Only You Can Know

I've had a few responses to my requests. And they all go something like this:

One agent doesn't fall in love with Jenn's voice.

The next one tells me that Jenn is such an engaging character.

Then she goes on to tell me that the murder should be less of a murder and more of an accident, or a self-defense killing.

Yet a previous agent made it quite clear that she liked the gray-ness of the murder and appreciated that it wasn't an accident or in self-defense.

 I have come to the conclusion that you cannot depend on another person to tell you what your book is. They can tell you if it's marketable, and they can tell you if it's plausible. They can tell you how a scene made them feel.

But only you know how you wanted the scene to make them feel. Only you know what the book was meant to be. Critique partners and beta readers and agents can tell you stars* of valuable, valuable, valuable things about your book. I cannot emphasize that enough. Without them, you're pretty much...sunk.

Some of them, those that know your heart, can help you find out what your book is.

But only you can know it. Your book is your creation. It's between you and God, because no one else knows your heart like God does. And it's up to you to stay to true to your book. It's up to you to make the decisions that will make or break...everything.

* Stars: Synonymous with 'tons' or 'oodles'. References the fact the stars are innumerable.