How Do You Approach a Second Draft?

The first draft is where you discover the story. The second draft is where you begin to make that story work, and discover how good that story can truly become.

Sure, there’s nothing like the feeling of typing FADE OUT on the final page of a screenplay you’ve been working on for weeks, months, and maybe even years. You’ve finally breathed life into characters that have been living in your head for quite some time. You’ve taken them on a journey from their ordinary world, through conflicts they chose to or were forced to deal with, all leading to a final, and hopefully satisfying, conclusion.

Finishing a first draft is an exciting accomplishment that should be celebrated. But then the real work begins.

With that in mind, let’s discuss how you can approach the second draft of your screenplay, complete with pro tips and guidance on how to write the best second draft possible while saving yourself a lot of work in the process.

Don’t Fall Into the ‘First Draft Trap’

Most screenwriters, even seasoned pros, fall for the first draft trap of riding the high of finishing a first draft of their script.

• You’ll think it’s brilliant.
• You’ll think there’s no possible way to make it better.
• You’ll think that Hollywood will praise you for it.

Don’t fall into that trap.

When you eventually return to those first draft pages with fresh eyes, you’ll often see that the script isn’t quite as brilliant as you initially believed. There will be story issues, plot holes, character inconsistencies, pacing issues, structure problems, and many other must-fix scenarios. Don’t worry! This is perfectly normal. It’s all part of the screenwriting process. And that’s why the second draft is so important.

So, how should you approach your second draft after the initial high of finishing the first? Here are seven essential steps you can take to write an amazing second draft, along with a bonus pro screenwriting process that can help you write a stronger first draft to lessen the work you’ll have to do on the second.

1. Take a Break from the Script

The best thing you can do after finishing your first draft is walking away from it.

If you’re writing on spec (speculation that you’ll eventually sell the script), and you’re not under contract or facing a deadline, give yourself at least two weeks to a month away from the script.

During that time:

• Don’t read it.
• Don’t think about it.
• Don’t talk about it.
• Don’t market it.
• Don’t brainstorm for the upcoming second draft.

The purpose of this break is to create some much-needed distance between you and the screenplay. When you’re writing a first draft, you’re so deeply immersed in the script that it can become difficult to recognize its weaknesses. You know what every character is thinking, why every scene exists, and how everything is supposed to connect. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean all of that is coming across on the page. The emotional excitement of finishing a script can often blind even a pro screenwriter to obvious issues. Take a break.

After the break, sit down and read the entire screenplay from cover to cover. As you read it, try to approach the read as if you’re reading someone else’s script. You’ll be amazed by what suddenly stands out.

• Scenes you thought were brilliant may seem unnecessary.
• Character arcs and motivations may seem inconsistent or unclear.
• Plot holes may stick out.
• Dialogue might be overwritten and wordy.

You’ll also discover the strengths of your screenplay. Scenes, characters, and story moments may work better than you remembered.

This fresh perspective after the break will give you the foundation you need to approach your second draft.

2. Cut the Fat from the Script

Hollywood wants a lean script. The second draft is where you begin cutting the fat from your script, removing anything that doesn’t serve the overall story.

You may have written a hilarious scene that showcases your comic abilities. You may have crafted an exciting action sequence, a terrifying horror scene, or an emotionally powerful dramatic moment. But if those aren’t essential to the story, their presence may be doing more harm than good.

Screenplays need to move. Every scene needs to contribute something meaningful to the script, whether it’s advancing the plot, revealing necessary character information, establishing conflict, or setting up plants and payoffs, foreshadowing, twists, and turns.

You may discover redundant scenes that accomplish the same thing. Perhaps you have three scenes that showcase how a couple is struggling in their marriage when only one of those scenes is needed to portray that information. Other times, you’ll find scenes that are entertaining and/or well-written on their own but halt the momentum of the story.

The second draft is where you’ll need to make some difficult but vital decisions. Ask yourself, “Would the story suffer if this particular scene was removed?” If the answer is no, it’s an easy cut.

It’s not just about writing a shorter script. It’s about making it as lean and effective as possible, as a screenplay without unnecessary fat is generally going to be a much more memorable and engaging read.

3. Kill Your Darlings

Kill your darlings is an old writing adage that refers to writers sometimes needing to eliminate the very things they love the most about their work. This goes a bit beyond cutting the fat. You’ll have scenes, moments, sequences, and dialogue that you loved writing during the first draft, but now clearly see that they don’t really fit or aren’t really needed.

It’s natural to want to keep these things because you love them. They are your darlings. The problem is that these things being well-written doesn’t mean they belong or work in the script.

In those moments, it’s important to remember that your screenplay doesn’t exist to showcase every great idea, scene, sequence, moment, or dialogue you’ve ever had. It exists to tell the best possible version of this one particular story.

If a beloved darling doesn’t belong, save it in another document. You might find a better place for it in another script you write. But for now, it’s an important part of your maturation as a screenwriter to be willing to sacrifice individual beloved things for the greater good of the story.

4. Perform Character Checks

Your second draft is also an opportunity to examine every character in your story.

You start with the protagonist.

• Is their objective clear?
• Do they have internal and external goals?
• Do their actions and reactions make sense?
• Are those actions and reactions driving the story and their character arcs forward, or are they simply reacting to everything happening around them?

Then it’s time to move to your supporting characters.

• Does each supporting character have a purpose in the story?
• Do they directly help or hinder the protagonist?
• Do they help move the story forward?

Supporting characters that should be in the script have a purpose, contribute something that moves the story forward, create conflict for the protagonist to deal with, reveal important information for the plot and story engine, or influence the protagonist’s journey in any way, shape, or form.

Now check the dialogue of each character.

• Does each character have a distinct voice, or could you swamp their dialogue with anyone else’s?
• Do they have their own personalities?
• Do they have their own perspectives and motivations?

This doesn’t mean every character needs to have their own exaggerated speech pattern or personality trait. It simply means that they should feel like different people.

This is where you can also begin to consider merging characters. Combining characters can streamline your screenplay, strengthen characterizations in your script, and eliminate unnecessary dialogue and scenes.

Every additional character requires an introduction, development, and some level of attention from the reader and the eventual audience. Make sure the characters you’re asking readers and audiences to invest in are worth the investment.

5. Perform Story and Plot Hole Checks

Now it’s time to examine the overall story and ensure everything holds together. When you’re writing a first draft, you’re usually focused on getting from one scene to the next. You’re (hopefully) following your outline, exploring character decisions, and discovering new development along the way.

But sometimes the process creates inconsistencies you don’t recognize until later.

• A character may suddenly know information they were never given.
• An important prop may appear without an explanation.
• A villain’s plan may depend on a highly unlikely coincidence.
• The protagonist may make a decision that serves the plot but isn’t consistent with their character.

These are the types of story and plot issues you need to address in the second draft. Go through your screenplay and question the logic behind every major story development.

• Does the central conflict make sense?
• Are the stakes clearly established?
• Do character motivations remain consistent?
• Are the payoffs, twists, and turns properly planted and set up?
• Does the ending feel earned?

Plausibility is important. Audiences are very sophisticated. They’ll allow some suspension of disbelief, but things still have to make some sense. Even when you’re writing in genres like horror, science fiction, action, and fantasy, your story still needs to operate within the rules you’ve established.

Audiences are less willing to accept a cinematic story that constantly changes its own rules or relies on characters behaving irrationally to simply move the plot forward. Your second draft should strengthen the cause-and-effect relationship between scenes and sequences. The more logically connected your story becomes, the easier it is for readers and audiences to remain invested.

6. Perform a Cinematic Pacing Check

You’re writing a blueprint for a movie, not a novel. One of the best ways to approach a second draft is to think like a film editor. Cinematic pacing begins on the page long before anyone enters an editing room. It starts with you, the screenwriter.

Imagine how scenes would play together onscreen.

• Does one scene naturally flow into the next?
• Are you spending too much time in one location?
• Are certain sequences dragging because you’re following a single conversation or situation for too long?

Sometimes the solution isn’t cutting a scene. It’s changing how the scene is cinematically presented.

Here’s an example. Maybe you have a lengthy sequence where your protagonist searches for someone while another character is independently uncovering important information elsewhere. Instead of presenting those sequences separately, you could intercut between them, helping you to create cinematic tension, momentum, suspense, and anticipation.

You should also look for ways to enter scenes later and exit scenes earlier. Not every scene has to begin with a character entering a room or end with them walking out. Sometimes the most cinematic approach is to cut directly to the most vital moment of the scene and move on once that moment has accomplished its purpose for the story and plot.

In your second draft, pay special attention to how information is revealed, how tension builds, and how each scene propels the reader and audience toward the next. Think about the movie playing in your head as you read. Your goal is to create a screenplay that feels like a movie unfolding in the reader’s eye, with consistent forward story progression and engaging cinematic rhythm.

7. Perform a Polish Pass

Once you’ve addressed the larger story, plot, and character issues, it’s time to polish the screenplay. This is where you focus on the smaller details that can make an impact on the read of your script.

Start with formatting.

Make sure your scene headings, action descriptions, dialogue, parentheticals, transitions, and other screenplay elements are formatted correctly and consistently.

Then examine your spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Even small mistakes can distract readers. Especially when they appear throughout the script.

Next, focus on the dialogue.

Look for opportunities to shorten dialogue exchanges, eliminate unnecessary exposition, and remove lines that repeat information the audience already knows. Polishing isn’t about adding more words to make your screenplay sound more impressive. It’s about finding the most effective and simple way to communicate your story with the fewest words possible.

By the end of this pass, your screenplay should be cleaner, tighter, and more professional.

Bonus: Rewrite as You Write the First Draft

Here’s a pro process that helps you get your first draft to read more like a solid second (or third) draft. This especially helps you train yourself to write under tight contract deadlines.

The rewrite as you write concept is simple. Instead of waiting until you’ve completed your first draft to begin rewriting with the second draft, you incorporate rewriting into every writing session.

Here’s how it works.

Screenwriters should generally try to keep their screenplays to around 100 pages (give or take 10 pages either way). An effective pro process is to forget about setting hourly or daily writing goals. Instead, focus on writing sessions.

With each session, have a goal of writing 10 pages. This means that you can complete a first draft within 10 writing sessions. Since most writers have lives to live, jobs to earn a living wage, and family duties, focusing on writing in sessions allows you to work within realistic scheduling. You don’t need to write every single day. In fact, you should take time to visualize your story before you type a single word. See it in your head.

So, 10 pages per writing session. It doesn’t matter if that writing session lasts for an hour (if you’re on a roll) or multiple hours. Get to 10 pages and then STOP. It’s often helpful to end just before writing an exciting scene or character moment to leave you excited for the next writing session.

After your first writing session when you’ve written 10 pages, during the next writing session, the first thing you do is read the previous pages you’ve written. As you do, you make any necessary adjustments, tighten dialogue, correct inconsistencies, and improve scenes as you go. Then you continue on and write another 10 pages.

During your third writing session, you read the first 20 pages you’ve written and make continual adjustments to those pages before you write your next 10 pages. You repeat these steps every time you sit down for a new writing session. Yes, that means when you’re on your sixth writing session, you’ll first be reading and tweaking the previous 50 pages you’ve written.

But here’s the thing. As you continue this process, you’ll become increasingly familiar with those earlier pages. And most of them will have been rewritten and bettered multiple times, so it will be easy to scan through them.

The biggest benefit to this approach is that you’ll be consistently staying on the same page with yourself. You’re constantly reminding yourself of character motivations, story engines, plot progressions, dialogue choices, setups, and other important details that need to remain consistent throughout the screenplay. You’re also catching problems before they become bigger problems later in the story.

By the time you finish your script after just 10 writing sessions, your first draft will feel more like a solid and polished second (or third) draft.

Writing is Rewriting

Finishing the first draft of a screenplay is great. It’s a thrill. Celebrate it. But the real writing happens during the rewriting. This is when you make your concepts, stories, plots, and characters better.

You’ve done the heavy lifting with the first draft. You’ve created the foundation. The second draft is where you make it all truly POP! Have fun with it. Happy Rewriting!