Obviously I'm not a professional reader, but as a teacher I know when a student has cheated page count and it's annoying. If you don't have confidence in your story and think you need to lie to get me to get a good grade, you suck.

I'm sure you can relate.

In theory there SHOULD be a different page length by genre - but a lot of the material I read is so poor that it doesn't fall into those parameters. However, thinking back on the "best" scripts I've seen in that genre, I'd say your advice is more or less on target.

My gut estimates for the target "ideal" lengths:
horror and comedies - 95-105 pages
drama - 100-110
action - 100-115
sci-fi - 105-115

For a first-time screenwriter, 120 pages is almost always too long. If you're writing a wacky comedy and you end up on p. 121, cut at least ten pages out before you send it. (You'll still probably hear it's "too long" but at least you're in the ballpark.)

Don't be an idiot and try cheat the margins. Most readers read 10-15 scripts a WEEK. Do you honestly think we won't pick up on the slightest deviation in format? It's burned into our subconscious at this point. We don't even have to whip out the rulers - we'll know on sight AND if we're unsure, we'll just compare the margins to any of the other script's we're assigned.

Thanks for the feedback, but what about the main question: Courier New or Final Draft Courier for industry standard font? I'm not looking to cheat, in fact trying to make it look as standard as possible.

Thanks, TBSR, for your feedback. For those who haven't visited The Bitter Script Reader's blog, go here.

JMay, I found this from Dave Trotter's website:

Incidentally, Final Draft gives you the option of using Courier Final Draft, which is a bit darker than standard Courier. Courier Final Draft also provides the standard 54 lines per page. However, if you transfer a Final Draft file written in Courier Final Draft, the size of the type face may change, resulting in a Courier font that measures around 11 characters per inch rather than the standard 10 characters per inch. That can be a turn-off to professional readers.

Courier Final Draft is the default font, but you can select the traditional Courier New font. However, since Courier New only provides 48 lines per page, you may want to adjust the line spacing to a tighter format, but take care not to go over 54-55 lines per page. To change the line spacing, click on "Document," then "Page Layout," then "Options."

For Trotter's comparison of Final Draft and MovieMagic screenwriting software programs, go here.

That's Dave Trottier, not Trotter. He wrote "The Screenwriters Bible."

Also here is Trottier's take on some of the changes in spec screenplay style.

I read 250 scripts in 2 months last fall for the Zoetrope screenplay contest. When I opened a script and saw the page count was over 115 pages, my stomach sunk -- you have officially pissed me off. When I opened a script and saw 102 pages, I'm like - this person is on it. (As long as the rest of it quacked like a script.)

An acquaintance sent me a script the other day that was 107 pages. Okay. But giant blocks of dialog and action that if properly spaced would ring in at 140-150 pages. I'm not going to read it. I'm going to send him a couple of good scripts and tell him to study them and rewrite his script accordingly. Then I'll read it.

Do the work, man.

As a studio story analyst, I just want to second Christina's comment.

No spec script writer, no matter what the genre, should go out with a script that's 120 pages or over these days. 115 or under is the 2000s established norm.

The only people who abuse this rule, ironically, are established writers who don't give a f--k (i.e. they're delivering drafts on pre-sold projects, or aren't worried about getting their projects set up). Their massive, sprawling, over-written drafts (Hi, Eric Roth!) are nonetheless subject to professional readers' contempt.

To those carping about such a rigorous standard, Scott's statement re: revision is absolutely true: you can ALWAYS cut.

Thanks Scott. The lines per page and characters per inch cleared everything up. By the way, I just found this blog last week and am absolutely loving it. Thanks!