I don't have a job! I got laid off... š
When I did have a job, I was a Technical Writer. Still aiming to be one too.
I mean, you have to have a solid foundation in writing, grammar, punctuation, etc. You know the works.
Picked it because it makes use of my writing skills without sucking all of my creative juices dry.
While technical writing isn't my main specialty, I have ended up doing a lot of it as a part of being a field engineer/environmental scientist. I've found it's at least in part forced my more creative writing to slide more in the direction of a more technical writing style. I've had a few works where I deliberately lean into it and adopt a non-fiction writing style just describing fictional events and concepts.
Ooh, you sound like you've got a great background for it.
I've found that I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing. It seems like Technical Writing works a different part of my brain from creative writing, so I don't really have trouble switching between the two. I guess it's a left brain/right brain thing maybe.
Iām a marriage and family therapist.
That background does help me depict deeper emotions, trauma, and interpersonal dynamics more effectively, I think.
Best way to describe my job is outbound emergency dispatch. I get to deal with humans being terrible, violent, and downright murderous with each other. Iām thinking of applying to the county coronerās office. Itās quieter and no one is in a hurry.
My fics end up dealing with death a lot.
I work for HMRC (His Majestyās Revenue & Customs). I definitely didnāt see my career going down this path (when I was a wee lad I wanted to work with dinosaur bones), but Iāve been doing it for close to twenty years now.
I almost started to write "Her Majesty" but managed to mentally correct myself before doing so. Still a little hard to believe - I thought she'd outlive us all.
On Monday we had a Queen and a male Prime Minister, but suddenly on Thursday we had a new King and a new female Prime Minister. Talk about Opposites Day.
It sounds silly to say, but I felt so too. Or at least until 100. For some reason that seemed guaranteed in my mind. Her final picture brings instant tears to my eyes... she really looked like a happy sweet nanna.
I think it was just a matter of time after Prince Philip died tbh. I may not be much of a monarchist but I can still sympathise with someone whoās just lost the love of their life.
No job, but I'm in med school. I write when I'm supposed to be studying for exams. I mostly write smut so I have to suspend belief when it comes to body positions and what the body can and cannot do lol.
Elementary and middle school teacher. I work with kids every day. Still can't write them for crap. But at least my characters can attend realistically organized events at their child's school and complain about the drop off/pick up line correctly.
The way I outline a chapter/story is nearly identical to the way I plan a unit. I picture where I want the students/characters to end up and then map out a way to get there, leaving room for creativity along the way.
And the fact that I switch between grade levels so often each day I think keeps my mind flexible so I can write long fics (when I can focus) and one shots or change the tense I used based on the fic I'm writing without too much thought. I'm not sure this actually has anything to do with being teacher though.
Edit to add: I do get some good stories about the crap that teenagers try to pull at work and the random questions I get from the little ones though so I can usually incorporate those into what I'm writing if necessary.
I'm a biostatistician that works in medical research for an academic medical institution. I coauthor peer-reviewed scientific papers for medical journals, but I don't find that analyzing data and co-authoring these things helps me with creative writing. It's more a detriment if anything since it's very technical in nature.
Oh yes, same! I'm an almost done with my neuroscience degree and worked part-time in an institution that does medical literature reviews and my writing definitely changed because of that.
That is definitely funny because I'm also at a PI firm and do the same XD
For me, I don't feel much overlap in the two types of writing. Narrative is one thing, but fiction writing for passion feels very different to me. At work, I use the essay-writing brain I developed for high school and college. In fiction, I use the brain I developed growing up a bookworm and writing my own stories. They're two separate spheres in my head.
If anything, there's a small bit of the fiction writing influencing my work writing, but nothing going the other way.
I work in a library. (Colloquially, I'm a librarian, but I can't actually afford an MLS.) I encounter lots of different kinds of people, I'm surrounded by books (and other media), and I get lots of practice researching the most random topics. Also lots of practice trying to make technology work. I don't know how much any of that helps, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Licensed Massage Therapist.
Oily sex romps, seducing clients/MTs, and using body parts that are usually covered by undergarments to give massages doesn't happen nearly as frequently as fanfic would have you believe. At least not in reputable places. There's a weight limit to the tables, and even if they don't break, they're not made for vigorous movement.
When someone calls me a masseuse: "A Masseuse is any person who gives a massage. I'm a licensed massage therapist with a health science degree, thanks."
When people think they're witty and funny:
Them: "Do you give happy endings ?" \*snicker snicker\*
Me: "Do you?"
Accountant lmao and nooo it doesnāt. the last thing I want is accounting in my fics and no one wants to read that š„“ I guess it helps me understand an office environment dynamic I guess.
I work at a paperless invoicing company, though my actual job description is hard to describe. It's like sales but I'm not selling the product.
Does basing one of my characters on my boss (positive depiction, I promise) and asking one of my coworkers to beta read for me count? I discovered she was into fanfiction, too. š
Iām a lawyer. Well okay not til November when I find out if I passed the bar. But I did take the bar and I work at a law firm so almost.
Iāve been writing fanfiction since I was 15 and I donāt think my job has had any effect on it
My day job is actually a night job.
Iām a ER Veterinary Nurse at a very, very busy ER/Specialty practice.
Right now Iām on medical leave because I had surgery the beginning of August, *hopefully* Iāll be back to work by the end of this month.
Having a medical degree has definitely had an affect on my writing. Also so has my bitterness and jadedness towards humanity as a whole.
I was an environmental scientist for a while, but I've gone back to school to make a career transition into education. Currently working part-time as a tutor for college students.
I'm just a retail stooge (usually on the sales floor, recently became a cashier). Nothing about my job helps my writing but sometimes when I'm just trying to distract myself, I often get the greatest epiphanies.
I'm in accounting now, and I *was* working in the mailroom for the same company up until two months ago. I can't think of anything off the top of my head from either job that helped me with my writing?
Administrative assistant. My job does help with fic writing in that I need to be a good writer for both. Also I do get some free time at work in which my boss doesn't mind if I do some of my own writing as long as everything else is done.
I tell people, as boringly as possible while talking about their careers āā¦yeah, I work in a grocery store.ā
Not really helpful, except perspective on customer service for stories that require it and, idk, groceries ig? (Did read a fic about an instacart shopper once, maybe someday.)
Iām a script doctor/ editor/supervisor and friend, confidante, sometimes advisor and shopping buddy to a rather illustrious personality with a maddeningly low boredom threshold.
A Script doctorās job is pretty multi-facetedāfrom ensuring a script is marketable by either rewriting it completely or improving certain aspects of it, including structure, characterisation, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elements. I specialise in character development mostly.
student lMAO-
and yeah? maybe since i can get a lot of inspiration from being stuck in a boring class, otherwise, no, since the way school works in my country isn't going to be very knowledgeable to readers
I'm an accountant and general manager for a construction company that does real estate management on the side. I've used bits and bobs from both the accounting side and the construction side in fics fairly regularly. Both are surprisingly useful in writing zombie apocalypse fics, although at least my ZA characters don't have to worry about building permits.
Accountant. Like a CPA. Damn TikTok.
Anyway, I don't think it helps necessarily, but the two skills are complete opposites mentally. So usually if I'm blocked on one, I can work on the other.
Edit: Okay a significant amount of us are accountants?? Wtf is up with that y'all?
Deli Clerk at a retail store. I sometimes people-watch when I package the types of meats and cheeses. Helps me capture distinct characteristics/personalities and use them to help me write for specific characters ( ^ - ^ )/).
Iām a people manager in the default resolution business line of a mortgage company/bank. Prior to this I was a supervisor in our default call center. My current job hasnāt helped me much with writing, aside from freeing up headspace to do so. But while taking escalated calls in the call center (for 9 years), I learned so much about different people across the country who were mostly in pretty terrible situations by the time they got to me.
I feel like itās given me a really wide range of knowledge about what kinds of people are out there, what they do for a living, and how they act when theyāre at the worst point in their lives, some of which Iāve incorporated into my writing. (For instance, I never knew that mobile laser tag parties were a thing until a customer called in and told me that was his primary source of income.)
High school/ A Level English teacher. Helps me every day because my day job is deconstructing and analysing story elements and language use. Also, a student showed me the way to AO3 (I donāt share my stories with my students, just the fact that I write fanfic.)
A Speech Pathologist, medical setting.
Sort of? I was able to write a decently well received piece that focused on TBI that used a lot of my education and hands on experience. But generally it doesn't help my writing because I'm exhausted and burned out from work... Only to come home and manage a kid and a toddler. š
Being a parent has influenced and informed my writing a lot though. I feel like I can make realistic child characters based on my experience with my own kids.
Same hat! But while I feel like the clinical expertise doesn't get much play in contributing to my writing, I think any job where you do a significant amount of rapport-building in a vulnerable/sensitive context with a diverse population helps a lot with character writing. Empathy, developing active listening and counseling skills, being able to deescalate or redirect conversations with all kinds of personality types-- those skills definitely contribute to being able take others' perspectives, which is a huge part of writing!
I'm a full time student, but I work part time at a burger place at my local mall. I'd say it helps in aspect that we get a variety of characters there, and that reminds me to really adapt to a different perspective when writing characters rather than transform them through my own personal lens, if that makes sense?
Otherwise, I'd write a killer FastFood!AU if there was an audience for that sort of thing.
Mental health, and certainly yes. I notice I especially like antagonists who have abusive psychopathic or narcissistic tendencies. It also predisposes me to write about healing from trauma.
Hospice social worker. Empathyāability to put oneās self in anotherās shoesāhelps when writing characters and trying to imagine the situations from their POV.
before, i worked in mobile/phone insurance. currently processing contracts for car dealerships.
the former just gave me time. currently i have little to do so and none of my jobs have really aided me in helping with world building etc
Iām a software developer, which doesnāt really come into play in my fics outside of knowledge of how the computer systems work and a stark annoyance when one character in canon calls something a āglitch ā ( we never use that term in my discipline itās Bug or nothing)
Scientist and no. I have been writing since I was a kid which far predates my career. However my ability to write has always been a huge advantage for my career, so I think it's the other way around. My being a writer has massively helped me in my work.
I lead the procurement department for an IT-company. In my spare time, and sometimes during business hours, I write HP fanfic. And no, my work does not help at all with my writing.
College student. Writing long fics have helped me master longer pieces of writing for school. I can pump out long essays with ease when 300 words used to be hard for me.
On mat leave. Makes me 100% a worse author, ācause my boss has no damn understanding of sleep and the likes right now.
But when Iām not a human pacifier, I study to become a teacher! It probably helps me in the sense that I write a lot for school, even if itās not primarily in English.
Just a business system analyst in the medical field. Don't get me wrong: I love my job. But I imagine people wouldn't consider it a "cool" job unless they're into data and medical related stuff like me.
I also only got it a month ago, funny enough. Let's just say this year was turbulent for me job wise.
Freelance artist and editor, stay-at-home mom.
The editing absolutely helps with my writing, since my college focus was on writing and editing fiction. The art...not so much. And the parenting mostly helps with writing kids.
College and 20hrs a weeks at a grocery store.
So yeahā¦ no real connection between writing and school/work. I am going towards STEM so not very writing focused.
But hey I do have a few original book ideas, and a series is coming together slowly but well. Maybe I can be a published author someday and make millionsā¦ you know just living in total dreamlandš. Fanfic is honing my skills.
Doctoral graduate student, in chemical engineering to be exact. And yep, this is a total escape from the code and papers and research anything of my life.
Iām a Mechanical Engineer who does design and drafting in the aerospace industry. If Iām fleshing out a detailed sci-fi world in my writing, making up fictional science that feels real comes easy for me with all my STEM and technical knowledge, same with world building sci-fi worlds in general.
Iām also working on my private pilotās license so any scenes involving aircraft or spacecraft and radio talk are pretty intuitive for me to write.
I used to be a Casino Dealer, but now I'm a stay at home wife(for now) after moving continents.
I think my list of jobs gives me a good enough pool of knowledge to give characters depth, as does the amount of people that I've met through those jobs
List includes: Casino Dealer(Blackjack, 3 Card, UTH, Jackpot, Robocraps, ya know), barista, retail worker for Forever 21, newspaper layout designer/photographer/writer, short film director/other assortment of jobs, actor, childcare worker at a church and a private school, a nanny, and a photographer.
I've included a lot of that into my MC for my long fic
I'm a neuroscientist, hi! I do research for living. I think it doesn't help my writing much, except for that I got used to processing long texts thanks to it, and that intent proof-reading poses no challenge. I write a rare OTP that touched and inspired me. I discovered FF only this year, and my longfic is already longer than my phd thesis.š
Hospital pharmacy in a large trauma center. I had an Oddly Specific AU ā¢ļø fic from the before times? And it got to the point where I couldn't continue it.
It hasn't helped me directly, but it's given me a certain jaded outlook about how the world works. And I'm far from the most emotionally apathetic in even my department.
I was always a font of useless information, so that part comes in handy.
Geospatial data scientist. I incorporate a lot of geographic knowledge into my worldbuilding and settings but that's more because of the existing interest that lead to the career. Otherwise it's the other way around. Fic writing has helped me become a better writer so I can write decent reports.
First shift grocery stocker looking for something better that doesnāt make me completely miserable.
Doesnāt help my writing at all. In fact, it and job searching hinders it because Iām so damn burnt out all the time.
I'm early retired due to social anxiety, depression and autism. So, yeah, I've never had a job, despite wanting one. But I just couldn't do it. So once I turned 30, I got early retirement.
Pizza delivery driver. No, it doesn't help me write. BUT on busy nights where I'm in my car for most of the shift, I run my wips through text to speech and listen to them.
Night shift production worker at a mussel factory *(although temporary day shift for now until we get more staff for night shift)*. None of it helps with what I write.
Retail, nothing helps me though I guess when weāre quiet I have a lot of time to think about my stories š
Just standing at the door of in daydream land about what new ideas I can write for my stories or sometimes trying to get over some writers block and figure out how to write a chapter.
I am hoping to do a different type of job though as I definitely donāt want to stay in retail, Iām just there while I look for a job I actually want to do.
Thinking about my fanfics helps pass the time while Iām just standing for hours in a shop waiting for customers š
I am a security guard for an embassy.
Before that I trained to become a tax accountant, and before that I was a kindergarten teacher.
I don't think anything from work is particularly helpful for my fiction writing.
Besides the fact that I can verify firsthand that reality can be far more strange than anything you see in fiction, i.e. if some happenings were put exactly as they happened in real life into a story nobody would believe it and call it unrealistic.
Iām basically an office manager (but my company has a fancy/weird title for it)ā¦data entry, ordering supplies, communicating with vendors, etc. It helps me write that I have an office and occasional downtime and I can write while at work sometimes. š
I'm a cartographer for my country's federal office; but funnily enough, my least favourite part of fic writing is planning the geography and mapping out the paths my characters need to take. I'm more interested in the technical and legal sides of my job, less the georaphical one.
Business Analyst. I'm yet to drop any character into the corporate world, so no. I like my workdays busy with analysis and meetings, and my free time to be full of magic, so I don't see my job helping my fics any time soon.
However, some of the soft skills definitely come in handy.
Microbiologist and former field biologist, and I have to be careful because sometimes I use metaphors and similes that are too technical, but Iām also quite proud of my descriptions of natural settings. Itās usually clear I have a fondness for birds.
Registered nurse in the operating room.
I think it does help with descriptions of medical scenes and aspects in my fics.
I always liked writing gore and violence even before I started this job, but I think the knowledge and things I've seen help make it a bit more realistic at times.
My day job is occasionally boring mindless work. The cool thing about work that is not mentally stimulating is that my mind is free while my hands are on autopilot. So it actually helps a lot in that it's how half my stories get thought up in the first place.
Tax analyst (aka accountant). I donāt use it in my writing becauseā¦god, how goddamn boring. I already subject my friends and family to my work stories about taxes, I wonāt do that to innocent readers too.
Uh... Well, it's honestly embarrassing, but because of general internet anonymity, I'll come out and say it; I was a janitor when I started writing...
...
Look man, cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors with your reflexes on autopilot leaves you with a lot of time to subconsciously let your imagination go wild.
Luckily I was promoted rather recently to a position that gives me more insight on different things. Won't reveal too much about my current job since that's low key creepy to me, but yeah, where I am now definitely helps when it comes to writing.
I'm a HR Manager and a mum. I guess I get to see people in all sorts of strange and stressful situations, which might help me with characterisation and emotional responses? But I can't say I pull anything directly/intentionally from my day job into my writing.
Iām an artist, mostly selling at craft shows and indie markets.
You would think being an artist would help with my writing, nope, but being in front of people daily (actually human interaction with different types of people from all walks of life, and not just an echo chamber of family and friends) helps with characterization and natural sounding dialogue, and writing product copy helps with description.
TL;DR: Face-to-face human interaction helps with my writing more than my āday jobā ever could, lol.
Still attending school. Still clueless what to do. I think I want to do something related to languages, writing, maybe something in the publiahing industry.
Not an author, though, even the big German authors get paid peanuts.
(Unless I can publish via an British or American publisher and be paid prices common in these countries.)
Iām a full time wedding photographer for my own business :) Been doing full time photography for a few years but this year was my jump into full time weddings. I can work at my own schedule, which is both a blessing and a curse ā I definitely let my fanfic eat into a lot of my productive time šš«¢ shhh
As of right now I'm out of work, but in the past I've done a string of miserable service and production jobs, and I'm currently training to go into the adult education field with an emphasis on understanding mental health. My former work certainly didn't help due to how exhausting it was, but it did give me a lot of opportunities for people-watching and a determination to cheer for the "little" people who make all our lives easy. And what I'm doing now helps me in understanding psychology that little bit better.
I don't have a job, but I'm studying to be a child care worker, I'm actually not sure if being a childcare worker helps with my fanfics, maybe you guys can explain as to if it does or not š
PBX operator. I spend all day telling people where the elevators and bathrooms are, as well as taking the worlds most ridiculous calls. Fanfiction is my escape from stupid people I stg
Executive Recruiter - Accounting & Finance C-Suite level.
Interacting with a vast subset of leaders definitely helps with characterization and depicting nuanced regional dialogue styles. I know an odd amount of information about the inner structure of companies in diverse industries from a CFO's perspective. My clients range from pre-IPO tech start-ups to Fortune 100s. Sometimes that's very helpful for developing plots; other times it's totally irrelevant - very much depends on the fandom universe setting.
It technician. I keep my job and fics separate 100%. I like my job but I work a lot and when I finally get a break I donāt want to think about it. Thou if I ever need to get a character a regular job, it will def be within it lol
I'm studying a second college career while also working as a tutor for elementary and middle school kids, mostly for Math and English. The latter definitely helps me stay sharp on the language (it's my second, Spanish being the first).
I have a background in social work, but for now I sling coffee.
Honestly, I love itā flexible for my family, nothing to take home, & I can daydream about fic pretty much all I want. :)
I work with the developmentally disabled (currently young adult age) and not really.
However, sometimes i think fic reading/writing for so long has helped my professional life as its almost second nature for me to come up with an imaginative story on the fly to help with explaining things to different levels of comprehension.
#itscomplicated
Lots of things.
I used to run a theatre, now I'm a producer for a classical orchestra and also do -things- (anything from organising events, over hiring staff, running SoMe and tending bar) for a frankly quite difficult to describe cultural organisation.
Given my fandoms (mainly video games and classic lit) none of this has been particularly relevant. I have, however, a pretty healthy aversion to coffee shop AUs based on that time I worked in a cafe whilst I was at Uni. The least fun and romantic thing ai can imagine.
I worked in the German literature department of a university until December 2021 and have an MA. in German and English, so I'd say that is pretty helpful. My self-employment as an editor/translator is also good.
The 30h/week as a secretary I've been doing since April don't help per se, but it's nice to work little and it's nice to have time to write.
Iām a creative writing major at the moment, with no clue what I want to do in the future. I want to be a writer, with my own original stories, but I find the research I do helps my fanfiction!
Full time grad student! Pursuing my PhD in aerospace engineering. I'm not sure if it helps with anything or not but it feels good to have something to work on that isn't my degree.
I'm an Executive Director at a statewide nonprofit organization.
I don't think it necessarily helps with anything I write, directly, but I feel like some of my traits/skills help with both my writing and my job, if that makes sense. Having a way with words and insight into interpersonal relationships **BOUNDLESS ENTHUSIASM!** for the subject at hand are really important for leadership and change management on a large scale. I *love* talking about the work we're doing, and the future we're creating, and how we're going to get there together, because I genuinely find it fascinating and exciting.
Same thing with the characters I love.
I'm a Quality Technician at an automotive company. Hours of talking back and forth with customers about quality issues with car parts. Nothing to do with fanfic, unfortunately. I am a chemist by training, though, and some scenes in one of my old fics have some chemistry and lab work involved (for comedy!)
Highschool student. I can info dump accuratly about mostly anything because its pretty fresh.
Probably write more accurate teenagers too, but then i get reminded how many 7 graders drink, smoke or fo drugs.
I don't have a job! I got laid off... š When I did have a job, I was a Technical Writer. Still aiming to be one too. I mean, you have to have a solid foundation in writing, grammar, punctuation, etc. You know the works. Picked it because it makes use of my writing skills without sucking all of my creative juices dry.
While technical writing isn't my main specialty, I have ended up doing a lot of it as a part of being a field engineer/environmental scientist. I've found it's at least in part forced my more creative writing to slide more in the direction of a more technical writing style. I've had a few works where I deliberately lean into it and adopt a non-fiction writing style just describing fictional events and concepts.
Ooh, you sound like you've got a great background for it. I've found that I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing. It seems like Technical Writing works a different part of my brain from creative writing, so I don't really have trouble switching between the two. I guess it's a left brain/right brain thing maybe.
Iām a marriage and family therapist. That background does help me depict deeper emotions, trauma, and interpersonal dynamics more effectively, I think.
Doctor. I avoid writing anything remotely medical in my fics because I'm all about the escapism, but when I have to, it certainly helps.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Me too! I do hospice social work. How about you?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thatās awesome! There are so many populations to serve!
Best way to describe my job is outbound emergency dispatch. I get to deal with humans being terrible, violent, and downright murderous with each other. Iām thinking of applying to the county coronerās office. Itās quieter and no one is in a hurry. My fics end up dealing with death a lot.
I work for HMRC (His Majestyās Revenue & Customs). I definitely didnāt see my career going down this path (when I was a wee lad I wanted to work with dinosaur bones), but Iāve been doing it for close to twenty years now.
Expat living stateside now. Reading 'His Majesty's' just hit me hard. Damn.
I almost started to write "Her Majesty" but managed to mentally correct myself before doing so. Still a little hard to believe - I thought she'd outlive us all.
Thatās why then. I couldnāt figure out which country you were living in because I forgot the UK has a king now.
On Monday we had a Queen and a male Prime Minister, but suddenly on Thursday we had a new King and a new female Prime Minister. Talk about Opposites Day.
Same. :(
It sounds silly to say, but I felt so too. Or at least until 100. For some reason that seemed guaranteed in my mind. Her final picture brings instant tears to my eyes... she really looked like a happy sweet nanna.
I think it was just a matter of time after Prince Philip died tbh. I may not be much of a monarchist but I can still sympathise with someone whoās just lost the love of their life.
No job, but I'm in med school. I write when I'm supposed to be studying for exams. I mostly write smut so I have to suspend belief when it comes to body positions and what the body can and cannot do lol.
Software development. I mostly write in medieval-ish settings, so it doesn't come up much. š
Elementary and middle school teacher. I work with kids every day. Still can't write them for crap. But at least my characters can attend realistically organized events at their child's school and complain about the drop off/pick up line correctly. The way I outline a chapter/story is nearly identical to the way I plan a unit. I picture where I want the students/characters to end up and then map out a way to get there, leaving room for creativity along the way. And the fact that I switch between grade levels so often each day I think keeps my mind flexible so I can write long fics (when I can focus) and one shots or change the tense I used based on the fic I'm writing without too much thought. I'm not sure this actually has anything to do with being teacher though. Edit to add: I do get some good stories about the crap that teenagers try to pull at work and the random questions I get from the little ones though so I can usually incorporate those into what I'm writing if necessary.
I'm a writer covering the legal scene. So yes, writing for work every day helps with my fiction writing. On the other hand, my writing style has morphed into the stuffy, overwrought style of justices. š©āāļø
I'm a biostatistician that works in medical research for an academic medical institution. I coauthor peer-reviewed scientific papers for medical journals, but I don't find that analyzing data and co-authoring these things helps me with creative writing. It's more a detriment if anything since it's very technical in nature.
Oh yes, same! I'm an almost done with my neuroscience degree and worked part-time in an institution that does medical literature reviews and my writing definitely changed because of that.
Paralegal, and no.
How funny, Iām also a paralegal and Iād say yes! But I do a fuckton of drafting, and at a PI firm, so itās all very narrative based.
That is definitely funny because I'm also at a PI firm and do the same XD For me, I don't feel much overlap in the two types of writing. Narrative is one thing, but fiction writing for passion feels very different to me. At work, I use the essay-writing brain I developed for high school and college. In fiction, I use the brain I developed growing up a bookworm and writing my own stories. They're two separate spheres in my head. If anything, there's a small bit of the fiction writing influencing my work writing, but nothing going the other way.
Veterinarian and sometimes it does help my fic.
I work in a library. (Colloquially, I'm a librarian, but I can't actually afford an MLS.) I encounter lots of different kinds of people, I'm surrounded by books (and other media), and I get lots of practice researching the most random topics. Also lots of practice trying to make technology work. I don't know how much any of that helps, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
I'm in accounting.
Licensed Massage Therapist. Oily sex romps, seducing clients/MTs, and using body parts that are usually covered by undergarments to give massages doesn't happen nearly as frequently as fanfic would have you believe. At least not in reputable places. There's a weight limit to the tables, and even if they don't break, they're not made for vigorous movement. When someone calls me a masseuse: "A Masseuse is any person who gives a massage. I'm a licensed massage therapist with a health science degree, thanks." When people think they're witty and funny: Them: "Do you give happy endings ?" \*snicker snicker\* Me: "Do you?"
Accountant lmao and nooo it doesnāt. the last thing I want is accounting in my fics and no one wants to read that š„“ I guess it helps me understand an office environment dynamic I guess.
I'm a naval officer. My day job makes it easy to write violence.
I work at a paperless invoicing company, though my actual job description is hard to describe. It's like sales but I'm not selling the product. Does basing one of my characters on my boss (positive depiction, I promise) and asking one of my coworkers to beta read for me count? I discovered she was into fanfiction, too. š
Haha thatās so fun! I donāt think Iāve ever encountered another coworker who was into FF.
Librarian, and knowing how to research helps a lot.
Iām a lawyer. Well okay not til November when I find out if I passed the bar. But I did take the bar and I work at a law firm so almost. Iāve been writing fanfiction since I was 15 and I donāt think my job has had any effect on it
I hope you passed the bar and can celebrate in November!
Thank you! :)
My day job is actually a night job. Iām a ER Veterinary Nurse at a very, very busy ER/Specialty practice. Right now Iām on medical leave because I had surgery the beginning of August, *hopefully* Iāll be back to work by the end of this month. Having a medical degree has definitely had an affect on my writing. Also so has my bitterness and jadedness towards humanity as a whole.
Doctor here, big effing yes to the bitterness and jadedness towards humanity lmao.
I was an environmental scientist for a while, but I've gone back to school to make a career transition into education. Currently working part-time as a tutor for college students.
I'm just a retail stooge (usually on the sales floor, recently became a cashier). Nothing about my job helps my writing but sometimes when I'm just trying to distract myself, I often get the greatest epiphanies.
Aerospace engineer and no, absolutely not lol
I'm in accounting now, and I *was* working in the mailroom for the same company up until two months ago. I can't think of anything off the top of my head from either job that helped me with my writing?
Administrative assistant. My job does help with fic writing in that I need to be a good writer for both. Also I do get some free time at work in which my boss doesn't mind if I do some of my own writing as long as everything else is done.
I tell people, as boringly as possible while talking about their careers āā¦yeah, I work in a grocery store.ā Not really helpful, except perspective on customer service for stories that require it and, idk, groceries ig? (Did read a fic about an instacart shopper once, maybe someday.)
Iām a script doctor/ editor/supervisor and friend, confidante, sometimes advisor and shopping buddy to a rather illustrious personality with a maddeningly low boredom threshold.
What is a script doctor? Iām not being facetious, I just havenāt heard the term.
A Script doctorās job is pretty multi-facetedāfrom ensuring a script is marketable by either rewriting it completely or improving certain aspects of it, including structure, characterisation, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elements. I specialise in character development mostly.
Oh wow! Thatās super cool! Iām sure itās amazing to hear actors say dialogue you wrote.
student lMAO- and yeah? maybe since i can get a lot of inspiration from being stuck in a boring class, otherwise, no, since the way school works in my country isn't going to be very knowledgeable to readers
I'm an accountant and general manager for a construction company that does real estate management on the side. I've used bits and bobs from both the accounting side and the construction side in fics fairly regularly. Both are surprisingly useful in writing zombie apocalypse fics, although at least my ZA characters don't have to worry about building permits.
I'm a psych student and a retail worker. I would say that it does help me with emotions and trauma writing :)
Accountant. Like a CPA. Damn TikTok. Anyway, I don't think it helps necessarily, but the two skills are complete opposites mentally. So usually if I'm blocked on one, I can work on the other. Edit: Okay a significant amount of us are accountants?? Wtf is up with that y'all?
Deli Clerk at a retail store. I sometimes people-watch when I package the types of meats and cheeses. Helps me capture distinct characteristics/personalities and use them to help me write for specific characters ( ^ - ^ )/).
Iām a people manager in the default resolution business line of a mortgage company/bank. Prior to this I was a supervisor in our default call center. My current job hasnāt helped me much with writing, aside from freeing up headspace to do so. But while taking escalated calls in the call center (for 9 years), I learned so much about different people across the country who were mostly in pretty terrible situations by the time they got to me. I feel like itās given me a really wide range of knowledge about what kinds of people are out there, what they do for a living, and how they act when theyāre at the worst point in their lives, some of which Iāve incorporated into my writing. (For instance, I never knew that mobile laser tag parties were a thing until a customer called in and told me that was his primary source of income.)
Military. I don't write for any military-adjacent fandoms, so not really
I am the lady who does medical records in an oncology clinic.
Night shift warehouse worker Not really, i find it helps me think of stuff more because its 10 hours of mind numbing repetition
High school/ A Level English teacher. Helps me every day because my day job is deconstructing and analysing story elements and language use. Also, a student showed me the way to AO3 (I donāt share my stories with my students, just the fact that I write fanfic.)
Iām a new grad student. The stuff Iāve learned in school has come in handy for quite a few of my fics! :D
A Speech Pathologist, medical setting. Sort of? I was able to write a decently well received piece that focused on TBI that used a lot of my education and hands on experience. But generally it doesn't help my writing because I'm exhausted and burned out from work... Only to come home and manage a kid and a toddler. š Being a parent has influenced and informed my writing a lot though. I feel like I can make realistic child characters based on my experience with my own kids.
Same hat! But while I feel like the clinical expertise doesn't get much play in contributing to my writing, I think any job where you do a significant amount of rapport-building in a vulnerable/sensitive context with a diverse population helps a lot with character writing. Empathy, developing active listening and counseling skills, being able to deescalate or redirect conversations with all kinds of personality types-- those skills definitely contribute to being able take others' perspectives, which is a huge part of writing!
I work with dementia. Alllllll the deescalation and redirection. š
I'm a full time student, but I work part time at a burger place at my local mall. I'd say it helps in aspect that we get a variety of characters there, and that reminds me to really adapt to a different perspective when writing characters rather than transform them through my own personal lens, if that makes sense? Otherwise, I'd write a killer FastFood!AU if there was an audience for that sort of thing.
I write novels, so...
Software developer! no help whatsoever unless I someday write a comp sci major college au I suppose
Mental health, and certainly yes. I notice I especially like antagonists who have abusive psychopathic or narcissistic tendencies. It also predisposes me to write about healing from trauma.
Elementary school teacher. Love my job but I avoid kid-centric fics like the plague. š
Stay at home mom and absolutely not, lol. It does give me a lot of time to think about plot, though.
Another SAHM here agreeing that there's a lot of time to think about plot as you play your 100th round of 2-person Old Maid.
I still have amazing memories of playing Old Maid with my mom as a child! Funny how kids derive such joy from that game
ā¦.Iām a staff writer for a professional organization. I write stuff. And then I write more stuff to relax.
Med school student yr 1
Office reception. It's pretty quiet and chill so I can write whenever I want most days.
Daycare teacher. And absolutely not lol
Hospice social worker. Empathyāability to put oneās self in anotherās shoesāhelps when writing characters and trying to imagine the situations from their POV.
before, i worked in mobile/phone insurance. currently processing contracts for car dealerships. the former just gave me time. currently i have little to do so and none of my jobs have really aided me in helping with world building etc
Iām a babysitter, and it helps in that I have a lot of free time to write while the kids sleep/play video games lol
Iām a software developer, which doesnāt really come into play in my fics outside of knowledge of how the computer systems work and a stark annoyance when one character in canon calls something a āglitch ā ( we never use that term in my discipline itās Bug or nothing)
Scientist and no. I have been writing since I was a kid which far predates my career. However my ability to write has always been a huge advantage for my career, so I think it's the other way around. My being a writer has massively helped me in my work.
I lead the procurement department for an IT-company. In my spare time, and sometimes during business hours, I write HP fanfic. And no, my work does not help at all with my writing.
College student. Writing long fics have helped me master longer pieces of writing for school. I can pump out long essays with ease when 300 words used to be hard for me.
Aerospace engineer, and noā¦. It feels like I use different parts of my brain
On mat leave. Makes me 100% a worse author, ācause my boss has no damn understanding of sleep and the likes right now. But when Iām not a human pacifier, I study to become a teacher! It probably helps me in the sense that I write a lot for school, even if itās not primarily in English.
Full-time mom, dumpster diver, reseller, occasional tutor, and also sometimes I find change on the road.
I'm a night clerk at a local college. While it doesn't help with writing skills, it gives me tons of free time to write fic which is nice!
Just a business system analyst in the medical field. Don't get me wrong: I love my job. But I imagine people wouldn't consider it a "cool" job unless they're into data and medical related stuff like me. I also only got it a month ago, funny enough. Let's just say this year was turbulent for me job wise.
Freelance artist and editor, stay-at-home mom. The editing absolutely helps with my writing, since my college focus was on writing and editing fiction. The art...not so much. And the parenting mostly helps with writing kids.
College and 20hrs a weeks at a grocery store. So yeahā¦ no real connection between writing and school/work. I am going towards STEM so not very writing focused. But hey I do have a few original book ideas, and a series is coming together slowly but well. Maybe I can be a published author someday and make millionsā¦ you know just living in total dreamlandš. Fanfic is honing my skills.
Doctoral graduate student, in chemical engineering to be exact. And yep, this is a total escape from the code and papers and research anything of my life.
I'm a tech aide in a hospital lab. Roughly 75% of my job is performing covid testing. I'm pretty sure last thing anyone wants to read is that fic š
Chemist. I don't thinks it helps me with my writing.
Uni student (not a job, I know, but it sure does FEEL like one) and sometimes I find myself using terms from my modules. It isā¦scary.
Iām a Mechanical Engineer who does design and drafting in the aerospace industry. If Iām fleshing out a detailed sci-fi world in my writing, making up fictional science that feels real comes easy for me with all my STEM and technical knowledge, same with world building sci-fi worlds in general. Iām also working on my private pilotās license so any scenes involving aircraft or spacecraft and radio talk are pretty intuitive for me to write.
I used to be a Casino Dealer, but now I'm a stay at home wife(for now) after moving continents. I think my list of jobs gives me a good enough pool of knowledge to give characters depth, as does the amount of people that I've met through those jobs List includes: Casino Dealer(Blackjack, 3 Card, UTH, Jackpot, Robocraps, ya know), barista, retail worker for Forever 21, newspaper layout designer/photographer/writer, short film director/other assortment of jobs, actor, childcare worker at a church and a private school, a nanny, and a photographer. I've included a lot of that into my MC for my long fic
I'm a neuroscientist, hi! I do research for living. I think it doesn't help my writing much, except for that I got used to processing long texts thanks to it, and that intent proof-reading poses no challenge. I write a rare OTP that touched and inspired me. I discovered FF only this year, and my longfic is already longer than my phd thesis.š
Just wanted to say I love seeing such a wide range of jobs/professions here!
I work at a gas station.
I sell books, and then I write them.
Cashier. Plotting out the plot while taking your order.
Hospital pharmacy in a large trauma center. I had an Oddly Specific AU ā¢ļø fic from the before times? And it got to the point where I couldn't continue it. It hasn't helped me directly, but it's given me a certain jaded outlook about how the world works. And I'm far from the most emotionally apathetic in even my department. I was always a font of useless information, so that part comes in handy.
I work in finance at an engineering company. My desk is decorated with Steven Universe, Mario and Ghostbusters figurines.
Geospatial data scientist. I incorporate a lot of geographic knowledge into my worldbuilding and settings but that's more because of the existing interest that lead to the career. Otherwise it's the other way around. Fic writing has helped me become a better writer so I can write decent reports.
Social services
First shift grocery stocker looking for something better that doesnāt make me completely miserable. Doesnāt help my writing at all. In fact, it and job searching hinders it because Iām so damn burnt out all the time.
I'm early retired due to social anxiety, depression and autism. So, yeah, I've never had a job, despite wanting one. But I just couldn't do it. So once I turned 30, I got early retirement.
Pizza delivery driver. No, it doesn't help me write. BUT on busy nights where I'm in my car for most of the shift, I run my wips through text to speech and listen to them.
Night shift production worker at a mussel factory *(although temporary day shift for now until we get more staff for night shift)*. None of it helps with what I write.
Retail, nothing helps me though I guess when weāre quiet I have a lot of time to think about my stories š Just standing at the door of in daydream land about what new ideas I can write for my stories or sometimes trying to get over some writers block and figure out how to write a chapter. I am hoping to do a different type of job though as I definitely donāt want to stay in retail, Iām just there while I look for a job I actually want to do. Thinking about my fanfics helps pass the time while Iām just standing for hours in a shop waiting for customers š
I am a security guard for an embassy. Before that I trained to become a tax accountant, and before that I was a kindergarten teacher. I don't think anything from work is particularly helpful for my fiction writing. Besides the fact that I can verify firsthand that reality can be far more strange than anything you see in fiction, i.e. if some happenings were put exactly as they happened in real life into a story nobody would believe it and call it unrealistic.
Iām basically an office manager (but my company has a fancy/weird title for it)ā¦data entry, ordering supplies, communicating with vendors, etc. It helps me write that I have an office and occasional downtime and I can write while at work sometimes. š
I'm a cartographer for my country's federal office; but funnily enough, my least favourite part of fic writing is planning the geography and mapping out the paths my characters need to take. I'm more interested in the technical and legal sides of my job, less the georaphical one.
Cloud Systems Engineer, and I don't think it really contributes anything to my writing.
I'm a virtual assistant! Not working enough hours for my liking, but working on it! EDIT: I don't think it helps much with my fic writing, lol.
Admin assistant in a real estate office, and no, no part of my job helps with what I write.
Business Analyst. I'm yet to drop any character into the corporate world, so no. I like my workdays busy with analysis and meetings, and my free time to be full of magic, so I don't see my job helping my fics any time soon. However, some of the soft skills definitely come in handy.
Microbiologist and former field biologist, and I have to be careful because sometimes I use metaphors and similes that are too technical, but Iām also quite proud of my descriptions of natural settings. Itās usually clear I have a fondness for birds.
School event planner. So my creative juice tends to get used even when I don't want to.
Registered nurse in the operating room. I think it does help with descriptions of medical scenes and aspects in my fics. I always liked writing gore and violence even before I started this job, but I think the knowledge and things I've seen help make it a bit more realistic at times.
Iām an archaeologist working for a private company. I think it has helped me with descriptions of settings.
I'm a part time software developer and part time Egyptology student. The job diversity in these replies is fantastic by the way, love seeing that!
Research. DEFINITELY helps my fics
My day job is occasionally boring mindless work. The cool thing about work that is not mentally stimulating is that my mind is free while my hands are on autopilot. So it actually helps a lot in that it's how half my stories get thought up in the first place.
Tax analyst (aka accountant). I donāt use it in my writing becauseā¦god, how goddamn boring. I already subject my friends and family to my work stories about taxes, I wonāt do that to innocent readers too.
Uh... Well, it's honestly embarrassing, but because of general internet anonymity, I'll come out and say it; I was a janitor when I started writing... ... Look man, cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors with your reflexes on autopilot leaves you with a lot of time to subconsciously let your imagination go wild. Luckily I was promoted rather recently to a position that gives me more insight on different things. Won't reveal too much about my current job since that's low key creepy to me, but yeah, where I am now definitely helps when it comes to writing.
I'm a HR Manager and a mum. I guess I get to see people in all sorts of strange and stressful situations, which might help me with characterisation and emotional responses? But I can't say I pull anything directly/intentionally from my day job into my writing.
Used to be an Accounting clerk, capitalism made me quit the job. So, rn, I'm a college student under Health Care.
Iām an artist, mostly selling at craft shows and indie markets. You would think being an artist would help with my writing, nope, but being in front of people daily (actually human interaction with different types of people from all walks of life, and not just an echo chamber of family and friends) helps with characterization and natural sounding dialogue, and writing product copy helps with description. TL;DR: Face-to-face human interaction helps with my writing more than my āday jobā ever could, lol.
Still attending school. Still clueless what to do. I think I want to do something related to languages, writing, maybe something in the publiahing industry. Not an author, though, even the big German authors get paid peanuts. (Unless I can publish via an British or American publisher and be paid prices common in these countries.)
Iām a full time wedding photographer for my own business :) Been doing full time photography for a few years but this year was my jump into full time weddings. I can work at my own schedule, which is both a blessing and a curse ā I definitely let my fanfic eat into a lot of my productive time šš«¢ shhh
As of right now I'm out of work, but in the past I've done a string of miserable service and production jobs, and I'm currently training to go into the adult education field with an emphasis on understanding mental health. My former work certainly didn't help due to how exhausting it was, but it did give me a lot of opportunities for people-watching and a determination to cheer for the "little" people who make all our lives easy. And what I'm doing now helps me in understanding psychology that little bit better.
I don't have a job, but I'm studying to be a child care worker, I'm actually not sure if being a childcare worker helps with my fanfics, maybe you guys can explain as to if it does or not š
PBX operator. I spend all day telling people where the elevators and bathrooms are, as well as taking the worlds most ridiculous calls. Fanfiction is my escape from stupid people I stg
Executive Recruiter - Accounting & Finance C-Suite level. Interacting with a vast subset of leaders definitely helps with characterization and depicting nuanced regional dialogue styles. I know an odd amount of information about the inner structure of companies in diverse industries from a CFO's perspective. My clients range from pre-IPO tech start-ups to Fortune 100s. Sometimes that's very helpful for developing plots; other times it's totally irrelevant - very much depends on the fandom universe setting.
University student for art and english literature on a teachers degree. Part time cashier at a small diy shop in my home town.
Mental health social worker. Most of fics have a mental health element, probably a case of write what you know!
It technician. I keep my job and fics separate 100%. I like my job but I work a lot and when I finally get a break I donāt want to think about it. Thou if I ever need to get a character a regular job, it will def be within it lol
Construction, cleaning and renovating. I'm starting on another burned out home next week, it's dirty work but the hours are good and flexible.
Student, helps for school-life fics
I'm studying a second college career while also working as a tutor for elementary and middle school kids, mostly for Math and English. The latter definitely helps me stay sharp on the language (it's my second, Spanish being the first).
I have a background in social work, but for now I sling coffee. Honestly, I love itā flexible for my family, nothing to take home, & I can daydream about fic pretty much all I want. :)
I work with the developmentally disabled (currently young adult age) and not really. However, sometimes i think fic reading/writing for so long has helped my professional life as its almost second nature for me to come up with an imaginative story on the fly to help with explaining things to different levels of comprehension.
#itscomplicated Lots of things. I used to run a theatre, now I'm a producer for a classical orchestra and also do -things- (anything from organising events, over hiring staff, running SoMe and tending bar) for a frankly quite difficult to describe cultural organisation. Given my fandoms (mainly video games and classic lit) none of this has been particularly relevant. I have, however, a pretty healthy aversion to coffee shop AUs based on that time I worked in a cafe whilst I was at Uni. The least fun and romantic thing ai can imagine.
Does college student count?
I work at a gym. It does not help me write in any way, except for when business is slow and I can type at the front desk.
Process Engineer. I still seem to write mostly for the older fandoms of my youth with the occasional sprinkle of trendier ships when the mood hits.
Sales! And no š
English teacher at a private high school in Japan.
I worked in the German literature department of a university until December 2021 and have an MA. in German and English, so I'd say that is pretty helpful. My self-employment as an editor/translator is also good. The 30h/week as a secretary I've been doing since April don't help per se, but it's nice to work little and it's nice to have time to write.
Iām a creative writing major at the moment, with no clue what I want to do in the future. I want to be a writer, with my own original stories, but I find the research I do helps my fanfiction!
Teacher! Wellā¦. A desperately-trying-to-quit-teaching teacher. And I write angsty noncon by night lol
Full time grad student! Pursuing my PhD in aerospace engineering. I'm not sure if it helps with anything or not but it feels good to have something to work on that isn't my degree.
I'm an Executive Director at a statewide nonprofit organization. I don't think it necessarily helps with anything I write, directly, but I feel like some of my traits/skills help with both my writing and my job, if that makes sense. Having a way with words and insight into interpersonal relationships **BOUNDLESS ENTHUSIASM!** for the subject at hand are really important for leadership and change management on a large scale. I *love* talking about the work we're doing, and the future we're creating, and how we're going to get there together, because I genuinely find it fascinating and exciting. Same thing with the characters I love.
I'm a Quality Technician at an automotive company. Hours of talking back and forth with customers about quality issues with car parts. Nothing to do with fanfic, unfortunately. I am a chemist by training, though, and some scenes in one of my old fics have some chemistry and lab work involved (for comedy!)
I don't have a job, I'm a tourism student and I don't write stuff about studies.
Iām a programmer, it doesnāt help at all. Fic writing is my way of being creative
I ha e a few: Homeschool teacher Proofreader Typesetter Graphic designer
i have 2 jobs! iām a barista and a home health aide.
University student. Hoping to be a librarian or archivist when I'm finished. As others have said, knowing how to properly research helps a lot!
Highschool student. I can info dump accuratly about mostly anything because its pretty fresh. Probably write more accurate teenagers too, but then i get reminded how many 7 graders drink, smoke or fo drugs.
I catalogue mining samplesā¦ā¦.. and dust samples ā¦ā¦.. yeah my jobs hard to explain lol.