The BSN writers club

No, I really do not see need to publish. Honestly, I do not see anyone ever reading it save for the folks who get critique credits for doing it (the dedicated reader will be credited for every 5K words they go through in Critters). My writing is too weak to be professional, and will not break through that wall that distinguishes between a sellable piece and just what any clever enough person can come up with. It's better written than many a thing I have seen, if I say so myself, but it is not gripping enough, and, in addition, I am an ESL, and there are gazillions peeps with native fluency churning out good enough texts with no grammar problems.

Fan-fiction is different, because it is a conversation between the fans, and a very warm kind of fiction & environment. It begs to be shared. I really like it.

But the original, well, I think you get to be honest with oneself, and see fairly clearly if it is publishable through the official stream or not. And if it is not, it will save heartache to understand that there is nothing wrong with writing as a hobby without audience. People go to the gym without aspiring to compete in Olympics, paint an untold number of pictures nobody would ever put on a wall in a hotel, let alone in the museum, etc.

So, by analogy, just because you've typed out stuff, it does not mean it has to be published. But, sure, it's nice to hear what other people think of it (or not so nice, but still does feel good that *somebody* read it and took time thinking about it).