I don’t think it is wasted time, because it is a hobby and not a job I expect will give me money.
I don’t claim to be a writer, I claim to be a worldbuilder, and writing a story is just a way to give life to these worlds. Who cares if people like or read it?
I don’t feel any more motivated now that I have a few hundred views each chapter compared to when I had less than ten. The readers don’t matter, the book doesn’t matter, even whether it is good or not doesn’t matter much. Only the fictional world I have created, as well as the characters I love who inhabit it matters.
I don’t even like writing, but I do it anyway, spending hours typing everyday because I cannot be satisfied seeing all my ideas in bullet point form. Sure, attention and positive reviews feel good, but they are just a bonus that have very little consequences. My books don’t need to be read or liked, they just need to exist, because through them, my dreams and fantasies become reality.
I've got stories on hiatus, but they aren't dropped, I simply don’t have the time to write them. I still intend to finish them, they simply are not the priority at the moment. Similarly, I have dozens I have completely planned out but never had the time to write, and by the time those are completed, I will probably have dozens more.
My most important frustration is the lack of time that stops me from bringing all my ideas to life, and no amount of support, attention or feedback is going to help me with that, so I don’t really care about them. Compliments are nice, of course, and criticism hurts, but they are completely separated from the reason I write.