Like everything, what compels one to put pen to paper is a great question.
One thing I want to say: I don't like victim stories and I don't write them.
I think success is a lot more healthy than failure.
The ability to take pleasure in one's life is a skill and is a kind of intelligence. So intelligence is a hard thing to evaluate and it manifests itself in so many different ways. I do think the ability to know how to live a life and not be miserable is a sign of that.
A movie takes on its own life, and you have to respect that and be open to it.
Art has a smaller audience than, say, movies or other forms of mass consumption. But that doesn't mean the work doesn't have an impact in a way that transcends just a few cultural arbiters.