Polish, polishing, polished?

 … a Writer’s Digest entry for a May 4th deadline …
Unbelievably challenging, especially for a self-critical nit-picker like me. Every word, sentence, paragraph, comma, semi-colon, colon, em dash, ellipsis, MUST be where they need to be to help make the story as good as it can be. Then add creativity, voice, characters, underlying themes …

However, one line I enjoyed:

They sipped and ate, the salt breeze seasoning their meal, the percussive steps of sightseers a varying beat.

Out of 4000 words …

Yeah, I’m pretty tough on myself.

I need a BREAK.