The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.

One person’s genuine approval does more than a crowd’s polite noise. Work made for everybody tends to be made for nobody, while knowing that a single reader, listener or colleague will really see what you did is enough to raise the standard of the whole thing. The number is not what carries weight. Being properly understood by one person is rarer than being liked by many.

Name the one person whose opinion of your work you actually trust, and make the next thing for them. Show it to them before it is public. And when you are that person for someone else, tell them plainly what you saw.