Yeah, you've hit the nail on the head there. If I hadn't been posting fanfiction on the internet these past few years, there is absolutely no way I could have improved the way I have. A career as an author is no longer a pipe dream - it's actually a possibility, albeit still a long-term goal.
Yeah, the purpose is to make people feel something. When I write fanfiction, I never used to bother with putting any sort of 'purpose' in the work. I think that's why I found it so easy to drop them - because they didn't hold any sort of special attraction or magnetism for me. Of course, Broken's a one-shot, so it's not a question of dropping it, but the point stands in regards to Champion Game. I'm not starting any new chapterfics until it's finished, and with the internet as my witness, I want people to hold me to that. :>