SIX REASONS WRITERS NEED OTHER HOBBIES

The other day I filled out a survey and one of the questions got me thinking. It asked about my hobbies, and I easily typed “Writing” in the field. I wasn't about to put "Eating delicious food." And while I play the guitar for enjoyment, I am by no means a "real" musician. 

That left me wondering what my other hobbies were and what benefits come from these other disciplines?

​I came up with six reasons you should consider expanding your hobby department.

1. Hobbies Give You Early Success and Confidence
Publishing is a long, rejection-filled business. Having another hobby where you can see progress can be a great psychological boost.  You may have just received that 27th rejection letter, but at least you can still drop a three-pointer or lay down that perfect brush stroke.

2. Hobbies Take Your Mind Off of Writing
At certain points in the writing process, the last thing you need to be thinking about is writing. You may have hit a rough spot in your outline and are uncertain which direction to take your plot point. Setting it aside and spending an afternoon baking a cake may be the perfect answer. Subconsciously, your brain never lets the problem rest. While you’re icing that cake, the solution may suddenly come screaming to the forefront!

3. Hobbies Give You New Material 
New experiences give you new thought processes. Once you’ve put it in your brain, you have it to go back to and pull it out. Having multiple hobbies opens you up to fresh experiences and helps you to write more authoritatively. If you’ve rebuilt a carburetor in a Gran Torino, you’ll be able to include it accurately and give depth to a scene. That includes being able to use the correct terminology for a particular situation.

4. Hobbies Help You Network with Different Kinds of People
Writers, in general, tend to lean towards the introvert side of the scale, sitting alone pounding away at the keyboard. When we do connect with people, it's easy to value the people that think and act like us and carry on similar acts of word-mongering. Having a different hobby or hobbies forces you to mingle with people that have different passions and experiences.

5. Hobbies Renew Your Desire to Write
A side benefit to additional hobbies is they may make you understand how much you love and need your valuable writing time. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, argues the old saw, and it is true. After you spend a few hours scrapbooking or hiking, you may be doubly ready to sit down in front of you keyboard and pound away.

6. Hobbies Make You a Better-rounded Person
This point may sound like a catch-all, but it's not. Back in college, I remember one person for a distinct reason. He had three topics: basketball, video games, and his favorite classic rock band. Every conversation eventually wound up falling into one or more of these categories. I quickly found myself weary of the three-note conversations. I would use the word relatability. By having multiple hobbies, you open yourself up to a broader and more varied experience. This, in turn, makes you more approachable in your personal life and in your writing. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think if you’re a writer, you must be passionate about it (maybe even a little rabid). But if you want to tell a story that touches humanity, you have to have a deep well from which to draw.

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