Pebblepup's Writing Den

Do you have a hobby? What do you like to do for fun? Do you play on a sports team? Or do you make things, pottery, clothing, or jewelry. It’s possible, you like to watch TV or read. My point here is that you don’t work, eat, and sleep. Your characters shouldn’t either. Take this for instance:

John finished his task and clocked out. He was dead tired and it was Friday. He got into his car and drove home. He ate dinner then went to bed.

Pretty boring, right? Not only would that life bore the character would, the reader would be as well. Now think about this.

John finished his task and clocked out. He was happy it was Friday. He had baseball practice this evening. The team had a game tomorrow afternoon. The team was ready. They would win.

That’s a bit more interesting to read isn’t it? Your characters need to be interesting. A hobby can introduce a sense of anticipation into the story. Your character, and your reader, should expect some fun, free time.

You need to give your character a hobby. Have them play football, baseball, cricket, tennis, or golf. Have them play a musical instrument, knit, weave, throw pots on a wheel. The hobbies you can choose from are as varied as what you could see anywhere around you.

Round out your character by giving them a hobby to enjoy when they are ‘at rest’. That makes your character seem more real to your readers. That’s what you want. Your characters will come to life, if you give them things to do that have nothing to do with the story.

You could show a character sitting on its bed, playing solitaire or a guitar. You could show one be late to basketball practice. Or a character is ice skating. Hobbies can break the tension, which is something you might want to slow your story down a bit.

Character hobbies can serve an important purpose. Not only will such things help bring your character to life, it will slow the story down. This is quite useful when you find the ride is too fast.

You can use a character’s hobby or hobbies to help control the story’s pace. It’s best not to use this tool too much. Your reader won’t want to read about the character doing its hobby every other page. That would slow the pace too much. Don’t worry about that during the first draft. But look out for it when you do your read through, which should be what you do after each revision of the draft.

What you want to do is sprinkle it through out the story. You can intertwine other characters activity in the story as well. But don’t go overboard with the hobbies. Moderation is the key.