Keep writing, because not only does practice improve skill, it gives you more chances to score on the market. I did that for eight years before making my first sale.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The most important advice I can offer is that writing is a craft that you can learn by practicing. If you keep writing, you will improve.
I started writing my own plays, and I would sell out, but after everything was said and done, I'd break even. That's being successful.
Writing is one of the few activities where quantity will inevitably make quality. The more you write, the better you're going to get at it.
I feel that if you made your writing too contrived to meet the market, it wouldn't be any good.
Write. Enjoy writing. Then, and only then, worry about the business end of it. Start loving your hobby, and then you can't go too wrong.
If I had been a good student and an achiever, I might have been excited by a more systematic approach to writing than what I do.
There are as many routes to writing success as there are writers who got there. My advice, however, applies across the board: read widely, learn the craft by whatever means you can - workshops and writing programs are ideal, but even self-study can work - apply what you learn, and persevere.
The best way to become a successful writer is to read good writing, remember it, and then forget where you remember it from.
To practice - write each and every day if possible - then try to attend professional writer's conferences where you can learn your craft, get to know fellow writers, and meet editors and agents.
Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it!