How Do You Know?

Okay, so when I went to type in this title, I'd already blogged it once. So I sort of had a mini-freak-out, but decided to write this post before I even went to look at the other one. You never know, right?

Today I wanted to answer a question I seem to get asked a lot: How do you know?

When you get feedback from a critique partner, how do you know if it's something you should do or not?

How do you know when you're finished with your novel? With your query letter?

How do you know which agent to query?

How do you know if you're doing the right thing? On the right path?

My answer: Author confidence.

I think it all comes down to how confident you are as an author. If you get notes back from a CP, and they "sound" right, they're probably right. You gotta trust your gut.

You know you've finished a novel when you've written it the best you can. How do you know when that is? Author confidence. For me, it's the point when I go, "Well, I've read this $&%(#*! thing forty thousand times. This is as good as it gets without help."

Then I subject other people to reading for me, to spot the problems I've somehow missed.

I think almost any question with the words "How do you know?" can be answered with author confidence. Listen to your gut. And trust yourself.

So, how do you know? Do you have author confidence? Do you trust your gut?

And here's my first How Do You Know? post. Interesting.