the expected
outcome.)
Besides. that is one £7.99 paperback - not the large generous gift my
neighbour wanted to offer.
What emerged, as we ferreted around for ideas, was that my neighbour
imagined that all writers have the same approach and needs, and that I,
on the contrary, realised that all writers have wildly different
approaches and needs.
In the end I suggested a box filled with smaller gifts and treats, the
sort of things a hardworking penny-less writer might have fun opening
and playing with, and which would remind her that her friends knew her,
and wished her well and happy; a teapot for one, tea, biscuits, bath
treats, candles, coloured pencils, a good note book, a paperweight, a
photo holder, a CD of quirky music....
But what would you put in such a box - and what would you like to find
in it...?
(For me - a month's free coffee at Cafe Nero!)
