: At What Point Does a Writer Need Validation to Confirm They've Done Something Right? I have been thoroughly editing four unpublished novels during the fourth quarter of 2019 and in January 2020.

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My answer may seem to contradict some of the statements given. So let me point out that feedback is invaluable. But only as such that it doesn't inhibit you creatively.
I've worked for tv stations and book publishers and I know how some ideas have changed dramatically from the first idea to the final product. Sometimes so drastically that the writers finished it - but did not believe and support their own product anymore.
So my point of view as an author is to take feedback in, think about it, but also have clear idea about your vision. In the end it's your product, your vision, your idea - and not somebody else's which you have written. I'd rather not publish than to write something against my creative vision.
Another thing that might be helpful is to just put aside for a moment. I have written six new novels. And I've published five books last year, if I do not write something new but keep correcting the new books, I will starve creatively. I need to have "fun" - i.e. writing - so my editing needs to wait. Too much editing drains me and makes me nothing more than an editor, while I would love so much to dive into my stories and have fun.
And that is the ultimate gauge: Are you having fun and are you satisfied or have drowned out your own inner creativity through the voices of others?

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I have a series of novels I am trying to get published. If a traditional publisher won't take them, I will put them out there myself (for free because if someone else isn't prepared to pay, I shouldn't either. They might not be good enough.)

I would never get a friend to pay for my work to be printed, even if they offered to.

You have to consider what you think 'something right' is. Did you get satisfaction creating it? Does a small audience like it? Will you not be satisfied until you equal Ernest Hemingway in style?

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You should seek feedback at whatever point that feedback is not going to interfere with your writing process. It's quite possible to get feedback too early, and have it choke off your creativity. It's also possible to seek feedback too frequently, and to burn out your beta readers. But if your first experience of feedback is when you submit to a publisher, you're likely to get a rude awakening.

I've also wrestled frequently with this question, and I can report from experience, if you aren't getting feedback and responding to it, you're really only writing for yourself. I've had too many books that my first meaningful feedback on was the realization that no one wanted to publish them.

It's a bit of a red flag to me that you're phrasing this in terms of seeking validation. I spent quite a lot of my writing career seeking validation through my writing, and it's a fool's errand. If your goal is to write something that people will want to publish and read and enjoy, and find valuable, get feedback on it. If you want validation, find a different career.

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