I'm glad that I have a family that does encourage my writing efforts, unlike your situation. Therapy might help; it has for me.
You just reminded me of the fact that Thomas Hardy gave up writing novels after "Jude The Obscure" wasn't received well by the public, and he only wrote and published poetry for the rest of his career. So there is life after fiction.
As I said before, I enjoyed reading your take on DC and Marvel comics on Medium, and maybe a longform book version of that could fill the void you would have giving up fiction.
Lots to digest. I wouldn't take it personally. I can't tell you if you should or not. But remember that money's tight with inflation skyrocketing since COVID. My sales have dropped off a third since last year. I've stopped eating out 3 months ago because I need that money for elsewhere -- combined with outrageous fast food prices. I don't make a living at writing. Only a small percentage of writers do. But I am *compelled* to write. That's what keeps me going. I simply can't not write. I've found the time I put into publishing is worth it for me. I've self published a little and work closely with a small publisher. All my books make enough to pay for the time I spend publishing. Very few pay for the time I put in writing. But I'm writing for me, not money. I'm publishing for money. And speaking for myself, I never support crowd funding. Don't ask me why. Occasionally I'll buy the product afterward, but there are so many book on my to-buy list that most of what I buy are not new books. Maybe try some Kindle-only work, since that take virtually no time to publish. Good luck.
Post-mortem
I'm glad that I have a family that does encourage my writing efforts, unlike your situation. Therapy might help; it has for me.
You just reminded me of the fact that Thomas Hardy gave up writing novels after "Jude The Obscure" wasn't received well by the public, and he only wrote and published poetry for the rest of his career. So there is life after fiction.
As I said before, I enjoyed reading your take on DC and Marvel comics on Medium, and maybe a longform book version of that could fill the void you would have giving up fiction.
Lots to digest. I wouldn't take it personally. I can't tell you if you should or not. But remember that money's tight with inflation skyrocketing since COVID. My sales have dropped off a third since last year. I've stopped eating out 3 months ago because I need that money for elsewhere -- combined with outrageous fast food prices. I don't make a living at writing. Only a small percentage of writers do. But I am *compelled* to write. That's what keeps me going. I simply can't not write. I've found the time I put into publishing is worth it for me. I've self published a little and work closely with a small publisher. All my books make enough to pay for the time I spend publishing. Very few pay for the time I put in writing. But I'm writing for me, not money. I'm publishing for money. And speaking for myself, I never support crowd funding. Don't ask me why. Occasionally I'll buy the product afterward, but there are so many book on my to-buy list that most of what I buy are not new books. Maybe try some Kindle-only work, since that take virtually no time to publish. Good luck.