In screenwriting, the bulk of what you write will never see the light of day. With so many people, so much money and so many variables, it’s understandable that most projects never get produced. A sizable number of scripts are only read by a few people, including the author.

In fiction, few writers make a full-time living from their stories. The rest work day jobs and fight for time to write, occasionally seeing their work published as a book or in a magazine. Some opt for small press publishing or self-publishing, which is an easier route to publication, but most of these writers don’t have the marketing prowess, money, time and luck to see their work reach a large audience. Many even lose money self-publishing. And of course, most never finish their stories at all.

In copywriting, rarely will your work run the gauntlet of designers, art directors, account executives and clients without being edited. Sometimes the edits improve the piece; sometimes they don’t. But while the chances of seeing your work published are much higher in advertising, only a portion of the work will be truly challenging, meaningful and fulfilling. And even great, original work that grabs peoples attention and drives sales is usually forgotten, a means to an end.

Talk about daunting.

If you never publish, will you regret having written? If you publish and sell nothing or receive scathing reviews, will you wish you hadn’t tried? If you write and all of your work is rewritten before press, will you give up? What’s the writer to do when the odds of achieving artistic and commercial success are so stacked against him?

Some quit.

Some sell out, trading integrity for cash.

But a few knuckle down and focus on their love of the process. For them, the crafting of a moving story, an original character, an effective ad, even down to one perfect sentence…the process is its own reward, and the odds are irrelevant. As with all art, writing isn’t a popularity contest. It is a meditation, an exploration.

Writing for the love of writing is a big responsibility. It means that not only are you responsible for the quality of your work, but you’re also responsible for the satisfaction you derive from it. That means no one can take the joy of writing from you. That also means no one can give it to you either.

It’s all on you. What will you do?