Wielding Weapons

When Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out I was fascinated with everything about that movie.  The story line, the martial artists, the clothing...everything was beautifully done and I watched it many times as I picked apart the artistry on the screen.  The weapons were superb and the characters wielded them with confidence in their own ability to do what is right.

Writing is like that.  We revise numerous times as we cut and whittle our words down to size.  But what are the best weapons to use in our endeavor to polish our works in progress?  This guy has a solid approach and yet I wonder if any manuscript would survive his revision cuts?  I think I will take a kinder, gentler approach and use the following resource list to help me sharpen my creations:

1.  a good critique group for feedback of story basics

2.  an editor friend with strong spelling and grammar skills to comb through sentence structure errors

3.  a beta reader to flesh out the points in the story where a reader might stumble

4.  a librarian or book store manager to provide genre research

5.  groups like Rate Your Story to help critique the marketability of my work

6.  contests, workshops, retreats and other ways to help strengthen my writing skills

7.  the blogger wisdom of those who have come before me to lead the way on the path to publication

There is a saying that it take a village to raise a child.  I think it takes a caring writing community to make an author. Now all I need to do is wield the right weapon...