It makes sense of my life, order out of mess. Fiction is orderly, and life is a mess. Once I've got it right, I can move on. On the other hand, when I've got it wrong, I am eternally fiddling. In any case, I am forever fiddling, one way or another.
Writing is a restless process.
You say you don't like to talk about work in progress. Once you tell a story, it assumes a shape that is hard to undo if you want to write it. When I am writing something that has not yet gelled, it is particularly difficult to talk about it. As I was saying before, so much of what one does in writing fiction is not consciously done. To explain it as you are going along is risky.