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“Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

That sentiment, attributed to the 20th-century journalist and screenwriter Gene Fowler, may resonate with many UCLA students, whether they’re majoring in English or engineering.

For any undergraduate navigating UCLA writing requirements or any writing-intense course, busy schedules and large class sizes can make it feel challenging to find support on their journeys to becoming better, more confident writers.

The Undergraduate Writing Center is here to help. The center offers one-on-one tutoring with peer learning facilitators, or PLFs, undergraduates trained to teach writing skills across a range of assignments and topics. And PLFs can offer support on a wide range of formats — not just class papers, but also emails, lab reports, resumes, cover letters, personal statements for graduate school applications and more.

“The ideal situation is for students to come out of their sessions confident in their writing, and to continue to build on their writing skills with somebody they’re comfortable with,” said Tara Prescott-Johnson, director of the writing center and a continuing lecturer in UCLA Writing Programs.

Just one way to quantify the writing center’s impact: A Writing Programs report in 2023 found that students who use writing center have an average first-year GPA of 3.62, and an average cumulative GPA of 3.73 when they graduate.

Students can schedule appointments on campus, on the Hill or virtually. There are occasionally late-night hours, too: For a few nights during Week 5 of winter quarter, the center was open until 2 a.m. (Visit the writing center website for hours and locations.) The Undergraduate Writing Center also administers and trains staff for the Philosophy Writing Center and the History Writing Center, where students enrolled in classes in those departments can learn discipline-specific writing techniques.

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Photo credit: Sean Brenner/UCLA Humanities.