Thank you for sharing your experience, it was fascinating. I've tried writing/blogging before and I got burned out. It turns out, I really just have to write the things I love.
Now, I am on my probationary week as a writer on a gaming website. It's a volunteer position and it's okay for me not to get paid, what's important is that I will learn how gaming journalism works as I don't have any formal education about writing or journalism, just the passion but sometimes passion is not enough, we have to keep on learning.
My dream is to become a writer on games, one that really writes story for upcoming games and hopefully become a self published author too. I wish you well in your endeavors and keep on chasing your dream and don't give up. I guess the only advice I can give is embrace your mistakes and forever grow your knowledge.
Thank you. :)
I think the issue we all have, as a human species, is we are effected more by negativity than positivity. It's a flaw we have. So the negative comments can sometimes kick you back a few pegs more than a positive comment pushing you forward. Especially if you are like me with a slight lack of self-confidence (it's something I am working on personally).
But as you said to me, keep chasing your dream! And absolutely, keep learning. I don't have much in terms of formal education in writing, I did extremely well at school in my English classes, but I never went above school level. I've done a lot more in education since, especially with my BSc, but it's not an English subject, it's a science subject - although I have learnt critical writing! Haha.