I think I was very fortunate in having lived in the pre-Internet era, when it was so much harder to find readers. I occasionally had feedback on works of mine that appeared in school publications or local newspapers, but nothing along the lines of what I've received from the fanworks community. So I grew used, during those decades, to writing story after story, knowing that no one was going to see the story except me. As a result, comments and kudos have always been icing on the cake for me.

That said, my spirits do soar especially high when I know that readers like my fics, and especially when they take the time to tell me why.