Why continue to write fiction?

I read the August cover story in The Atlantic, "The Age of Reading is Over" by Rose Horowich.

She writes, "According to the National Academy for the Arts, which conducts the most comprehensive survey of the nation's reading habits, fewer than half of all adults reported having read a book of any kind in 2922. Only 38 percent read a novel or short story. A study analyzing 236,000 responses to the American Time Use Survey found that the percentage of Americans who read for pleasure on any given day fell from 28 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2023 . . . ." And there is no reason to think (or hope) these figures will improve.

As someone who spends several hours every day writing fiction, who at this moment has three completed novel manuscripts and is working on a forth, who weekly sends queries to potential literary agents to no positive effect (so far), this is a sobering, thought-provoking article. It makes me wonder why bother?

I posted the question on a novel-writing website. I asked the group are you writing to say something you believe is significant, important, worthwhile? Are you writing to purely entertain? Do you care whether you are read or not or is the process the reward?

No one who has yet responded is looking for a large audience: "I write to tell a Story with only an audience of 'one' in mind." "I write because I've always kept stories in my mind, and I need to give them somewhere to go." "I mostly write for myself to be honest." "I want to give people the gift of reading because I have cherished it myself." 

While I certainly want readers, the more the better, I write on. It's a lonely occupation, but at least I'm not alone.