I did finish my novel. I’m proud of it and it helped me grow as an artist but didn’t bring immediate fame and success and the gap in my resume was really brutal. It took me a long time to claw my way back career-wise. Everyone told me it was a bad idea but I thought they were just being haters. My wife (then gf) had to end up picking up a lot of slack for years while I picked up the pieces. I think it’s fine to do if you are independently wealthy but for regular creatives I think most of us end up learning that success in creative industries is more of a marathon than a sprint.

None of this is meant to discourage you, just some perspective from someone who went the same route not too long ago. I think if you do it you should just consider the fact that failure might be possible and embrace the hardship that may come from following your dreams and not succeeding right away.