Why write?

I have to read a lot of other people's fiction for my job and this quote really sums up how I feel about the things that I accept vs the things I reject:

“The writer doesn’t write for the reader. He doesn’t write for himself, either. He writes to serve … something. Somethingness.

You can pretty quickly tell when someone was writing with future readers and fame in mind, or even writing in order to fill some view they have of themselves, instead of writing as an act of discovery, creation and service to the somethingness. This is a convoluted way of saying I love this article thanks for sharing.

I liked this more than I thought I would. I get tired of the same old "writers write because they have to, they can't not"—like, I get the sentiment, I was that way myself once, but currently I am living in a world that makes it uniquely difficult to write and uniquely easy to scratch the creative itch in lower-stakes ways (though this is less satisfying, in the long run).

And there was some of that here, but the overall picture struck me more as 'writers write because their brains make stories against their will, and turning those into words is one way to handle the problem'. I enjoyed this quote in particular: "Bud Smith has said he’s only prolific because he ditched all his other hobbies, so all he can do is write." It made me think of this discussion about boredom I found elsewhere on Tildes. Back when it was easier and more common to be bored, I did a heck of a lot more writing. Sure, I can force myself to maintain a writing routine, or ride the high of an idea I'm especially passionate about for a while, but for me the truth is that writing happens when I let myself get bored enough to return to my default state. Only then do I begin to feel like maybe I really do have to write.

It might seem like I'm getting off topic here, so let me pull it back together: I liked this article because the diversity of viewpoints makes it feel more relevant to the modern world than the average piece on writers' processes or writing advice. I think it would be even better if more current authors were included. I suspect a writer who is young enough to have never really lived in a world without the internet may have a different take on what compels them to write. At the same time, I do appreciate hearing classic authors' perspectives; there's plenty we can learn from them today, but we may need context to best understand what they're saying (just as we do with the fiction they've written).

I should probably post this as a separate discussion, but I'm curious about what motivates the writers here on Tildes. Do you also feel most compelled to write when you're bored, or is your experience different?

Enjoyed this read - thanks for posting!
I have found that thinking about fame and respect has always been toxic to my own productivity, and that things improved once I started approaching writing more intrinsically - as therapy, as hobby, as fun. I have tried to detach myself from the identity of "a writer", which, for better or worse, includes fantasies about publication success which probably aren't realistic.
Paradoxically one needs to have a weird burst of confidence and temporary sense of superiority to ever get ANYTHING out on the page. I found that collecting a bunch of rejections and learning to deal with that was useful, as was trying to share my few successes with people in my life who aren't writers (everybody). Spoiler alert: nobody cares ... like, at all. It's the same as someone telling me about their amazing round of golf.
But insignificance is kind of freeing, isn't it? To strip away all these auspices, to get down to the raw bones of craft and creation. Writing is a part of life, but not all of it.