Good writing isn't rushed in my mind and should come from a creative burst ofinspiration

Good writing IS rushed in the industry, and should come from a creative burst ofa need to be paid (1) and to gain good karma with the other stakeholders on theproject (2).

Then perhaps I should do a small writing sample after work this weekend, and have it critiqued. I am starting to get more active on writers forum. I just need to replace need for pay with need for experience and knowledge

I was almost in the exact same boat as you a few years ago. I loved writing, and wanted to be creative any way I could manage, but Video games was my dream. I didn't have a team at the time, and didn't have the skills to do the art or programming by myself, so I was kind of stuck. there were so many skills I needed to learn that it was just overwhelming...so I sat down and tried to figure out what one skill I could learn while still writing that would give me a finished product...and I hit upon audio. I started making audio dramas and stories, working on strengthening my writing while learning the ins and outs of audio production.

If you're interested, here's one of the stories I did, which is also about depression, so there's another boat we're in together :)

Not saying it has to be audio, that's just the avenue I took cause I had a little experience already and a lot of friends interested in acting. You said you're working on a card game? Keep working on it! maybe make that you're avenue. make it super creative, maybe think of a way to weave your writing or storytelling through that...idk. just keep at it and think outside the box :)