"deprives society of one great programmer in favor of one mediocre writer" I'd say since you care about writing you will eventually excel at it. Of course, soc

"deprives society of one great programmer in favor of one mediocre writer" I'd say since you care about writing you will eventually excel at it. Of course, society will be the ultimate judge. But you have passion for writing and that matters more than society's perception about what you should be doing.