Write Your Hobby

One of the easiest ways to write what you know is to incorporate something you know well, like a hobby, into your novel.

Granted, I am a hobby person. So much so that I’ve taken to saying my hobby is collecting hobbies. But even if you only pursue one or two, there a lot of good reasons to use your hobbies to fuel your writing.

Why Give Your Characters a Hobby?

First, a hobby is a great way to show (not tell or explain) your character’s personality. When used as part of character development, it can make your character more compelling and memorable.

For example, what if instead of crocheting, your little old lady character wants to learn how to weld? Or if your filthy-mouthed truck driver is an amateur mushroom hunter during his free time? Don’t these pursuits instantly make both of these characters more interesting?

Furthermore, giving your character a hobby they’re passionate about can make them more relatable. This isn’t a small thing; the more your readers can relate to your character, the more they’ll care about them, their goals, and the overall story.

Hobbies can also become a structural element of the plot.

If you incorporate your (ahem), your character’s hobby as a subplot, you can use it to round out the overall story.

And while your character’s hobby can bring comfort and pride, it can also be a source of struggle and disappointment. You might use a hobby as a way for them to interact with or meet new characters. You can also use a character’s hobby to build conflict between characters.

Your Hobbies Bring Passion to Your Writing

When you bestow your passion for your hobby on your character, your enthusiasm for it will come through your writing. Not only will that energy enliven your scenes, writing about your hobbies is fun.

Crafting a novel can be a grueling process, so why not make it fun whenever you can?

Follow Your Curiosity.

If you don’t have a hobby you can share with your character, why not research something you’re interested in pursuing yourself? You can reach out to experts, take a class, watch videos, join a club, and investigate how or when a hobby first started, all in the name of research.

Don’t Write a How-To

While incorporating your hobby into your novel can be a lot of fun, it’s important to make sure you don’t get side tracked by your enthusiasm for the subject. Remember, the information should enliven the story, not make your reader’s eyes glaze over.

One way to do this is to find out what is universally appealing about the hobby.

To keep your story moving forward, make sure you tie the hobby to the greater story, the character’s experience, and to their overall goals. Don’t forget to limit hobby-specific jargon, too.

I learned this the hard way; in an early draft of Oil and Dust, several readers asked “Is this supposed to be a horse book?” As painful as it was to rip out much of the horse lore from my manuscript, the feedback was on point. Horses are still a major part of Mathew Sugiyama’s world, but they are not the point of the story.

Your Hobbies Are Fun… and Useful!

Even if you find it difficult to talk about your books, I bet you enjoy talking about your hobbies! If you use your hobbies in your novel, why not use them to market your writing? Not only can this help identify your potential audience, it takes the pressure off when someone does ask about your story.

What are your hobbies? Have you incorporated them into your writing?

Header Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash