If you are having problems then IMHO do not try to sharpen freehand at this stage - use a good quality guide like the Richard Kell or Veritas ones.
You can use waterstones, diamond stones or abrasive sheets - it's a matter of choice. With waterstones you will need a minimum of 2 grades ( 1 for grinding the bevel and 1 for honing) plus a very fine grade or leather strop to polish. Some people use as many as 6!
I generally use a 600, 1000 and 6000 - I also have a 250, 1200, 2000 and 8000 but very rarely use these. Most times it is just the 1000 and 6000.
If you have a lots of stuff to sharpen and into wood turning and can afford it there's the Tormek which has guides and jigs for most tools.
Practice on an old chisel and do not forget to flatten and polish the backs - for this I use some varying grades of wet & dry paper on a sheet of very flat glass but you can use the waterstones instead.
The main thing is to grind/hone to a burr and then remove it by honing (generally flattening) the opposite side - keep repeating this with progressively finer abrasives and then a final polish until the burr has gone.
Rod