What's the rewrite process like in a writers room?

Advice from a TV writer/showrunner

In my 28 years of experience as a TV writer, the rewrite process is very similar from show to show. A story is “broken” in the writers room — meaning, all the scenes and act breaks will be laid out. Generally, this takes a staff of professional writers, working full time, 3-5 days.

Then one writer (or writing team) will be sent off to write an outline, then a first draft, and maybe a second draft.

The notes will mainly come from the showrunner, but often from the higher level writers as well. If there’s a problem with a scene, the entire staff will often pitch on solutions until the showrunner is happy.

Sometimes pulling one’s nose off helps with the rewrite process

After the writer’s second draft is turned in, the writers room (working as a whole) will re-write the script, creating a “Table Draft.” This is the draft that is read by the actors at a table read. After the table read, the script will be rewritten some more.

It’s easy to tell when something isn’t working, because the energy will leave the room. People’s minds will begin to stray. Knowing how to fix the problem is much more difficult.

So what exactly goes on inside the writers room?