Also known as polish pass
A late-pass rewrite focused on line quality, clarity, and rhythm — not a page-one reconception of the story.
Polish assumes the spine holds. You are hunting limp lines, redundant action, unclear entrances, and rhythm problems -- not inventing a new midpoint. If a note asks you to reconceive the want, stop polishing and reopen structure before you sand dialogue that may not survive the rebuild ahead.
Work pass by pass: dialogue clarity, then action economy, then typos and format. Mixing structural invention into a polish pass hides the real problem and makes feedback harder to judge later. Table reads are excellent polish detectors; silent pages often forgive what voices will not forgive aloud.
Create a named save point before a polish week so you can restore any cut that went too far. Reviewable skills like Dialogue pass or Save lines can propose tightenings as markup; accept only what matches the voice and pace you are protecting on purpose for this draft. Keep that standard visible when notes arrive so the next pass stays honest.
If major turns still move every draft, polish is premature. Lock the spine first, or you will rewrite pretty scenes that no longer belong.
Repeated information, throat-clearing action, and dialogue that explains what the audience already saw. Keep the line that advances want, tactic, or reveal.
A dialogue pass is one tool inside polishing. Polish can also trim action, fix clarity, and clean format -- always with you accepting any suggested edits.
Do a light clarity pass so actors are not fighting typos, but leave deeper line surgery until you hear what dies in the room.
