UCLA SCREENWRITERS
  • Creative Directory
    • Class of 2021 >
      • Abreu, Lucas
      • Angonese, Kristen
      • Arthur, Zachary
      • Bernhardt, Payton
      • Cardamone, Giulia
      • Celani, Bia
      • Deibert, Adam
      • Flanagan, Vanita
      • Gallion, Candice
      • Garcia, Isabella
      • Gaudet, Kelly
      • Grush, Rosalind
      • Hamilton, Kody
      • Hirsch, Jacob
      • Huchton, Connor
      • Jennings, Matthew
      • Lena, Amber
      • Lyu, Philip
      • Natarajan, Divija Mohan
      • Schiff, Augustus
      • Sharp, Aaron
      • Silverman, Erica
      • Wen, Amy
      • Whitaker, Marian
      • Wolf, Caitlin
      • Wootton, Samuel
      • Zhao, Jen
    • Class of 2020 >
      • Adams, Katie
      • Allender, Miranda
      • Azul, DJ
      • Bentley, James
      • Chatham, Tyler
      • Dalton, Aaron
      • Danna, Tyler
      • Dawson, Sophie
      • Doyle, Megan Patricia
      • Jakim, Elyssa
      • Johnson, Julian
      • Joyce, Natasha
      • Kim, Regina
      • Krishnan, Sanj
      • McCain, Amber
      • Overy, Alexandra
      • Parker, Jaclyn
      • Sarin, Mrittika 'Mou'
      • Sprangers, Paul
      • Strickland, John
      • Wang, Gene
      • West, Aidan
      • Wilkins, Catherine
      • Wilson, Jordan
      • Wilson, Mark Skeele
      • Wynn, Trevor
      • Quintanar, Jacqueline Eva
    • Class of 2019 >
      • Ainsfeld, Jeff Austin
      • Bean, Abigail
      • Berger, Stephanie
      • Berger, Taylor
      • Borg, Christina
      • Dil, Tanha
      • DiTullio, Alex
      • Fuller, JorDan
      • Gurzi, Jeremiah
      • Hines, Ryan Michael
      • Johnson, Griffin
      • Kozak, Jessica
      • Losch, Ariana
      • Malhotra, Yashna
      • Monaghan, Amy
      • Pascal, Lea
      • Priest, Sonny
      • Rasso, Erika
      • Reilly, Shannon
      • Shaffer, Tyrrell
      • Shore, Kianna
      • Sim, Harrison
      • Soares, Barbara
      • Strathmore, Kelly
      • Wignall, Catherine
      • Yin, Yiyi
    • Class of 2018 >
      • Abedin, Cooper
      • Ademulegun, Bisi
      • Altunin, Yaroslav
      • Batavia, Julia
      • Beall, Charles
      • Buda, Liz
      • Chambers, Mark
      • Cieslar, Katrine
      • Emerson, Skye
      • Gilman, Dan
      • Hamill, Ian
      • Harter, Julia
      • Masters, Leon
      • Mizrahi, Jake
      • Moriarty, Julia
      • Pinzon, Nico
      • Potter, Jordan
      • Schmid, Belinda
      • Segal, Guido
      • Stratton, Danielle
      • Tino, Dan
      • Tucker, Trina
      • Vivell, Steven
      • Wankier, Andrew
      • Whang, Laura
      • Wolter, Kimberly-Rose
      • Yim, Paul
    • Class of 2017 >
      • Adams, Nick
      • Atrach, Dana
      • Calbert, David
      • Carnie, Karolyn
      • Elbogen, Eli
      • Giles Dunn, Raeann
      • Gordon, Jeff S.
      • Jahagirdar, Mitali
      • Kazer, Vincent
      • Larsen, Mads
      • Maloney, Maggie
      • Mejia, Natalia
      • Shields, Anthony
      • Siara, Joey
      • White, Lynelle
      • Zhu, Yijun
    • Class of 2016 >
      • Adeeb, Mouhamed
      • Christensen, Jeremy
      • Donovan, Christian
      • Karch, Kevin
      • Sachi, Shoshana
    • Additional Alumni >
      • Horton, Aubrey
    • Alumni in the News
  • Screenwriters Showcase
    • Showcase Info
    • 2020 Showcase Winners
    • 2019 Showcase Winners
    • 2018 Showcase Winners
    • 2017 Showcase Winners
    • Previous Winners
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      • Got a Family? Read This!
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    • Campus Info
    • International Screenwriters Association >
      • ISA Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition
      • ISA FastTrack Fellowship
      • ISA Table Read My Screenplay
    • Nerative (script reading service)
    • Screenwriting Resources
    • Writing Contests
    • Writers' Lounge

Specific Writing Tips

What do the professors look for? What will they cut out?
After one year, most of us can do accurate impressions of our professors-- in terms of their edits, comments, notes, and feedback. This writing feedback is specific to scripts written in the program. After graduation, break whatever unwritten rule you want. But if you want script feedback to be as focused on the ideas as much as possible, that means having no technical issues.

These are SOME tips from SOME professors/students:
​ 
1) Don't use ellipsis (...). God help you if the wrong person sees those trailing dots in a screenplay.
2) Don't bold.
3) Don't underline.
4) Don't italicize.
5) Don't stylize the title page. In fact, don't even have "written by." Just the title and your name. In 12 point Courier.
6) Don't use exclamation points; even in dialogue.
7) Description text should be 1 or 2 lines. Rarely more than 3.
8) Don't apologize for your work.
9) Have fun.
  • Creative Directory
    • Class of 2021 >
      • Abreu, Lucas
      • Angonese, Kristen
      • Arthur, Zachary
      • Bernhardt, Payton
      • Cardamone, Giulia
      • Celani, Bia
      • Deibert, Adam
      • Flanagan, Vanita
      • Gallion, Candice
      • Garcia, Isabella
      • Gaudet, Kelly
      • Grush, Rosalind
      • Hamilton, Kody
      • Hirsch, Jacob
      • Huchton, Connor
      • Jennings, Matthew
      • Lena, Amber
      • Lyu, Philip
      • Natarajan, Divija Mohan
      • Schiff, Augustus
      • Sharp, Aaron
      • Silverman, Erica
      • Wen, Amy
      • Whitaker, Marian
      • Wolf, Caitlin
      • Wootton, Samuel
      • Zhao, Jen
    • Class of 2020 >
      • Adams, Katie
      • Allender, Miranda
      • Azul, DJ
      • Bentley, James
      • Chatham, Tyler
      • Dalton, Aaron
      • Danna, Tyler
      • Dawson, Sophie
      • Doyle, Megan Patricia
      • Jakim, Elyssa
      • Johnson, Julian
      • Joyce, Natasha
      • Kim, Regina
      • Krishnan, Sanj
      • McCain, Amber
      • Overy, Alexandra
      • Parker, Jaclyn
      • Sarin, Mrittika 'Mou'
      • Sprangers, Paul
      • Strickland, John
      • Wang, Gene
      • West, Aidan
      • Wilkins, Catherine
      • Wilson, Jordan
      • Wilson, Mark Skeele
      • Wynn, Trevor
      • Quintanar, Jacqueline Eva
    • Class of 2019 >
      • Ainsfeld, Jeff Austin
      • Bean, Abigail
      • Berger, Stephanie
      • Berger, Taylor
      • Borg, Christina
      • Dil, Tanha
      • DiTullio, Alex
      • Fuller, JorDan
      • Gurzi, Jeremiah
      • Hines, Ryan Michael
      • Johnson, Griffin
      • Kozak, Jessica
      • Losch, Ariana
      • Malhotra, Yashna
      • Monaghan, Amy
      • Pascal, Lea
      • Priest, Sonny
      • Rasso, Erika
      • Reilly, Shannon
      • Shaffer, Tyrrell
      • Shore, Kianna
      • Sim, Harrison
      • Soares, Barbara
      • Strathmore, Kelly
      • Wignall, Catherine
      • Yin, Yiyi
    • Class of 2018 >
      • Abedin, Cooper
      • Ademulegun, Bisi
      • Altunin, Yaroslav
      • Batavia, Julia
      • Beall, Charles
      • Buda, Liz
      • Chambers, Mark
      • Cieslar, Katrine
      • Emerson, Skye
      • Gilman, Dan
      • Hamill, Ian
      • Harter, Julia
      • Masters, Leon
      • Mizrahi, Jake
      • Moriarty, Julia
      • Pinzon, Nico
      • Potter, Jordan
      • Schmid, Belinda
      • Segal, Guido
      • Stratton, Danielle
      • Tino, Dan
      • Tucker, Trina
      • Vivell, Steven
      • Wankier, Andrew
      • Whang, Laura
      • Wolter, Kimberly-Rose
      • Yim, Paul
    • Class of 2017 >
      • Adams, Nick
      • Atrach, Dana
      • Calbert, David
      • Carnie, Karolyn
      • Elbogen, Eli
      • Giles Dunn, Raeann
      • Gordon, Jeff S.
      • Jahagirdar, Mitali
      • Kazer, Vincent
      • Larsen, Mads
      • Maloney, Maggie
      • Mejia, Natalia
      • Shields, Anthony
      • Siara, Joey
      • White, Lynelle
      • Zhu, Yijun
    • Class of 2016 >
      • Adeeb, Mouhamed
      • Christensen, Jeremy
      • Donovan, Christian
      • Karch, Kevin
      • Sachi, Shoshana
    • Additional Alumni >
      • Horton, Aubrey
    • Alumni in the News
  • Screenwriters Showcase
    • Showcase Info
    • 2020 Showcase Winners
    • 2019 Showcase Winners
    • 2018 Showcase Winners
    • 2017 Showcase Winners
    • Previous Winners
  • Incoming Students
    • Do Now
    • Enrollment
    • International Students >
      • Before You Arrive
      • After You Arrive
    • Bureaucracy Stuff
    • First Quarter Info
    • California Residency
    • Money and Working >
      • Internships
      • Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants
      • Teaching Assistantship
    • Questions Incoming Students Ask in June: Answered
    • Quotes and Advice >
      • Class Advice
      • Five Pointers
      • Got a Family? Read This!
      • “Incoming”
      • Specific Writing Tips
  • UCLA Life
    • Living in LA
    • Driving in LA
    • Health Insurance
    • Food on Campus
    • Westwood
  • Resources
    • Campus Info
    • International Screenwriters Association >
      • ISA Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition
      • ISA FastTrack Fellowship
      • ISA Table Read My Screenplay
    • Nerative (script reading service)
    • Screenwriting Resources
    • Writing Contests
    • Writers' Lounge