Well, yeah, I think there's a fair bit to it. I've watched a lot of videos from the likes of John June, GSSixgun, Lyn Abrams etc and tried to see what's involved. So far I've learnt that you need to set the bevel on something around 1k, and get it sharp enough to shave with at this point (albeit rough as a badger's behind I imagine) before moving up a grit. So all the real sharpening happens round 1k, then people tend to go 3,5,8,12 or whatever they're going to finish on. It seems that most use Kapton tape to protect the spine from undue wear, and the very lightest pressure is best, applied evenly along the whole edge, starting at the heel and running off the side of the stone towards the toe, at a heel-first angle, making sure to keep the spine in contact at all times.
So far I had one go on diamond 1200, then 2000/5000 stone, with a Stiz from ebay that arrived with some signs of abuse (weird wear pattern on the spine and a shallower smile on the edge than the back). I was not able to improve it on my first go, as I didn't have much idea what I was doing, and the previous owner (or whoever 'honed' it before I got it) had rendered it unshaveable.
I think I know more what I'm doing now in theory, but have yet to have a go as all my straights are shaving well at the moment.