Comments on: Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Funeral Director

By: Aura

Aura — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 20:12:36 +0000

Haha I just went to suggest this and it’s already here! Whoops! Great info! I’ve got an undertaker character and I love her to death but I have a hard time writing jobs that I don’t know anything about. Thank you for this! I can’t wait to use it with her

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:16:23 +0000

In reply to Carol Baldwin. Yes, often if the Funeral Director owns the business, they live onsite, and it totally makes sense considering the hours. I don't imagine it is an easy career, but in all the articles I read from directors, there is some incredible beauty and honesty in death too. It opened my eyes to the process of grief and how it can bring about a huge gift to those remaining: clarity about what is important.

By: Carol Baldwin

Carol Baldwin — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 14:38:48 +0000

Really appreciated this post since a mortician plays an important role in WIP. Local and historical information needs to be sought out too–practices vary from state to state. I recently met a woman whose mother was a mortician and she was convinced that every family would live in an apartment above the funeral home. She was surprised to find out that wasn’t the case for my character’s family in the 50’s in Charlotte, NC. Details count! I also liked what you included about character traits and flipping some of the stereotypes.

By: Writing Links 2/12/18 – Where Genres Collide

Writing Links 2/12/18 – Where Genres Collide — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:06:43 +0000

[…] https://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/02/occupation-thesaurus-entry-funeral-director/ “Funeral directors oversee end-of-life preparations (either to pre-plan a funeral, or after death) and will have a variety of responsibilities including body pick-up, preparing legal documentation, working with surviving family members to arrange for funeral services (the burial and cremations arrangements, casket and flower arrangement options, music and slideshow options, attending to the obituary and creating pamphlets for the service, transportation, etc.).” Occupation. […]

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:48:13 +0000

In reply to Deb Salisbury. They say that a strong sense of humor is necessary for any occupations that bring you close to death - first responders, funeral directors, coroners, etc.

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:46:57 +0000

In reply to Maggie. I think it is an interesting occupation, especially for a female. There's a book by Dan Wells called I Am Not a Serial Killer where the Mom & Aunt of the protag are funeral directors if you want some further research to look into. ;)

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:45:46 +0000

In reply to Cynthia A Litchko.

This is a thesaurus we are still developing, so not a book yet. 🙂 You can find all the entries here, though: https://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections/

By: Maggie

Maggie — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:05:04 +0000

Thanks for posting this one. I’m interested in having a heroine as a funeral director. I know a female funeral director (lots of deaths in the family) and gotten to know her. She’s filled me in on quite a few details and is someone I’d love to base a character on because she did this while juggling a family.

By: Cynthia A Litchko

Cynthia A Litchko — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 02:05:39 +0000

Okay, I’m hooked but where can I buy the Occupation Thesaurus? I couldn’t find any links on this site and it wasn’t on Amazon.

By: Deb Salisbury

Deb Salisbury — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 16:12:34 +0000

In the small town where I grew up, the undertaker family played a family of clowns at every holiday parade. Wonderful people!