A creative choice becomes stronger when you know what it asks the audience to notice.

Instinct produces good choices and cannot explain them, which is fine until you have to decide what stays. Every element in a piece points attention somewhere, whether or not you intended it, and the ones you love most are often competing with each other. Knowing what a choice asks a person to notice lets you keep it, move it or cut it without guessing.

Take one element of something you are making and say plainly where it sends the eye or ear. Check whether that is where you wanted attention to go. If it is not, you have a reason to change it beyond vague unease.