[vidarh]

It's true that many struggle, and as a result most writers are not full time. But first published novels skew quite old, and as I posted elsewhere the average household income in the UK at least for full time writers is well above average, so while I don't think it's high enough to say you have to be "fairly well off", it certainly helps buy you time. Doesn't necessarily buy you success, though.

[Finnucane]

>But first published novels skew quite old

Most of the writers I know started young, and not all writers are novelists. Most are not.

>and as I posted elsewhere the average household income in the UK at least for full time writers is well above average

That just means they married someone with a real job.

[vidarh]

Most you know might well have started young - many do -, but in terms of getting books published, as per the subject here, the overall numbers are quite clear.

> That just means they married someone with a real job.

Yes, that was exactly the point - to a large extent writing is subsidized by other jobs, and so there is a significant element of privilege involved.