Quirky Character Traits

My dad always seems to think that I like TV shows and movies that he does, for some reason. For example, he loved the show "Monk" and told all of his friends that I loved it, too, just because I occasionally watched it with him. Dunno if that counts as a quirky trait, but the dad's in my books always have that trait.

I posted a sort of related thread a while back: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232322

I think quirks are fun. The not smoking cigarettes thing seems a little contrived to me. I think the best quirks come naturally.

The LI in my wip always carries peppermints around and he has an odd obession with sweater vest.

One of my characters reads cookbooks like novels, specifically for all of the "stories" on how recipes came to be that usually come before the important parts of the recipe itself.

I think quirks can deepen the character or they can help endear the character to the reader. Either way they can be useful to the author if they're being used properly. I really hate it when a character has a quirk that doesn't fit their personality. When an author is clearly using the quirk just for the sake of writing a quirk it tends to cheapen the writing and it makes me think that the author needs something to draw my attention aware from a problem in their story. Otherwise I'm all for quirks.

My MC's best friend soundtracks everything. She even has a playlist just titled "Shoes."

I tend to do this - constantly imagine a song/score for my life's moments - so it came out that she was expressing her empathy to the MC with a playlist commemorating the suck.

MysteryRiter said:

My dad always seems to think that I like TV shows and movies that he does, for some reason. For example, he loved the show "Monk" and told all of his friends that I loved it, too, just because I occasionally watched it with him. Dunno if that counts as a quirky trait, but the dad's in my books always have that trait.

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that's so cute

Mine don't really tend to have quirks. They have obsessions... The only thing I can think of is that my seventeen-year-old bully guy is majorly obsessed with the local chip shop's chicken dinosaurs, and another has an unhealthy obsession with an 18th century lady whose portrait has always hung in his room.

I heard about this teenage guy who memorizes famous last words. He finds opportune times to drop this knowledge into everyday conversation, which is kind of quirky, I think.

I heard about this other teenage guy who everyone thinks is kind of slow and stupid because he's really big and always says what is on his mind and is totally guileless. It turns out he's really smart and has what it takes to be a hero and the way I hear it he saves the world.

I also heard about this teen girl who ties her shoes in this really innovative and cool way and turns out be this way with everything. She's just an innovator, I guess.

Come to think of it, there's this guy with a really weird first name, which is actually the last name of the world's most famous writer. Anyway, he can't help but write down every humiliating thing that happens to him into a sort of memoir, and boy does he have a lot of material. He's definitely quirky!