The trouble, at least for me, is that this kind of speech is mostly fiction; the path is only a path in retrospect. Telling the story this way elides, smooths over, and underestimates the role of circumstance and dumb luck. Most of what a writer experiences is failure. Developing a voice takes years. The point is not to make it out of the woods quickly or unscathed. Getting lost is not the rough part. It’s the whole thing.