As writers, we want to make our characters as unique and interesting as possible. One way to do this is to give your character a special skill or talent that sets him apart from other people. This might be something small, like having a green thumb or being good with animals, to a larger and more competitive talent like stock car racing or being an award-winning film producer. 

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. 

PARKOUR

Description: A discipline of getting from one place to another, regardless of obstacles, as efficiently as possible, using body movement.  A practitioner of parkour uses one’s own body weight and momentum to scale walls or buildings, vault over obstacles and generally…

Beneficial Strengths or Abilities: strong hand-eye coordination and depth perception, a mind for physics, a strong body core, good stamina…

Character Traits Suited for this Skill or Talent: fearless, decisive, careful, determined, radical, sharp-eyed…

Required Resources and Training: agility and strength training

Associated Stereotypes and Perceptions (and misconceptions!):

• that only “street punks” do parkour, and it’s usually to escape the police
• that parkour is dangerous
• people who do parkour are reckless…

Scenarios Where this Skill Might be Useful:

• when creative, out-of-the-box thinking is required to get from a to b (in an emergency when roads might be blocked off, elevators not working, etc.)
• when one must reach a seemingly unattainable place in a life or death situation to reach safety (escaping a burning building, climbing out of a ravine or crevasse, crossing a field of debris, etc.)…

Resources for Further Information:

The world’s best parkour & free running

Beginner’s guide to parkour

Ultimate guide to parkour

Talents and skills not only make our characters stand out, they often help them attain their goals. So choosing them strategically can greatly enhance both the character and the story.

If this is something you’d like to learn more about, you can find the 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!

Image: Farioff @ Pixabay