A Successful Author

I've wanted to be an author for several years now. I don't change my mind often on that sort of thing. When I was very young I wanted to be an artist up until about 6 or 7, which was when I began writing books. I decided I wanted to be an author. An author, wouldn't that be great? I still think that'd be an amazing job that I'd love to have. I've had flickerings of wanting to be a lawyer as well, which I also think would be great. So throughout my entire life I've only ever wanted to be three things: An artist (which I gave up on completely, I'm no artist and it's not a sensible enough job for me), a lawyer and an author. I like to write, so an author would be amazing. But has anyone looked up the requirements of an author lately? They have essentially no set pay, no set hours, and no set amount of education. Your pay depends upon how good the books are that you write. A good education isn't mandatory. Most people say "It's best if you graduate high school". That's it? Just have to graduate high school? That's not so challenging. Not for me, I want to make something of my life, I want to be well educated. And to be well educated why throw it all away to take a job I could do out of high school? Now don't get me wrong, I love writing. And it's really amazing what some people can do with a pen and some paper. And you can even take college classes that assist in becoming an author. So that's all well and good, but have you seen the hours and workplace of a writer? A writer can pretty much work wherever they go that catches their fancy. And they often work on their own free time simply because they love writing. I can understand that, I love writing in my free time, but to write for a job is different. It's the difference between doing something for fun, as a hobby, and HAVING to do something. HAVING to spend your free time working on something when you'd rather be relaxing, doing whatever other hobbies you have at home to do. It seems like writing almost consumes the life of an author. I'd love to be an author, but that's not ALL I want to do around the clock, a slave to my job. So maybe an author isn't my best career choice... Hmm. Just a thought. Maybe I should go for something else I'm interested in. I could be an editor, I'm good with grammar. And I love to do that kind of thing. I could be a lawyer, after all the appeal of the job never completely died out for me. Not saying I have to decide now, just saying I'm considering it, of course. What shall I be? Such a common question among those my age.