Ideas for a screenplay

Where to get ideas?

It depends on the purpose of your screenplay.

If it's meant to be educational, place at the center what you want the viewer to learn, and build events so the hero reaches that lesson through struggle. It helps if at first, the hero disagrees with the message, even rejects it, but at the end realizes its truth.

Everything must feel authentic, not like propaganda - or the viewer will turn away.
The hero, through non-standard actions, should discover something ambiguous.

If you have no idea at all, look for topics yourself.
You can build a story around a real event, for example:

• News stories, TV reports, internet anecdotes, or things you've observed.
  Write down anything unusual that catches your attention.
• You can also draw inspiration from other films or books - just avoid copying to prevent plagiarism and predictability.

Make sure the event is big enough to fuel your screenplay - not just a short poem but a full-length film.

When you already have a topic, arrange the gathered information like puzzle pieces to form a dramatic whole.
Remember: a screenplay should affect the viewer emotionally and unfold in their mind.
It's not a simple narration of one event after another.

What the hero does next must stem from what happened before -
someone hurt them, or they crave something deeply.

Avoid mundane sequences like:
?He went to the field, cut the grass, went home and slept. In the morning he went to work, came back, raked the grass??
Who cares?

First, collect lots of events, then discard irrelevant ones.
Add conflict - someone with an opposing goal - and arrange the events to maximize emotional impact.

Always keep a notebook or voice recorder with you - you never know when ideas strike.
Note down strange or memorable behaviors you see in others - if something impressed you, it'll likely affect others too.

Observe people - how they react when angry in a store,
how someone behaves when in power,
how a student who cares about grades acts versus one who doesn't care at all.
Having a collection of such observations helps you simulate reality when creating your fictional world.