Let's face it, writing will cost you a lot.
Writing will also give you a lot.
It's a little like getting pregnant.
The metamorphosis is amazing. Babies are a bundle of cuteness. Children are fun to have around.
And then dealing with the pains, the weight gain, the pelvic floor problems, the post partum depression, the hypothyroidism, the lack of romance, and so on and so forth.
Writing is everything you ever imagined it to be and some more.
But then, you will carry stuff under your eyes from your sleepless nights.
Soon, you will grow a thick skin, maybe a rhinoceros skin or an elephant skin from the critiques you will be bestowed upon. Well, those will be your most precious gifts, indeed.
You might end up writing the books you wanted to read and may end up only reading your own books. Beware!
What comes in will not be enough to pay for what comes out unless you write a million books to get a million dollars. For each one of your books, there will at least be one reader.
You will probably humiliate yourself by asking people to help, but whatever feedback you can get will be priceless.
You will grow. You will learn. The hard way. You will persevere. You will get an advance if you keep at it and the advance will always be much more than whatever you sell on your own, so why skip the chance?
You will be told you NEED a great cover, a big title, an editor, a publicity team, and all that will cost you your advance.
You will only have one choice by then after tax laws bankrupt you (40% contractor tax), do it again, and again, and again. And become better at it.
Maybe talent won't be enough.
Maybe reputation will be everything.
Well, money might buy you a reputation, a lot like politicians.
Except that you always need to be politically correct.
And in the end you might be so lucky to gain fans who will write you inspiring letters. Or hate letters.
Sometimes you will wish you could be a YouTuber, talking about their lives and earning from it. But your passion is in books.
At the end of the road on your trip to fantasy land, you might feel like you are still lonely and that writing didn't bring you the socialization you hoped for.
You might have to deal with more pressure and more stress: school visits, bookstores signing, libraries and book club visits. You might become tired of answering the same questions. Why do you write? How long does it take to write a novel? What are your favorite authors? Etc.
But guess what? You can answer however you like, as creatively as you'd like, and share what you love the most in the exact words you desire. It's all in your hands.
Some people compare birthing to writing a book.
Some people compare editing their own stories to ecstasy.
Some people compare their creation to a child.
Some people compare finding an agent or a publisher to dating.
It's their choice of words.
What it means is that it costs to writing a book, more than you ever thought, more than you ever can give.
It also gives you back a lot more than you were prepared for.
Like a child.
It's a journey and this quest can lead you to glory. However you define glory.
It's all in your hands.