"You can't make a living as a playwright. You can barely scrape by"

This quote by Sam Shepard is a reminder that earning a living as a playwright is hard. It implies that it is tough to make sufficient money to support oneself solely through writing plays. It recommends that even if one achieves success in composing plays, it is not likely that they will be able to make a comfortable living. The quote indicates that playwrights will likely have to supplement their earnings with other income sources in order to make ends satisfy. It is a pointer that writing plays is a difficult and typically thankless job, which it is not a trusted source of income. It is a suggestion that playwrights need to not anticipate to earn a living solely from their writing, and need to be prepared to supplement their earnings with other sources.