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Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier and Don Rickles, Kraft Music Hall, 1968. Souce: Wikimedia Commons |
Giving your character a hobby can serve several purposes. It can serve to reinforce a particular personality type - an aggressive risk taker may race cars or skydive on the side. Conversely, a hobby which seems incongruous might make a character far more memorable. Anyone old enough to remember Rosey Grier? He was an American football player who then served as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy in 1968. He was guarding Ethel Kennedy when the assassination took place and subdued the killer, Sirhan Sirhan. Grier released many singles as a singer and also authored books on needlepoint. Needlepoint? Yep. And macrame. Not the sort of interests you might expect from a 6'5" former member of the 1968 LA Rams "Fearsome Foursome" starting defensive line. I was born in the 60s, so I don't clearly remember any of the events in his life firsthand. Yet I did remember the name Rosey Grier and the fact that his hobby was cross-stitch - it made a strong enough impression for me to recall him 40 years later, while writing this post.
A hobby can provide alternate settings and a host of other characters with which your MC may interact. Hobbies range from the well-known (bird watching) to the slightly odd (extreme competitive ironing of clothes). An intriguing and little-known interest could also provide you with an entire subplot and/or act as an aid in bulking up your word count. Who knows - doing a little research on hobbies might provide you with an idea for your next novel!
Bonus: Which Hobby is best suited to your personality? Click here
Adjectives for the day: habile, henotic, hircine, hoary, honorificabilitudinity (!), horrisonant, hyaline
First thing that comes to mind is Dirk Pitt and his "hobby" 'of collecting cars(which is also the author's hobby). Adds a bit to the fluff.
ReplyDeletelove the adjectives!!
Hmm, my hobby (according to the quiz) is outdoor :). I suppose that fits since I spend tons of time out there enjoying things with my dogs!
ReplyDeleteFrom AtoZ at The Five Dog Blog
Wow, that's a lot of hobbies. Letting your characters have hobbies also makes them seem more real.
ReplyDeleteClothes ironing! The new Summer Olympic sport.
ReplyDeleteI actually did remember to give my main character a hobby.
Afraid to take that test though. It will probably tell me I am least suited to write...
Giving your character a hobby is fun and it makes them seem real too, and that's always a plus! You can also have your character collect something. That's fun too. :)
ReplyDeleteI did give my character a hobby, but its not something people will like (she likes playing mischief).
ReplyDelete