As someone wrapping up his Writing MFA, I'd add, first that it's possible to treat writing and making a living as two mutually exclusive problems to solve. With a significant tech or dev background it's possible to work freelance to make a living, while carving out time to write.
And since, second, writing takes years to be good at, this is a great strategy to have anyway. It's highly debateble how long one should persist pursuing writing before giving up. But, I'd guess, most of the "successful" writers of today took 5-18 years of writing before they achieved "success". That is my opinion, but I've heard it said by many other "successful" writers (George Saunders, Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Strout, etc. etc.). Again, "success" != money.
With one caveat: a few (hard to get) MFA programs fully fund (tuition + living stipend) their students (usually in return for teaching). It's one of the few ways to be paid to write for 2-3 years, and admittance to one of those programs is a good goal to strive for, even if you think of those 2-3 years as a break from a tech career. Similarly, the programs where you pay for your MFA are generally poor financial decisions.
And since, second, writing takes years to be good at, this is a great strategy to have anyway. It's highly debateble how long one should persist pursuing writing before giving up. But, I'd guess, most of the "successful" writers of today took 5-18 years of writing before they achieved "success". That is my opinion, but I've heard it said by many other "successful" writers (George Saunders, Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Strout, etc. etc.). Again, "success" != money.
With one caveat: a few (hard to get) MFA programs fully fund (tuition + living stipend) their students (usually in return for teaching). It's one of the few ways to be paid to write for 2-3 years, and admittance to one of those programs is a good goal to strive for, even if you think of those 2-3 years as a break from a tech career. Similarly, the programs where you pay for your MFA are generally poor financial decisions.