Where do I start? By Lukas Agelastos Before I start writing a screenplay, I need to come up with an idea first. Inspiration, research, and coming up with a premise are part of that. Collaborative writing with a screenwriter can also help in instances when I want to come up with new angles for a project, a completely fresh idea, or when I simply need the feelings of team play and accountability to bring a project forward. This post is from the perspective of writing a screenplay in the genre of Social Realism. While I mention Mike Leigh in this article, he isn't a great example of a screenwriter since most of his films are developed through months of improvisations with his actors rather than based on a script. But that's the topic of another article on this blog.