Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement.

 Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth... But amusing? Never.

Edna Ferber.

 Discuss. Not Edna Ferber, but her statement.

Yep, pretty accurate. Except it CAN be fun, it CAN be amusing. There's very little to beat the sensation of being in the zone when writing, when words flow with ease, without conscious effort and with the ability to surprise because, even as the writer, I don't know where the thoughts came from.

Perhaps it's for those precious moments that we keep on writing?

I think I've had a lightbulb moment.

I love writing. I DO write for my own amusement. (Okay, call me an amateur if you must, Edna Ferber.) But when I've finished a piece of work it becomes Something That I Must Do Something With - something that I must try to get published or produced as a film or broadcast as a radio play - or whatever.

THAT'S when it becomes a struggle.