How do I keep creating without needing praise?

You've come to a good place: you make the invisible audible and you offer it, praised or not. That's the freedom most artists are quietly starving for. The gift is complete in the giving. When the work is a gift, the applause becomes a nice extra rather than the point. You're no longer performing to be filled up; you're offering something you already have. That's why it holds steady on the nights the room is thin. Protect that. Before you share the next piece, say to yourself that it's already finished its real job, it was made honestly and given freely. Then let whatever comes back be a bonus, not a verdict.