Isn't it strange that skepticism can push people so hard? Praise can sometimes make people comfortable and feel like everything they're doing is enough.

Good on you for pursuing what you like to do and good luck on your journey to write long term!

On a side note, outside of being an illustrator, I've done so much of the first half of the article; start my own website, crypto, freelance, writer for the government, that I was wondering where you got all this info from, haha.