The Frustration of Writing without Feedback

I am sure we all written stories which have gotten likes and dislikes without comments to explain them. With only those for feedback, you become uncertain as what you did to deserve either. The longer the story becomes, the greater the frustration becomes of what has earned the respect or ire of your readers. This is doubly confusing if you are rewriting your story from the ground up and start getting dislikes for what you assumed were improvements.

Now, really I am just talking about my experience working on The Pony Dialogues. I have gotten so many dislikes recently that I am legitimately worried that I did something with my story that offends people more than usual. It could be anything from my change in description, which I do regularly because I am never quite satisfied with it, to a single word that people find offensive. Whatever it is, the answer I don't know.

Now there are a few ways to respond to this situation. One is to give up on writing, and honestly, I have considered that time and time again because it is very stressful to write something as long and involved as The Pony Dialogues without any support. (I am currently having thoughts in that direction.) The second option is to completely ignore any feedback that isn't a comment. That might be the best in shorter fictions, but longer fictions can't really work ignoring the only feedback you receive. A third option is to ask your readers if they would like to help you by giving you feedback and pre-reading. This can really help with the support function, but the quality of feedback will vary wildly. A fourth option is to get a seasoned editor/proofreader to help you. This can cost money, so is not for everyone. The upside is you get quality feedback which can help you make a story that isn't bogged down by those small things that irk some readers.