Writing Obstacles and Motivators

"The Death of the Slush Pile" was a title that caught my eye; Katherine Rosman wrote the article in The Wall Street Journal. Rosman tells us: "Now, slush is dead, or close to extinction." Agents have become necessary to get a book published. Producers are afraid they'll be accused of stealing movie ideas. Even magazines, many of which still accept unagented material, struggle to sort through large numbers of submissions.

Writing has never been an easy career choice. As one of my writing group members pointed out, people have bills to pay. Even writers who don't want to quit their day jobs often want to be published. How do you think these obstacles to publication affect a writer's goal/desire to be published, or just to write? Writers are a stubborn bunch. We tend to persevere in the face of repeated rejections and obstacles. Do you find the obstacles to publication discouraging, or do they inspire you with an "I'll show them" attitude?
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Photo courtesy of Adrian van Leen at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1003254