Some takeaways here:
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Don't give up on yourself or your dreams.
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Keep a steady income going while you work on those things, because then your work can be your art for yourself instead of desperately trying to make something sellable before you run out of cash, and treating yourself to a latté feels like you just blew money on a steak dinner using funds that aren't coming back. That stuff is scary.
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Game Dev / Gamer reddit has some gem, but on the whole it is full of very, very bitter people. They got that "everything you do is gonna suck and I'm totally saying this because I care" treatment, and they pass it right along. You're better off finding /starting a local club.
- Of course, ignore #2 maybe if you're one of those self-help book authors who is "so tired of their megacorporate 6-figure income after 10 years" and they have zero debt and saved most of that as a runway and can live on 45k a year. Sure, take the plunge and find your soul or whatever lol.