By: Kim Olgren

Stephen King does jigsaw puzzles, plays guitar, and bowls. Emily Dickenson loved baking. Agatha Christie traveled with her husband. E. Cummings painted. Jackie Collins is into soul music and photography.

Hobbies. Every writer could use one or two.

“Why would I need a hobby? Don’t I have enough to do as a writer?” You may ask.

While writers do have full schedules (surprisingly, “other” people do too), spending time on a hobby can be beneficial in many ways.

A Healthy Hobby

Certain hobbies help keep you healthy. Stephen King is among many writers who have been known to take a daily walk. Here in Colorado many writers have outdoor hobbies such as hiking, biking, running, paddle boarding, skiing, and much more. Physical hobbies help your body release feel-good chemicals in your brain and rid your body of toxins, help you focus better, and sleep better, and that helps you write better. Plus, expending energy on physical hobbies, actually gives you more energy for everything else, including writing. Many times, these hobbies are combined with other hobbies like photography or camping.

Allow Your Mind to Unwind

I used to help out one of my hubby’s former employers with tagging merchandise. It sounds monotonous, poking those little plastic things with a tag through item after item, case after case of…stuff. Sounds downright mind-numbing right? Wrong! I had some of my most creative ideas when I was doing this work. Why? Because my inner critic was focused on doing the job and not poking myself with the tagging gun, which left my imagination unsupervised and free to make up whatever it wanted to. The same goes for seemingly repetitive hobbies like knitting or crocheting. These hobbies allow the mind to unwind and stretch out.

Get Up and Go Out

You need to get out among the people sometimes. Yes. I said it. You have to go OUT. Look, you can’t make good stories in a vacuum. If you’re not getting out once in a while, you’re missing the opportunity to gather valuable story fodder. Hobbies like spectator sports, joining a park and recreation softball league, a dart league, or just walking the mall make you get out amongst your fellow humans and help to remind you of how people act, for better or worse.

Don’t Let the Well Dry Up

Hobbies help fill the well. When I’m relaxing with my hubby on the sofa watching TV and crocheting, just chilling, I’m filling the well. When I’m walking my dog or playing ball with her in the backyard, I’m refilling the well. When I’m chilling with a good book that I’m reading just for fun (yes, you should do this too), I’m refilling the well. Do whatever refills your well. Do it regularly. This is one of the most important things writers can do for themselves.

Let Your Hobby Help You

Finally, hobbies can help you overcome your writing problems. Have a sticky plot problem? Take a walk or play the guitar. Trying to figure out how best to get those love interests together? Go hang out at the mall and people-watch the couples (but don’t be creepy about it, no one wants to be that person). Feeling stuck? Bake something, even if it’s cookies out of the refrigerated section at the grocery store so that you can feel like you’ve accomplished something when you take the final product out of the oven.

So, my writer friends, if you haven’t already picked up the thing that helps you unwind or helps you get inspired, fear not! There are tons of things to do. Some of the writers I know do things like:

Photography
Hiking
Crochet
Video Games
Cooking
Reading (for pleasure)
Movies
Music
Playing an instrument
Drawing
Knitting
Painting
Puzzles
Camping
Board games
Role-playing games
Making jewelry
Quilling
Calligraphy
Sewing
Needlepoint
Volunteer work

And many more! Think about what interests you and Google from there. The possibilities are seemingly endless. Relax and write on, my writerly friends!

Originally published November 2, 2021

Kim Olgren is the author of the internationally-selling cozy mystery, FLIPPED-A JILLIAN MCELROY FLIPPING MYSTERY (writing as Kimberly Olgren). Flipping houses can be murder. As Jillian soon finds out when she buys her first house for renovation, setting off a powder keg of murder, kidnapping, and worst of all, the necessity to hire infamous womanizer, Nathan Strong as her general contractor. When not writing Kim can be found in her local community renovating houses with her husband, volunteering with her local writers’ organization, crafting, or camping somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Visit her blog, ‘Round the Bend, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.