These days, high school is not enough, either. You need a college degree before most employers will even look at your resume, unless you’re looking at manufacturing jobs. But even those are drying up,, and the ones that remain require college degrees.
On average, high school employees make—maybe 30K? Not even above poverty level these days. College gives you and extra 10k. Master degree maybe 15K more phd another 20k and a professional degree adds another 15 k per year, on average.
Writers—novelists especially, don’t make a lot of money. So, if you want to be a novelist who doesn’t have a college degree, you can expect to be living from hand to mouth, moving from apartment to apartment and from paycheck to paycheck. Artists tend to starve for their art. It’s not a myth, and it’s not fun.
Even if you can sell some novels, you’ll find that you have to write two or three a year just to support yourself. Maybe more. Maybe if you get really good, you might hit and write a best seller. But given that most writers who do have best sellers have advanced degrees, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
You could be very very good already. Perhaps you are a genius. Then it wouldn’t matter about the education. Or you might be really good at giving yourself an education—reading widely and deeply and getting involved with all kinds of shit. Maybe working in a lot of different jobs. Having lots of different relationships. Just gaining as much education and experience as you can without going to school.
It’s not a bad idea. High school educations are generally pretty bad—even the good ones. They are boring and dehumanizing, so often. So I wouldn’t blame you one bit for wanting to get out of the system. But you’ll have to work really hard to educate yourself, because high school or no, you have to be educated—whether it’s to write or it’s to get any kind of job at all.