There is a Stephen King quote about writing I like to remember,

“If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”

I write and I get paid, mainly doing content writing for a few cents per word. I’d love to get paid the same for writing what I love but this pays me enough to keep the lights on and I can write for pleasure in my spare time. Your work is real enough if it keeps the lights on!