Linda K. Sienkiewicz

Why would a writer hire a sensitivity reader? The biggest reason is to help ensure respectful, accurate portrayals of experiences outside their own. The goal isn’t censorship but to avoid harmful stereotypes, unconscious bias, and unintentional misrepresentation.

What a sensitivity reader gave me was not just correction but confidence that I had created a character who felt fully human instead of simply well-researched.

Personal Experience Versus Authentic Portrayal

When developing the main character for my second novel, I drew from my own experiences of feeling like an outsider growing up, navigating ADHD, obsessiveness, and persistent anxiety. I wanted to portray what it’s like to live inside a brain that won’t always cooperate and how overthinking can distort reality. I also wanted such a story to have room for humor and hope.

But my character lives with illness anxiety disorder, which I don’t have. Reading personal accounts and clinical sources alone can’t guarantee emotional authenticity. I wanted to be sure her fears felt real, her behaviors were internally consistent, and her humanity was intact.

As writers, we can have blind spots even when we care deeply. Unconscious bias is real. I didn’t want my blind spots to become someone else’s burden.

The Search for a Sensitivity Reader

Before hiring a sensitivity reader, be clear about what you’re seeking. Are you looking for authenticity of lived experience? Internal logic of behaviors? Blind spots you may not recognize? The more specific your request, the more useful the feedback will be.

I put out a call for a sensitivity reader on a Facebook writers’ group, unsure if anyone would respond, or whether I’d be inviting tough criticism. I received three thoughtful responses, each with rates because professionals expect and deserve to be paid. One reader stood out: a licensed therapist with generalized anxiety disorder, a private practice, and degrees in social work. Most importantly, she cared about how mental illness is portrayed in fiction. 

I explained to her what I needed: consistency and believability. My novel has humor, but I don’t want the main character, Serenity, to be laughed at. Humor can coexist with hardship, but not at the expense of humanity.

Reflect on the Feedback to Strengthen the Story

The sensitivity reader offered suggestions that helped me tighten the narrative and deepen the emotional texture. Her feedback was generous and insightful. For example, she noted that if Serenity wears gloves to take out the trash, readers may question why she doesn’t wear them in other situations. That led me to sharpen the internal logic of her fears.

In another scene, Serenity clutches a ferry railing. Is she more afraid of germs, or of falling overboard? Clarifying which fear overrides the other made the moment more vivid and helped me understand the character better.

One particularly helpful note read: “It might be good to have Serenity discuss her disorder earlier in her friendship with Emma. It’s rare to see this kind of relationship explored, and doing so would not only help readers understand her better but allow her to express what she needs from a friend, something you haven’t yet explored.”

Feedback like that, along with encouragement, is invaluable to any writer.

So, if you’re writing outside your lived experience, whether that involves mental health, disability, race, culture, sexuality, class, or trauma, a sensitivity reader can be a valuable part of the revision process. Other possible areas might include class-based struggles such as poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, foster care, sex work incarcerations, and war, genocide or refugee experiences.

In the end, it’s about portraying people in all their complexity. That should always be our goal as storytellers.

Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer whose work blends humor, heart, and the quieter struggles we often keep to ourselves. Her debut novel was a finalist for the Hoffer and Sarton Awards. She is the recipient of a poetry chapbook award and the author of four additional chapbooks and a children’s book. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine and serves as Honorary Director of Detroit Working Writers. Her second novel Love and Other Incurable Ailments, about an overanxious overthinker learning to reclaim her own life, is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing in October 2026. When not writing, Linda can be found walking her corgi or volunteering at Neighborhood House in Michigan. You can connect with Linda through her website and her Linktr.ee.