If you have the drive and want certain progression, this is probably the best way to go.
For me, I deeply desire the latter, but completely lack the former. Roleplay is the only creative writing medium where my thoughts actually go places, and my ability to actually write bounces widely. In roleplay it's an irritating stream of delays for partners. For writing other things it's absolutely crippling beyond quick, ill fated spurts. So basically, I roleplay because I have the imagination to go pretty far, but depend on the drive of a partner to actually do anything with it.