The development arc of a writer

If you look at the biographies of famous writers, or artists of all kinds, there are four or five major periods in their life where they all fall down, they stagger, they get blocked, no one likes their work. These are almost like the steps a child goes through where he crawls, and then he fights to learn how to master standing, and then he fights to learn how to walk. It's part of the natural development arc of an artist to navigate these crises, and then grow from them and move on.

Dennis Palumbo, as quoted in Tales from the Script: 50 Hollywood Screenwriters Share Their Stories