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Who would want to earn a living as a freelance journalist? The ideal candidate is surely somebody who can live without much stability and loves meeting people. But to make a success of it, remember that above all, you have to be disciplined, persistent, determined, diplomative and creative.

Having been a freelance writer for the past 12 years makes me a seasoned writer who has been through the thick and thin of it and back. It all began with an insistent urge to write. And a proven ability to clinch people's attention through my writing. I started small - a letter to one newspaper; a short feature to an editor. But before you get further, you have to research your potential markets.

Get hold of the newspapers or magazines published in your town, city,or state and look up email addresses of editors either within the paper or on-line. See which section requests letters, contributions; how these contributions should be sent out, to whom they should be addressed. Be sure to keep all the details you discover on a journal which will hopefully eventually house details of all the contributions emailed or posted to these varied publications.

Write short features about you know best - topics you enjoy - your daughter's latest school activity; the experience of visiting a rock concert which hit town; the proliferation of stray dogs in your neighbourhood and what can be done to solve the problem. Be prepared to take pictures if need be, although possessing a good digital camera is not a prerequisite at this stage and not necessary at all to impact on editors. What is of primary importance is that you can write and for that you need to practise.

I began in that way, but more specifically by sending in a short story to a local newspaper which had asked readers to send in short stories for a weekend supplement. To my amazement, the editor actually called me at home, asked me to email a bio and a picture and invited me to meet her and discuss how I could contribute some more. From then on, I never looked back. True, writing didn't hit off full-time at that period in time, and I still kept my day job running because I needed the stability and didn't have enough contacts to keep me busy writing full-time anyway.

Over the years, I accumulated know-how, experience, insight. I built up my network of connections. Which brings me to the topic of how to keep your contacts handy. Remember that your greatest source of information and knowledge comes from the people you meet - and this includes

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