Polishing the clockface

Because writing fiction encompasses so many things and can never be fully mastered, one tends to concentrate on a few things, get them good and then move on to others. The only problem is that without constant work and polishing sometimes what was once good becomes much less and needs to work.

It is as Twyla Tharp says a clock face of skills. And round and round we go.

So I am busy working away, polishing those things I once did well but no longer and remembering to add little touches. Previous exhortations of editors do help.

Ultimately it is about getting the book and the story the best it can be.

Equally it is about remembering why or why not previous solutions worked.

The challenge is to make it work with this story.
I do think each story presents a different challenge and in many ways becomes harder as you simply do not want the repetition. And repetition can creep in in minor ways. For example in relationships with secondary characters...
Still revisions are supposed to be challenging.