Collaboration and the Process

In writing the screenplay, I was most struck with the relative ease of creating ideas quickly when working in a collaborative environment.  Until this point, almost all of my writing experiences have been rather solitary affairs.  Those few times I did work with a group rather tainted my view of group work, since I ended up having to pull most of the weight of the project.  This time, however, was different.  It is incredible to see how much more enjoyable group work is when you have a group of creative, smart people who are equally devoted to producing a top-notch product.  In the proper environment, with the proper selection of team members, the collaborative approach to writing has some very clear advantages:  it offers a blend of viewpoints and styles, avoiding the monotony of using only one set of ideas; it allows a system of checks and balances so that any person's contribution can be verified and approved, letting only the best material remain; it increases the total creative potential for whatever the project is involved.  It is important to note, however, that while this exercise was a creative endeavour, my primary writing experience, including prior groupwork, has been of an expository or argumentative character, so much of the difference I sense between prior work and this may be due to the highly different natures of the project at hand.