This is yet another thing that is true not just for writing but any other industry and thing in life.
I see some people writing these very long novels, 1000+ pages, on RoyalRoad. Then, I look at the followers count and it's less than 100. Now, do these people ask themselves a very simple question, 'what is happening here?'
I am a firm believer that almost any hobbyist writer is an InHob, an involuntary hobbyist. If people had the chance to go pro, guess what, they would in 90% of the cases; it is also true that Most people are not even remotely ready to go pro.
So, why is a person writing a fiction that is clearly not working?
Some of them might have formulated hypotheses - which is good. They might be thinking that they are just racking in feedback for the final version to publish on Amazon. Maybe they are bouncing ideas around. Maybe they are practicing. Maybe those are just a bunch of excuses because these writers can't acknowledge the harsh reality of their failure.
I am firmly against Toxic Positivity in Writing and being too nice to people, especially when they are doing something like writing. I do also believe that If you enjoy the process, results will follow. But enjoying the process doesn't mean that you just avoid the difficult questions. It means that you embrace them in your life and use them to course-correct your process. Often, people think that course-correcting is an unthinkable act against nature; that whatever you are doing, just keep going girl! Bleah. I'd be immensely surprised if anything coming out of an amateur writer is even remotely entertaining: that's why I'm often too blunt with feedback.
When you don't ask the right questions, you never course-correct. You never know if you are doing things right or if you are just going with the flow. It's hard to change, and it's even harder to acknowledge your own failure. I see many writers telling others and themselves that all is good, that all is fine, even if the house is burning and they are slowly dying of smoke inhalation. People don't want to hear that they are failing. They are terrorized by such a notion. Or they think that if they write just another chapter, there might the offhanded chance of stumbling onto success. Sadly, my research so far shows that, beside a couple of exceptions, You can probably tell whether a novel will be a money-maker