Writing tools and more writing tools

I'm reading Roy Peter Clark's book Writing Tools despite the fact he is a huge fan of Strunk and White (see this article that aptly describes my view of Elements of Style).

There's danger in suddenly having articulated tools for writing. I see them all over, in what I write, in what I read, and in what I've written. As I revise my novel I find wonderful examples of tools I didn't even know I was using and I find ways to use new tools to improve the writing. The problem is, now that I can identify the tools, I want to use them all. I want to elicit powerful emotions and feel the poetic cadence in all my writing.

Clark warns his readers, right in the introduction, not to try to implement all the tools at once; sage advice. You cannot use all the tools at the same time any more than you would use a hammer and a saw at the same time. He has reminded me that I have a lot more tools at my disposal and it's been wonderful to become reacquainted with them.

Right now my novel is a good novel, a fast paced political thriller, hidden in a young adult fantasy. It's a good novel like a dog house built with hammer and saw is good shelter. Now comes the challenge; using my new tools to remodel my novel, still the fast paced political thriller, still wrapped up in a young adult fantasy, but like using tools to create each detail of a luxury home, I hope to make the novel great.