Choosing a talent or skill that fits with your character’s personality, lifestyle, and values can go a long way to helping them break free of the common stereotypes seen so often in fiction. This thesaurus will help you find the perfect quality or two that will show readers your character’s uniqueness while also acting as an asset when it comes to goal achievement.
When choosing a talent or skill, think about the personality of your character, his range of experiences and who his role models might have been. Some talents might be genetically imparted while others are created through exposure (such as a character talented at fixing watches from growing up in his father’s watch shop) or grow out of interest (archery, wakeboarding, or magic). Don’t be afraid to be creative and make sure the skill or talent is something that works with the scope of the story.
Baking
Description: The making of food that requires the preparation of dough, batter, etc., and cooking in an oven using dry heat. Baked products include bread, cake, pastries, doughnuts, doughs…
Beneficial Strengths or Abilities: good hand-eye coordination, knowledge of basic mathematics, good physical health (must be able to knead dough, lift sacks…
Character Traits Suited for this Skill or Talent: organized, detail-oriented, creative, cooperative…
Required Resources and Training: Required resources include heat (in the form of an oven, open fire, smoldering ashes, or other source), water, various grains, and money to buy ingredients. Baking is a skill that many people develop through practice as a hobby or …
Associated Stereotypes and Perceptions: The stereotypical baker is often associated with medieval times, sweating his life away in a boiling hot kitchen surrounded by brick ovens. It should be remembered that various inventions, procedures, and new materials…
Scenarios Where this Skill Might be Useful: Knowing how to bake basic bread can be a life-saving skill in a post-apocalyptic world. In a society where…
TIP: Choose a talent or skill that makes your character memorable and helps them achieve their goals.
If this is something you’d like to learn more about, you might find these resources helpful. You can also see the full collection of talent and skill entries in their entirety at One Stop For Writers, where all our thesauruses are cross-referenced and linked for easy navigation. If you’re interested in seeing a free sampling of the Talent and Skill Thesaurus and our other descriptive collections, head on over and register at One Stop!
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
I love this. THank you. Your blogs are an important part of my writing routine. I have your The Emotion Thesaurus and use it all the time. Very quick and efficient for just what I need when my brain won’t work! Writing is such a demanding skill and having a list at your fingertips to find just the right word is essential. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
What a great idea! I’m often stopped short when it comes to picking a career for my characters (I had a hard enough time picking one for myself). But I can see here that focusing on an individual skill-set does the same thing and is a whole lot easier. Thanks!!
This is a great post. I enjoy baking goodies to share with others.
Great post. The last bit about a post apocalyptic world really rung true with me. I was just wandering in one yesterday and wondering how to make things a bit more interesting, without adding killer radioactive monsters. Thanks for that!
Good stuff. A hobbyist may find baking relaxing. Kneading can be therapeutic and meditative.
Love this, but I love baking too.
Wonderful resource to make our characters more complex and complete. Thanks for posting this.
Wow, that is a totally cool list. Thanks for sharing!
Talents and skills. Brilliant. You always figure out exactly what we need to improve our craft. I can’t wait to share your new thesauruses with my creative writing students!
Thought this wonderful resource from author, April Henry, would be useful. Character’s jobs: http://www.aprilhenrymysteries.com/does-your-character-need-a-job.html