Last week I read some of my poems at our faculty development day and received high compliments from a librarian friend of mine who works at another campus; he praised me for my concrete imagery and clear language. And I value compliments like that over any others, compliments by people who are simply moved in whatever way.

Another long-ago example from undergrad days is when my roommate found a copy of a story I'd turned in for a fiction class, and he said he kept reading and had to keep reading, that he couldn't put it down. That meant more to me than any "official" compliment.