I'm not certain I agree with all you say - leaving aside the points about community, since I am a bit of a lone wolf and therefore not qualified to comment.

What does happen is that now and then ( a very spaced out now-and-then) somebody takes the trouble to tell me, "Wow, that touched me, I loved it' or some other positive comment - and that keeps me going for a very long time.
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Write what others want? Do that and you will not be giving your best.

Write what comes from you, whether it is poetry about pain or fantasies about dragons and warlocks. We each have that special something which we can write about in a way that touches others because it comes from deep within ourselves.

I will not be doing anything but what I have been doing, writing my stories and what I care about. If doing that does not earn me money, well, lots of my efforts failed to earn me money and I tried to learn from them, but never regretted what I did.