We all want our stories to connect with readers. We all want our readers to read our words and feel like they are slipping into the shoes of our fictional characters and stepping into another life. We all want our readers to live out another life inside the pages of our books and forget they are still sat in their armchair, on the train, in a cafe or curled up on the sofa. To do this we need some writer magic sauce.

This writer magic sauce has many ingredients but to name a few; conflict, a compelling plot, a good setting, great dialogue and captivating characters.

Characters are so important. They bring the flavour to a good story.

It’s not just about their physical appearance. When I started out as a fresh faced, newbie writer I was more concerned with the way my characters looked and what they liked to wear. As a result my characters came across as one dimensional. It was only when I started adding more facets to my characters that things changed for me.

Book characters need a personality, motivation, flaws, back story and they need hobbies or interests.

Hobbies and interests tell you so much about someone. They not only tell you what that person likes to do for fun or unwind but also they reveal a side to their character – which you can show and not tell. For example:

• A character who loves going to explore far flung places in the world with just a rucksack on their back and gets bored of normal life easily. This is someone who is open to change, likes to be independent and craves adventure. They also have a restless curiosity which needs to be satisfied.

• A character who loves to play hockey in their spare time. Their team doesn’t win much as they play for fun but this character has dreams of one day turning things around. This is someone who likes being part of a team, likes the thrill of sport, enjoys solving problems on the go and is used to dealing with failure.

Hobbies and interests are good devices from a technical perspective. They give your characters dreams, ambitions and life goals. Add enough passion and motivation to your character and they will go to great lengths to pursue that dream / life goal of opening their own bakery, leaving the coprorate rat race to sail a boat around the world, climb that mountain or run a marathon. This gives you a chance to set them off on a journey of self discovery and you can put some obstacles or conflict in their way like a love interest perhaps?

if you are writing romance like me, hobbies and interests are a great device for getting your characters to meet by chance, have something in common or get competitive with each other.

Giving your fictional character a hobby or an interest makes them more relatable. They start to become real in the mind of your reader. This creates a connection between your story and the reader. It is good when a reader enjoys the same hobby as your character but for me as a reader I also like characters who engage in new and unique pastimes.

Character hobbies and interests are the little details which make a good story pop!