Writing (n.) is a horrible, exhausting struggle (like a long bout with some painful illness) which one would never undertake if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.
Writing (n.) is a profession wherein the one way to make money is to marry a publisher's daughter.
Writing (n.) is not firstly about producing a work of art... it is about getting a hearing, about exposing some lie or some fact.
Writing (n.) is mental exercise. Using stale metaphors, similes and idioms, one saves much mental effort, at the cost of leaving one's meaning vague, not only for one's reader but also for oneself.
Writing (n.) is like a windowpane when good.
Writing (n.) is such that there is never a need for a writer to comment on one's work, because if it doesn't speak for itself, it is a failure.