The definitions for habits and quirks tend to overlap somewhat and this just confuses things, especially for a new writer. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of a habit is “a settled or regular tendency or practice; an automatic reaction to a certain situation” while a quirk is defined as “a peculiar behavioral habit”.

What is important is that, when you are writing your novel, you don’t get the two muddled up otherwise things will start to unravel very quickly and your book won’t make sense.

Habit

A habit is something that your character does frequently enough that it becomes automatic and they would find it hard to change. These may be common within the community of your character or they may be unique to one specific character. For example, when crossing the road, it is a habit to look both ways; this is unlikely to be noticed by your readers because it is something that most of us do. Some people check all their doors and windows before they go to bed; this would be a normal habit in a place where things are dangerous but, in a normally safe area, it would seem to be more peculiar and would indicate that your character has tendencies that are obsessive-compulsive or that they moved from a dangerous area.

Quirk

A quirk is something that is peculiar to a specific person and that appears odd to anyone who has interaction with that person. Your character may be cultivating a quirk purely for effect; it may be a quirk that has turned into a habit or something that is rooted so deep in his or her nature that they can't easily change.

Those who have interaction with the character will not be sure of the kind of quirk they are faced with. For example, walking rather than driving, regardless of weather, distance, can indicate several things – no money, dedicated exercise, environmental concerns, and so on.

Remembering the difference between a quirk and a habit may be easier if you understand that a quirk is a behavior trait or action that is deliberate, while a habit is a trait or action that is automatic.

Using Habits and Quirks to Breathe Life Into Your Characters

Giving life to your characters in such a way that readers can identify and empathize is a hard thing to do. It is a combination of dialog, memory, events, and flashbacks but another way of giving life to your characters is to introduce habits and quirks. Because they serve multiple purposes in a story, some of the main uses for habits and quirks are to:

Identify a character

Define a character

Reveal some tension

Create some conflict

When you are coming up with a new character or want to give a new lease on life to an existing one, add some habits and quirks. Stuck for ideas? Take a day out and go do some people-watching. Watch what they do and write things down; somewhere along the way you will strike gold and come up with a habit or quirk that can really make your book.