5 Reasons HSPs Make the Greatest Writers
HSPs are all about the details, which can be a very powerful tool in your writing — whether you’re describing a sunset or how your character’s dinner tastes.
“Being highly sensitive sucks.” That’s what I thought every time I failed a singing audition because I felt too emotional to succeed. That’s what I thought whenever I considered a career change because of a declined manuscript. And I thought even worse about being highly sensitive as I got rejected from a relationship for not being able to manage the “intensity” of my feelings.
And, not only do we HSPs have strong feelings, but we easily absorb others’ emotions, too — their happiness is our happiness, their sadness is our sadness, their anger is our anger.
Yet being highly sensitive also makes us very special, and the positives definitely outweigh any negatives. (And we’re not alone — about 20 percent of the population is made up of HSPs, so we’re unique!) The most simple things in life have a breathtaking taste for us. A sunset isn’t just a sunset: it’s all the world’s beauty conspiring to make this five-minute event a portal toward the universe’s pure magic. And we have the faculty to notice beauty not just in sunsets, but everywhere we look: we receive every little life’s pleasure like a precious gift. It’s as if we never lost our inner child’s ability to live in amazement.
Needless to say, although it can be challenging at times, being highly sensitive is a gift, and one that brings me (and you!) amazing superpowers! For instance, it can help you become an amazing writer — either as a career or hobby. Here’s how.
5 Reasons HSPs Make the Greatest Writers
1. Your profound empathy makes you feel others’ feelings, including those of your character(s).
In real life, you are so connected with others that you feel their emotions as if they were your own! When you share time with a cheerful and positive person, you feel energetic and full of projects. Conversely, if someone is feeling down, you feel disheartened, too.
Similarly, while optimistic stories have the power to easily uplift you, you’ve blacklisted tons of books and movies because they were too hard to process for your highly sensitive mind.
When you write, your empathy comes into play, too: it makes you create unforgettable characters who are as deep as real humans, with tangible feelings. Whatever your characters’ emotions are, your readers can totally relate because they’ve all been there. Since your understanding of human emotions is outstanding, this makes your characters concrete, real, and … almost alive!
Please, use your empathy in your writing — your future readers need (and will appreciate) it.
2. Your sharpened senses can help you create powerful descriptions and scenes in your writing.
HSPs feel a lot of stimuli at once. Some noises can drive you mad, some colors can hurt you, or, on the contrary, make you feel really good. Smells and tastes are very important for you. If you hear a sudden noise (like a jackhammer) next to you while you walk, you feel the urge to run and cry. Seasons and weather also have a powerful effect on you and can affect your mood.
Overall, you can feel extremely good or bad, depending on your environment: the lighting, the ambient noise, the way the furniture is arranged … I remember spending a whole day rearranging a rehearsal room in my head because bookcases were blocking windows! How upsetting, right? There’s no such thing as “details” for highly sensitive people in that matter.
When you write, use your senses for powerful descriptions: when you describe a place, your readers will visualize it very precisely. When your characters are eating something, your readers will actually smell and savor it. When you write a chapter, your readers will know the season when the action takes place, even if you don’t mention it. When your characters experience physical events, whether it’s a car crash or a romantic night, your readers will feel them in their skin and bones.
You have a natural creative talent for creating rich, detail-oriented scenes, so use it!
3. Your rich inner world can help you create rich written worlds.
As an HSP, in real life, your imagination is so powerful that it’s almost hard for you to determine what’s real (or not). If you read a book, for example, you become one of the characters. You love to project yourself into the future, and using visualization is easy for you. Your inner world is insanely rich and you could spend hours wandering there, as other people may do with video games or by watching TV.
When you write, your imagination can help you craft astounding situations. This great skill easily compensates for the fact that, as a highly sensitive person, you usually have a hard time being cruel with your characters. So thanks to your unleashed imagination, you can put your characters in amazing events: they’ll go through a lot of surprising and emotional ups and downs until the very end of the story.
By tapping into your rich imagination, your readers won’t be able to put your writing down once they start reading it.
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4. Your amazing intuition and insight can come in handy when you create relationships between your characters (both good and bad ones).
In real life, your awareness as an HSP is amazing: you instantly “get” relationships between people you don’t know. You get the friendships, the love stories, or the unspeakable past between them. Your intuition helps you know when somebody’s trying to lie to you or surprise you, and someone’s tone of voice on the phone is more than enough for you to know what the conversation will be about … Sometimes, you even know who is calling before you even grab your phone! Aren’t you also a little bit psychic?
When you write, you build exciting relationships between your characters. They live intense and true connections that your readers can totally relate to, or are eager to understand better. Your characters evolve together, and their mutual and common evolution is rich and fascinating. Your knowledge of human interactions is enormous. More than knowledge, it’s like a fine perception that you often can’t explain, but can perfectly describe and transcribe.
So use your HSP gift of insight and intuition in your writing to “wow” your readers even more!
5. Your genuine sincerity and emotions can help get to the core of your story and resonate with your readers.
In real life, you may cry easily as a highly sensitive person and not hide your emotions well — which is completely OK! (It’s actually one of the best, most endearing qualities about being an HSP!)
Of course, depending on the situation you’re in, you may sometimes wish you could hide them though. But, try as you might, attempting to hide them may make them even more intense. Instead, you may choose to share them with disarming sincerity, and this makes you a true inspiration for those who don’t dare to be themselves in their everyday lives.
When you write, using your own life experience and tough times doesn’t scare you. You make them the core of your story without making it an autobiography (unless that’s your goal). You simply open your heart and transform your real, personal experience into a more universal tale, without losing its power and integrity. And that, my dear, highly sensitive friend, is what makes the most wonderful and unforgettable stories.
Make sure to mine your HSP sincerity and emotions and let them enter your writing!
So, see? Being a highly sensitive person can greatly help your writing in many ways. (You can even take this little “What’s your Highly Sensitive Writer Superpower” quiz!)
Once you’ll have figured out all your fantastic writing strengths, I hope you’ll start an inspiring and heartwarming writing journey by putting all your precious life experiences and wisdom out there. Your deep and meaningful message might help your readers overcome tough times in their lives — just as HighlySensitiveRefuge.com does for so many people, too.
And one thing’s for sure: Being highly sensitive does not suck. You are gifted. Your words are needed. Write your heart out!
Want to get one-on-one help from a trained therapist? We’ve personally used and recommend BetterHelp for therapy with real benefits for HSPs. It’s private, affordable, and takes place online. BONUS: As a Sensitive Refuge reader, you get 10% off your first month. Click here to learn more.
We receive compensation from BetterHelp when you use our referral link. We only recommend products we believe in.
