Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Something you love, or something that'll give you a good career?

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I'm definitely going for something I love. Barring a complete disaster this summer in my exams, I'll be starting a three-year course in Sciptwriting at Staffordshire uni. Do I hold deluded ideas that I'll get a degree and within a few years be writing Hollywood movies or shows such as Lost? No. If I got to that level it would be superb, but I'm not going into my course expecting it.

I'm taking it because I'm interested in it. It is a career path that I'd like to follow, and I think that the knowledge I'll gain over those three years, combined with the decent writing ability I have already, I could be successful in the profession. How successful I don't know, but I'd like to think I could earn a comfortable living for a few decades from writing scripts.

But primarily I'm taking it just because it interests me. I couldn't possibly cope with three years of studies and thousands of pounds of debts doing something I didn't enjoy, even if I was good at it. I've always loved writing, and over the last few years I've developed a deep interest in the way what we see on the big and small screen has evolved from a pen touching paper/tapping of keys.

To just know the techniques that writers use to create a project, to understand what makes interesting dialogue, to appreciate how delicate a process it is getting the script just right; I find it all very interesting, and I can't wait to learn about it all.