I would recommend, definitely, developing a 'day job' that you like - don't expect to make money writing!

I think I have a sense right in the beginning of how big an idea it is and how much room it needs, and, almost more importantly, how long it would sustain anybody's interest.

If a translation doesn't have obvious writing problems, it may seem quite all right at first glance. We readers, after all, quickly adapt to the style of a translator, stop noticing it, and get caught up in the story.

My stories are sometimes closer to poems or meditations, but often there is at least a little narrative in them.