this was awesome to read, esp as a beginner game dev. I'm also a creative writing graduate so it was a double boost. It feels like authors, writers, any creatives, hate what they do and it's very demoralizing. I love creating, but the idea of always having an "industry perfect" project albeit writing, drawing, game dev or something else... It kills that love we hold. I've been working on my next game for about 8 months with little progress because of these "industry standards" in my head from what I see. I've been burnt out and get nervous working on it.
I tinkered around with game making as a teen, but published my first one last year. And honestly? every time i go look at it I still feel that joy that went into it, even if it was a 2 week jam project. I miss that joy. I want to make more games.