Should I Bother?

I was sad to read 'The Last Hurrah' by the Gumpy old Bookman (Michael Allen) in May's edition of Writing Magazine but it was his parting words that really made me think:

For goodness sake try to have fun while you're writing.  Publishing a book will not impress nearly as many people as you think; and you are very unlikely to make any serious money.  So if your writing isn't a pleasure to do, why bother? 

Anyone Can Be A Critic...

Loved this quote in Writing Magazine May 2018 from Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles);

Writing is what makes a writer, nothing more and nothing less.  Ignore critics.  Critics are a dime a dozen.  Anybody can be a critic.  Writers are priceless.