I'm happy to see that you ultimately make it to step 5. But I'd like to swing that one towards a little different flavor: proud, and out of f’s to give.

Maybe it’s a little different between fiction and non-fiction writers. Being a purely non-fiction writer, I can only guess what type of feedback the fiction writers get. But I suspect it's feedback about style, about personal matters, about opinions. All these cut pretty close to ad hominem criticism. Or at least, the criticised might experience them as such.

Of course, ad hominem attacks happen to me as well, but since I (a) support my arguments with data and references, and (b) don’t drink the Kool-Aid that the ad-hominem attacker imbibes, my personal do-I-give-a-shit-o-meter doesn’t register anything.

If it is factual criticism, the ad-rem equivalent of ad-hominem, then I’m happy to engage. A little war of logical arguments keeps me sharp and on my toes.

So adopt Walt Disney’s take: I’m not trying to entertain the critics. I'll take my chances with the public.