Where does creators’ stress come from, and why are sensitive people easily hurt? Creators tend to be more attuned to the world and more delicate in thought, which lets them write with a strong personal style but also makes them easier to hurt. Add financial pressure, writing fees that haven’t risen in years, piracy and information overload, and many end up with chronic insomnia and health problems. Utsudo believes the remedy is giving yourself more time alone to sort through your thoughts and understand your real fears and worries, so you can find calm in a chaotic society.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Sensitivity is a creator’s gift

On the path of chasing my dream, I’ve met many creators—from painting, comics, music, illustrated posts, fiction, poetry and other fields—and I’ve found that almost all of them share one trait.

They’re usually especially attuned to some aspect of the world, with more delicate minds. Especially those whose works have a strong personal style: their breathtaking works come from that delicate, sensitive soul.

Since they perceive the world more than most people, they’re also more easily hurt. They may be told they’re too fragile or emotional, or, when facing setbacks or blows, sink deeper into negative spirals than others.

Stress builds up and the body starts to break down

In today’s fast-changing, high-pressure society, new things and information keep coming. As creators, we chase them so we won’t be left behind. But our capacity to learn and our energy are limited, and running nonstop like this eventually leaves us frustrated and exhausted.

Then gradually, under conscious or unconscious stress, the body starts to break down.

Usually insomnia or restless sleep shows up first. Later it becomes the norm, and the day you sleep well feels strange (?

Long-term sleep problems lower immunity and cause all kinds of ailments, big and small. Catch a cold and it might drag on for nearly a month… At that point you start buying supplements, or even frequently seeing a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, but as long as the root problem isn’t solved, it’s hard to break the cycle.

Creators’ stress: finances, fees and piracy

And as we grow up, the pressure only gets heavier, because many responsibilities that weren’t ours gradually shift onto our shoulders.

Family, finances, relationships—from society as a whole to things close at hand, we have to accommodate more and more, and important things gradually fall onto our shoulders. No one can avoid it. That’s the price of growing up.

First and foremost is financial pressure. Of the creators I know, some choose stable jobs while continuing to develop their work; others take freelance gigs day and night to earn money.

And some simply set their dreams aside and return to reality, only coming back to look now and then.

Yet no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to keep up with an increasingly harsh society. Prices keep rising, while writing fees barely move for years—or even shrink. Add the blow of piracy and a weak culture of paying for content in Taiwan, and creators are trapped.

Some say creative work never pays anyway, and treat online piracy as a matter of course. They may not realize they’re killing the creators or teams behind the works they love. Or maybe they don’t care—when a work stops or they get bored, they can quickly find a new favorite.

But for the creator, that work may be the result of years of effort, built up bit by bit before finally appearing before your eyes.

A world of small circles amid information overload

Fast, massive amounts of information and ever more specialized fields are pushing us into a world of small circles. In these circles we can find kindred spirits, and basically any circle you can think of exists.

But likewise, so many different voices from so many places make society more complex and chaotic. We’re constantly bombarded with endless information, yet have less time to truly talk with ourselves.

Getting along with yourself and finding calm

But the stress that’s really causing your sleep problems lies deep in your unsorted thoughts and worries. Only by setting everything down, having a real conversation with your inner self, and thinking and settling things again and again can you gradually find direction and get to the root.

Sensitive as you are, you easily care too much about others and swallow stress, spending lots of time trying to please people. But what you really need is more space to be alone, and the mature resilience of a firm sense of self.

Only by understanding your true fears and worries can you find some calm in this chaotic, noisy, fast-moving society. Finding them and facing them is what will truly free you from anxiety and sleepless nights.

This post is written to myself, but I think others have the same worries—especially creators—so I decided to share it.

—Suddenly it feels like this has turned into an insomnia column (X

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #141: March Comes in Like a Lion
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.