"My English degree helped me fall in love with people and their stories. English for me was all about learning what others can experience or imagine."
When did you graduate from BYU?
MA English 2019
What is your job/position? And how would you describe what you do in that job/position?
I’m a professional Dungeon Master and freelance writer in the tabletop gaming industry and an Adjunct Professor.
Describe the path that you took from your BYU English degree to your current career, highlighting the important realizations and turning points that paved the path for you.
I always thought I wanted to be a literature professor because I loved analyzing texts, teaching, researching, and writing so much. However, one of the first books I read in grad school, Graduate Study for the 21st Century by Gregory Colón Semenza, stated in no uncertain terms that you should only be a scholar “because you believe it is the single most important thing you can pass on to other people.” I realized quickly that despite loving academia, it was not the most important project I had in mind. Instead, I wanted the freedom to write creatively, so I finished my master’s at BYU so I could continue to teach at the college level part-time since there is huge demand for adjunct work. Since graduating, I've continued to teach part-time because I still love working with students. Soon after I was hired as an adjunct professor, the pandemic hit, and many, many professors, including my boss, was “let go” as the college downsized, simply because it cost more to keep a full-time PhD instructor than an adjunct. It was a terrible but shocking realization that I had been spared because administrators simply could pay me less.
Luckily, I’d also already been working on my freelance writing career for six years, so I already had many connections and publication credits under my belt to help me really expand my writing opportunities. In the tabletop role-playing game industry, good and experienced writers often get recommended to other clients. I've since been offered contracts with major gaming companies, getting publishing credits for numerous intellectual properties, including The Expanse role playing game and Legend of the Five Rings. I'm currently writing two gaming books, a novella, and an adventure module, and I'm also compiling a wiki for a famous author’s epic fantasy book series soon to be published by Tor next year. Additionally, the global pandemic expanded my industry immensely by making remote tabletop gaming a much more viable option, so I’ve since joined a company offering professional online gaming services; I get to showcase my stories weekly for darn good pay. Currently, I get to be creative every day of my life, pick and choose my contracts and clients, and still enjoy a part-time slice of academia pie on the side.
I’ll be the first to admit that this is a risky career path that may not work for everyone. I have a spouse with a stable income and benefits who supported me while I worked hard to get to where I am now. Also, many factors of a career are out of your control, like a pandemic forcing colleges and universities to fire their best professors because of budget issues or random networking opportunities leading to a friend of a friend referring you for a project. I feel more lucky than wise, like I stumbled onto this path. It has been a wild journey full of exciting work. But if there’s one thing the pandemic really showed me, it’s that we all desperately needed stories while locked up for over a year and a half, and so far, it’s the been the most important thing I can pass on to others.
What are the specific skills that you cultivated as an English major that you now use in your professional life? And how do you use those skills in ways that set you apart from your colleagues?
Literary Analysis—breaking down a story to its components, so I can do that for my own stories.
Organized Writing—writing a book takes a specific kind of discipline, and knowing how to structure my ideas and present information effectively has helped a lot.
Research! —I do more research daily than ever before, and academia has helped me find the best sources, compile relevant information, and transform that information into new writing products.
Teaching—I now teach classes on what I do, so pedagogical philosophy has been invaluable.
Public Speaking and Presentation—I’m in front of a webcam 20+ hours per week, and I feel comfortable doing that.
Rhetorical Situation—I can adapt my writing to almost any project or contract! Such an important skill!
How else has your English degree helped you in your life?
It has helped me fall in love with people and their stories. English for me was all about learning what others can experience or imagine, and that’s a powerful perspective to maintain as I navigate treacherous times surrounded by groups who would dehumanize others.
As an alumnus of the BYU English department, what advice would you give to current students?
There is no one way to be a scholar. Be you first and make your path your own. It’s okay to love what you love and work hard to protect that.
Contact
johdoe@byu.edu