I bounce back and forth on this. It's great to write if you enjoy writing. Arguably, it's the purest form of writing because you do it out of joy, nothing else. Your story is untampered by commercial interests and artistic compromises. At the same time, I look at some of the books I've read, some of the movies I've seen, and wonder what it would be like if those wonderful stories had not been published. If someone has a great story, do they have a "moral obligation" to publish them, to spread the joy and wonder and knowledge that they have created? And those stories that were rewritten to reach a wider audience, were those stories compromised by being forced into a generic mold or improved by being made more universal? If a mime falls in the woods, does it make a sound? ;-) (Sorry, couldn't resist!)