My money comes from my day job. I write during my lunch break, and get about one hand-written page if I'm lucky and flowing. That's some progress. Gone are the days when I could bang out 2000 words by noon, when I was between semesters and had no job. A quick calculation tells me my current novel will be first-drafted in ten years at the current rate. So keep your eyes peeled and hold your breath, cuz that's just around the corner!
The most successful people I know in Hollywood are the ones that were able to work for free for 1, 2, 5 years in order to be in the right place. Then they worked for peanuts for 2,5,10 years in order to climb up the ladder. It was okay, though, because they never had to pay for anything. Their earnings became like an allowance. People in their '30s.