The Myth of the Starving Artist Was Never About Talent—It Was About Timing

They didn’t starve because they sucked, they starved because they were early

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A few months ago, I stared at an old Google Doc titled: “Why Some Writers Never Make It.”

I had 14 half-written paragraphs. All rage. All heartbreak. All the quiet stuff I was too scared to say out loud.

I didn’t publish it.

Not because it wasn’t good. But because I thought: “Who am I to talk about this? I haven’t even ‘made it’ yet.”

But maybe that’s exactly why I should.

Because if you’re writing on the internet, hoping someone finally sees you…
If you’ve been told that starving is part of the job…
If you’ve started believing that success is for everyone else but you…

You need to hear this.

You’ve been lied to.

They made you think pain = proof of passion.
That brokenness makes your words more “authentic.”
That if you suffer long enough, maybe someone will finally throw you a bone.

I used to believe that, too.