Crafting Powerful Dialogue
Crafting Powerful Dialogue
SCRIPT X 415.4
Take a deep dive into putting the best words into your characters’ mouths in this exercise and workshop-based course teaching you to put your best voice forward.
Typically Available
Fall
Spring
Summer
Duration
As few as 10 weeks
Units
3.0
Current Formats
In Person
Cost
Starting at $820.00
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What you can learn.
What you can learn.
Learn how dialogue develops character, plot, and theme
Improve your script’s dialogue and make each character sound unique
Complete exercises and analyses of successful scripts and clips
How to take a hands-on approach to improving your dialogue craft
About This Course
Dialogue may seem to be the easiest and most fun aspect of screenwriting (look at all those pages fly by, and with so much white space!), yet it's often the most difficult thing for the aspiring screenwriter to do well. Great dialogue is a vital vehicle for developing character, enhancing plot, and speaking to theme, among its many other uses. This course explores all of dialogue's functions in depth and provides you with the pragmatic skill set that will make your dialogue more effective and make it snap, crackle, and pop on the page. Through writing exercises, analysis of screenplay pages and classic clips from both features and TV, and a dialogue diary that will help you develop an ear for good conversation, you sharpen and hone your dialogue prowess, and you put your new skills to work on your own projects, both present and future.
Spring 2026 Schedule
Date
Details
Format
-
Tuesday 7:00PM - 10:00PM PT
In Person
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
Notes
Enrollment limited to 15 students; early enrollment advised. Visitors not permitted. Internet access required.
This course meets in person at the designated class meeting time and location. Students must be present at the course meeting time as each student’s final grade may include scores for participation. Please inform your instructor if you will miss a class meeting. You are responsible for any class information you missed. We suggest you arrange with a fellow classmate to share their notes when feasible.
Deadline
Refunds only available from February 02, 2026 to April 12, 2026
Course Requirements
Internet access required to retrieve course materials.
Schedule
Type
Date
Time
Location
Discussion
Tue Mar 31, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue Apr 7, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue Apr 14, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue Apr 21, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue Apr 28, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue May 5, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue May 12, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue May 19, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue May 26, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
Discussion
Tue Jun 2, 2026
7:00PM PT - 10:00PM PT
UCLA Extension Gayley Center in Westwood
UCLA Extension Gayley Center
UCLA Extension Gayley Center