# Polish > A late-pass rewrite focused on line quality, clarity, and rhythm — not a page-one reconception of the story. Also known as polish pass ## In practice 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. ## Common questions ### How do I know I am polishing too early? If major turns still move every draft, polish is premature. Lock the spine first, or you will rewrite pretty scenes that no longer belong. ### What should I cut in a polish? Repeated information, throat-clearing action, and dialogue that explains what the audience already saw. Keep the line that advances want, tactic, or reveal. ### Is a polish the same as a dialogue pass? 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. ### Should I polish before a table read? Do a light clarity pass so actors are not fighting typos, but leave deeper line surgery until you hear what dies in the room. ## Related terms - [Page-one rewrite](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/page-one-rewrite): A ground-up rewrite that rebuilds the script from a new structural plan while keeping what still serves the story — not a line edit. - [Dialogue pass](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/dialogue-pass): A skill that proposes line-level dialogue improvements — tightening, rhythm, voice consistency — as inline markup you accept or reject one line at a time. - [Table read](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/table-read): Actors reading the script aloud around a table — no cameras, minimal blocking — to hear pace, jokes, and confusion before you lock a draft. - [Save point](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/save-point): A named, unchanging snapshot of your draft at a moment you choose — “Table read,” “Before studio notes.” Unlike autosave, it never quietly overwrites itself, so you can always return to exactly that version. --- Canonical page: