So I'm going to put out an idea concerning writing fiction, and I wouldn't be surprised if others have suggested this before.  Writing is like Darwinism, i.e. survival of the fittest.  Not a hard and fast rule, but I think there are a lot of parallels.  For example:

--Writing: How many of those in the Writing Kingdom aspire to write "one day," but never get around to it?   Already we've sliced off a major section of competition, and in the Writing Kingdom these may be the weakest creatures of all.  They're not even writing, but talking about writing.  In terms of the animal kingdom these folks are moaning about hunger instead of hunting.

--Submitting: How many of those in the Writing Kingdom write but won't send their works out for publication?  It's one thing to hold off on sending something out because it needs more polish or another draft, and it's something else entirely to write piece after piece and never send any of them out for consideration.  If you're comfortable with writing just for yourself, great.  But otherwise you're the animal hunting mice in your cave while the entire spoils of the Galapagos Islands are beckoning beyond your proverbial door (are there mice on the Galapagos Islands?  Shrug.  I'd guess no.  But you see my point)

--Formatting: Let's use cavemen to illustrate some points, because cavemen are funny.  "Man next door has fire.  Me no need fire.  Me know what me doing."  Translation: "I don't need to read the submission guidelines.  I know what I'm doing."  These are the writers who fail to put their stories in the proper fonts, fail to enclose their SAE, or stamps, or IRCs, send fantasy stories to science fiction markets, send poetry to markets that publish strictly fiction, etc.  If there are better methods of hunting/gathering you can easily learn, use them.

--Thin Skin: "Me didn't catch anything today.  Hunting too hard.  Me would rather starve."  Too many writers new to the game expect to be published right from the beginning.  It happens to a few, sure (lucky bastards).  But most of us must claw and scrap for every inch of progress.  Instead of the Galapagos Islands it's more like hunting in the desert, I think.  A lot of people may give up and choose dehydration after one or a few rejections.  Whether they're the smart ones is another conversation. :)

--Frustration: "No matter how many times me throw this spear me have bad aim.  Me never catch anything.  Me give up."  Practice, practice, practice.

--The Slaying of Goliath: "Me killed a boar!  Me killed a  boar!  Me never hunting again.  From now on  me fishing."  For some people getting published once and slaying your Goliath is enough.  Congrats on your publication, but all this proves is that you can successfully hunt.  But you must keep hunting to survive in the vicious and unforgiving Writing Kingdom. 

--Overwhelmed: "How me ever catch anything?  All them other good hunters catching all them animals.  Leave nothing for me."  Stop worrying about available slots in magazines and competing with other writers.  Your only competition is you.  If you write a good enough story that suits the editor's needs for his or her magazine, you'll get your sale. 

--Laziness: "Me no feel like hunting today."  Hmm.  What could I ever mean by this one?

 So.  Are these exact parallels to animal kingdom?  Certainly not!  But the Writing Kingdom does have its own set of rules for successful survival.  By successful, I mean publication since that is what most writers aspire to (and should).   If I kept thinking about it I'm sure I could come up with other examples.  But I think I've made my point.  The fittest writers will "survive."  Of course, if others reading this entry want to throw out additional examples, please have at it!