Making a living from writing, writing from making a living

For authors from Ken Kesey to Nathan Filer and Christie Watson, conventional working life has provided a vital resource – and not only in getting the rent paid

According to Mark Twain, experience is an author’s most valuable asset: “It’s the thing that puts the muscle, breath and warm blood into the book.” And, as the place aspiring writers spend most of their time, authors have often drawn on experiences at work as inspiration.

Take Ken Kesey, who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest after working as an attendant in a psychiatric hospital. He reportedly underwent voluntary psychiatric experiments as research – and based the character of Chief Bromden on a hallucination during a drug test. Likewise, Agatha Christie’s knowledge of poisons came from her job as a hospital nurse in the first world war.

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