If you can write well, though, you can make it either way–through hands on experience and learning the ropes as you go or via education that helps to improve your writing skills. Writing is a mix of skill and experience.

Freelance writing tends to evolve over time. Many times it takes experimenting to see what works for you.

Approaching an editor usually doesn\’t happen until you have created material that you feel is suitable for a particular publication. Or, if you have an article idea, you can query with that. The difficulty here is that if you aren\’t an experienced writer, you may find that an accepted query puts you under pressure to meet a deadline. If you are just starting out I would suggest doing a thorough market tester and writing your article first, then submitting either a query or the manuscript, depending on the writer\’s guidelines for that particular publication. Of course, this is in relation to hard copy material.

As for publications to choose, these are determined by your area of writing interest. For example, if you want to write about travel, then you would peruse travel markets.

A good guide is the Writer\’s Market. This lists genre\’s/markets for freelance writers.

If you want to engage in online writing, this is another ballgame because web content is written differently from hard copy.

If you are thinking of applying for a writing job, your chances of getting hired would depend on your skills and experience.

As you can see, there aren\’t cut and dried answers; however, to try to answer your questions to the best of my ability, here is what I would suggest:

1)Identify what type of writing you want to do.
2)Check your skills in this area and see if you need training to bring them up to par.
3)Start writing as often as you can because writing improves with practice.
4)Try to get some published clips under your belt to add to your resume.
5) Never let rejection get you down. Accept as part of the job.

Finally, check out my writing blog because I offer insights into the world of freelancing:
http://writeandearnaliving.blogspot.com

Check out this Hub which can help to get you started on the road to earning:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Earn-Money-Writing-Income-Opportunities

I’m hoping to have cleared all my debts by the end of this year, and then next year I can start saving up, and hopefully moonlight as a freelancer. Then cut my ‘real job’ to part time, and finally (hopefully!) Take up freelancing on a full time basis.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is going back to uni. Do you think a course in journalism (to improve my general writing), or a specific course (To make me an expert in a field) would help me out in this endeavor? Any other tips? Advice on how to approach my first editor, and which publications to choose would be really appreciated!

I detail paying writing gigs.

I know I’m always curious as to how other writers spend their days.
Thanks for the feedback.