Editing Hobby (section)

== Hobbyists ==
Hobbyists are a part of a wider group of people engaged in [[leisure#Types of leisure|leisure]] pursuits where the boundaries of each group overlap to some extent. The ''Serious Leisure Perspective''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = The Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP)|url = http://www.seriousleisure.net/|website = The Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP)|access-date = 2016-02-18}}</ref> groups hobbyists with amateurs and volunteers and identifies three broad groups of leisure activity with hobbies being found mainly in the Serious leisure category. ''Casual leisure'' is intrinsically rewarding, short-lived, pleasurable activity requiring little or no preparation. ''Serious leisure'' is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer that is substantial, rewarding and results in a sense of accomplishment. Finally, ''project-based leisure'' is a short-term often a one-off project that is rewarding.<ref name=":1" />

The terms amateur and hobbyist are often used interchangeably. Stebbins<ref name=":0" /> has a framework which distinguishes the terms in a useful categorization of leisure in which ''casual leisure'' is separated from ''serious Leisure''. He describes serious leisure as undertaken by ''amateurs'', ''hobbyists'' and ''volunteers''. ''Amateurs'' engage in pursuits that have a professional counterpart, such as playing an instrument or [[astronomy]]. Hobbyists engage in five broad types of activity: ''collecting'', ''making and tinkering'' (like embroidery and car restoration), ''activity participation'' (like fishing and singing), ''sports and games'', and ''liberal-arts'' hobbies (like languages, cuisine, literature). Volunteers commit to organizations where they work as guides, counsellors, gardeners and so on. The separation of the amateur from the hobbyist is because the amateur has the ethos of the professional practitioner as a guide to practice. An amateur clarinetist is conscious of the role and procedures of a professional clarinetist.

[[File:Girls und Panzer Triumph.jpg|thumb|There are people who enjoy motorcycle touring alone or in groups, and there are also club teams.]]
A large proportion of hobbies are mainly solitary in nature.<ref name="Gelber S M 1999, p. 12" />{{rp|28}} However, individual pursuit of a hobby often includes club memberships, organized sharing of products and regular communication between participants. For many hobbies there is an important role in being in touch with fellow hobbyists. Some hobbies are of communal nature, like choral singing and volunteering.

People who engage in hobbies have an interest in and time to pursue them. Children have been an important group of hobbyists because they are enthusiastic for collecting, making and exploring, in addition to this they have the leisure time that allows them to pursue those hobbies. The growth in hobbies occurred during industrialization which gave workers set time for leisure. During the Depression there was an increase in the participation in hobbies because the unemployed had the time and a desire to be purposefully occupied.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gelber|first1=Steven|title=A Job You Can't Lose: Work and Hobbies in the Great Depression|journal=Journal of Social History|year=1991|volume=24|issue=4|pages=741–766|jstor=3788855|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1353/jsh/24.4.741}}</ref> Hobbies are often pursued with an increased interest by retired people because they have the time and seek the intellectual and physical stimulation a hobby provides.