'Made it as a writer'? I'm still wondering if I've made it as a writer. I've made it as a published writer of the type of SF that I want to write and read, but I'm still waiting for that big breakthrough. ↗
My first big job was an Abercrombie &Fitch campaign. But my mom wouldn't let me skip school for it, so I missed half of the shoot. When we got there, we realized Bruce Weber was the photographer; we knew we had made a mistake! ↗
That made me think I could contribute more to society by looking at people on the autopsy table and feeding back the findings so that lots of people could benefit, rather than just treating patients one at a time. ↗
For me, the great joy is to watch an audience watching what I've made. To hear not a peep from the audience at the right moment, and then to hear the laughs and the cheers. ↗