I was thinking about starting a screenplay. I always get ideas for them, and I think I could come up with some funny jokes. The only thing is... I'm thirteen years old.

I'm at a thirteen-year-old maturity level, so I think it might be an embarrassing waste of time for me to start writing a screenplay. I guess what I want to know is this: Should we do what makes us happy or what we're good at? I'm always struggling with myself... I want to be a musician as well, but I don't know if I'm good enough. Should I go for it and see what happens, or should I stick to my talents? If I wrote the screenplay I wanted to, will I just have a stupid screenplay and several wasted hours or a good experience? I want to know from an experienced artist what I should do and think about this.

You should do both - what you're good at and what makes you happy. Generally one compliments the other. Whatever it is you enjoy, develop your talent and practice. Whether it's music, art, novel writing, screenwriting or all of them. Many good (and not so good) screenplays, stories, novels, etc never make it to publication or production.

Does that make it a waste of time? Does it mean it was awful? Does it mean it wasn't worth doing? The answer is simply no. At thirteen you have a geat advantage. You hae a lot of time to learn, to practice and to develop your skills and talent. If writing makes you happy, do it. If music makes you happy, do it. And above all else, do it because you love it and because you have a story that needs to come out. Don't worry about selling it or a profit at this point, just write.

It often takes years of writing and many, many manuscripts sitting collecting dust before realizing your first publication or production. But it is never a waste of time if it's what you enjoy and what you have a passion for.