Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Funeral Director

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your story, they might be trying to get that job or are already working in the field. Whatever the situation, as with any defining aspect for your character, you’ll need to do the proper research to be able to write that career knowledgeably.

Enter the Occupation Thesaurus. Here, you’ll find important background information on a variety of career options for your character. In addition to the basics, we’ll also be covering related info that relates to character arc and story planning, such as sources of conflict (internal and external) and how the job might impact basic human needs, thereby affecting the character’s goals. 

We hope the sample list of ideas below will show you how to choose and use your character’s occupation to do more than simply reference a day job. For the full entry for this career and over 120 other ideas, check into our bestselling resource, The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers.

Funeral Director

Overview: 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.). A director also coordinates with a church and minister (if used), volunteers, caterers, florists, and any other agencies required. They also…

Necessary Training: Required education may vary depending on the state or location one practices in, so if this factors into your story in a real-world locale, do some research for that area. In general though, most directors will have an associate degree in mortuary science, if not a batchlor’s degree. A funeral director also needs..

Useful Skills, Talents, or Abilities: Basic first aid, blending in, empathy, exceptional memory, gaining the trust of others, good listening skills…

Helpful Character Traits: calm, centered, courteous, diplomatic, disciplined, discreet, efficient, empathetic, focused, honorable, hospitable…

Sources of Friction: a difficult body collection (the body of a child, a loved-one, or someone who died in a very horrible manner, a person who is the same age or is similar on some way to the director), conflict between relatives over funeral arrangements, a break in the chain-of-custody, making preparations for those who have no one to make their arrangements…

People They Might Interact With: grieving family members, church management, volunteers, pastors and ministers, florists, caterers, community hall organizers and staff, representatives from the military (the the deceased was in service) or a..

How This Occupation Might Impact One’s Basic Needs:

• Self-Actualization: If a character is in this profession because it is a family business, they may feel it is an obligation career that holds them back from things they might find fulfilling (pursuing higher education, following a passion…)
• Love and Belonging: A character in this industry may struggle to find and maintain loving relationships due to the demands of the job and …
• Safety and Security: A character could fine themselves caught up in a dangerous situation if they are working on a high-profile client (a criminal, a mobster, or a person of interest in a federal investigation).

Common Work-Related Settings: car accident, cheap motel, church, community center, construction site, courtroom, flower shop, funeral home, hospital (interior), hospital room, house fire, morgue, nursing home, parking garage, parking lot, police station, underpass, waiting room, wake

Twisting the Stereotype: Morticians are often portrayed by men, so why not assign this profession to a woman?

Visit the other Occupations in our collection HERE.

How will your character’s occupation help reveal their innermost layers?

Much of your character’s life will revolve around their work, and whether they love it or hate it, their job is a great way to show, not tell, their personality traits, skills, work ethic, worldview and beliefs, and more, so we should choose it with care.

To learn more, we recommend The Occupation Thesaurus book. Explore 120+ jobs to choose a profession for your character that showcases who they are, what they want, and what they believe in. Then learn how that career choice can characterize, drive the plot, infuse scenes with conflict, and get readers on the character’s side through the relatable pressures, responsibilities, and stakes inherent with work.

You can find this bestselling thesaurus writing guide in print, ebook, and PDF formats. To see what other authors think of the book, read its reviews at Goodreads.