Date a girl who will argue with you over which brand of pen is better. Who needs more RAM on her computer because of Word files, not game files. Who has two bookcases – one for filled notebooks and one for other author's works.

Find a girl who writes. You know it's her because she'll always have a pen and a notebook with her. Occasionally a tape recorder. She's the one who would have as much fun at home on a Saturday night with her computer as she would out at a party.

You see the weird girl sitting on a park bench looking engrossed in watching the people that walk? That's the writer. They watch people, how they act, they discover how people work. All for research. For their next big novel.

She's the girl hunched over a laptop at the coffee shop, or a notepad. Her fingers are moving so fast they're only a blur to you. Her previously fresh-cooked muffin is now cold. Her tea has simmered down to a lukewarm. Sit down. She won't notice you for a moment, she's lost in a different world. But that's okay. Clear your throat, she'll snap back to the here and now. Ask if she's a plotter or a pantser. She'll smile.

Buy her another muffin – cold muffins are no good for the writer's mind.

Let her know what you think of her characters. Of the mother and the son, of the closest friend and the mortal enemy. She'll enjoy the critique. Understand that these characters are like people to her – like her closest family members; and that that's okay. Ask her if her main character would be a better child, or a better friend. It'll get her to think.

It's easy to date a girl who writes. She's the type that're just as likely to dance with you in the rain as to kiss you as the snow falls. Easy to please – as long as their novel isn't focused around a knight in shining armor. Then you're in for a whole other ball game. Understand that somewhere deep inside her she knows that what happens inside of her novels isn't true. But goshdarnit, she wants it to be. And with all honesty you can't stop her from wanting that.

She'll want it with all of her being.

Lie to her. If she understands her characters at all, she knows that everyone needs to lie at some point. She knows there are always reasons behind why people say things, and she knows selfishness is only human.

Fail her. But it can't be huge. Don't forget a birthday, don't forget an anniversary. She understands that in a book failures are always the best part. It makes things exciting, spices things up just a little bit. But although she's a writer, she's still human. Above all she knows that it's impossible to patch a heart back together just as it was beforehand. She's dealt with it before, with her imaginary family. She doesn't want it to happen to her.

Don't be afraid that you're not perfect. Don't be afraid that you are perfect. Girls who write know you're not. They'll examine you, but they'll love you just the same.

If you find a girl who writes, keep her close. There will be a time where you will find her awake at three in the morning, staring numbly at the computer or with tears streaming down her face. Most likely during November. It's okay. She just killed or maimed a character. You will lose her for a little while, a few hours. Just hold her and assure her that it's okay. She can always write a funeral in if she wants. She will talk and cry and laugh as if her characters are real because, to her, they are.

You will propose as the clock strikes midnight for the next decade. Or while parasailing. Or very lowkey as you stare up at the stars on that hill in her backyard.

You will love her with all of your heart, all of your soul. You won't remember that there is any other emotion with her. She will weave out your future with a mechanical pencil, have kids that when she tries to describe them, only you will understand exactly what she is saying. You will rock back and forth on your porch in your old age, and she will scribble down the last remnants of that novel that she wasn't able to write.

Because – you know – she'll try and write until the end.

Date a girl who writes because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who knows the best what's real and what's not. Who will take you to Pluto and beyond because she just wanted to know if she could still see the sun. If you're unwilling to become a character, to travel the world 'round, to show the emotion that is overloading your heart, then you're better off alone. If you want the best thing that could ever come to you and more, then date a girl who writes.

It's the best thing that could ever come of you.