By Mike Mousicos » It has always been a dream of mine to be a freelance writer. My place of work would be a small room with a window overlooking a tranquil garden and my daily commute, a few steps across the landing. To some, such a regime may be too reclusive but for me, it would be my ideal occupation.

A few years ago, during a stressful day at the office, a colleague posed a question to the rest of the team in casual conversation. He asked everyone what career they'd like to be in if they knew they couldn't fail. If a Genie granted them a wish of being successful in any field they chose, what would it be? One person said they'd be a motor racing driver, while another wanted a shot at being an actress. Others struggled to answer, but my reply was that I'd like to be a writer.

At that time, I worked as a real estate agent in London. Part of my daily routine would be to visit the homes of prospective clients and provide them with a market appraisal of their property's value.

I was asked to look at a house situated in quiet tree-lined road in the suburbs of North London. The property I was attending was a three storey Victorian house that was part of a row that backed onto woodland. It was December and the light snowfall had begun to settle on the trees. A large bay window to the rear of the property provided one of the most picturesque views I'd ever seen during my career. It was like an image captured for a Christmas card.

A neighbouring building a few doors away stood out from the others. It was exactly the same in structure, but painted in a Peachy Pink shade, which put it out of character with the rest of the street. My prospective clients noticed that the flamboyant colour scheme had caught my eye. They told me that the house belonged to Stanley Kubrick, and that he only used it when he was writing. The legendary director passed away two years later and I have never forgotten the view from that rear bay window. I think what has made it all the more memorable is that the scenery I so appreciated that day may have been the same that inspired the creative talent of Mr Kubrick. Who knows?

Over the years, I've met and spoken to several writers who all seemed happy with their work - although two of them attributed their greying hair to meeting copy deadlines! They were freelance writers who worked from the comfort of their homes, which coincidentally, were all situated in nice parts of town. The advice on which they were all unanimous was that the aspiring writer should write every day. Their spare rooms having wall to wall bookshelves, their other recommendation was to read as often and as widely as possible.

In a bid to start work on realising my ambition, I enrolled on a home study course in creative writing. Assignments are set by qualified tutors who themselves are all professional writers. Your submissions are marked and returned to you with comments, suggestions and any necessary amendments. If your work is deemed of a publishable standard, then you are advised to submit it to your target market - a market which you are also taught to research.

To date, I have had three pieces of work published and I'm only half way through my course. Not bad going for a newbie you might think? Well, I've also received about a dozen rejection letters from editors who didn't think my work was suitable for them. Even as I write, I am waiting for an overdue reply from the editorial team of a trade magazine that has already published my work in the past.

A lady who once had an occupation in publishing, told me that work from unknown writers was frequently rejected without even being looked at by the editors! Another person informed me of an interesting statistic, that of all the people in the world pursuing the arts - musicians, writers, poets and artists - less than one percent of them earn a living from their creativity.

The above information, when underpinned by a rejection letter, can serve to dampen the enthusiasm of even the most determined of characters. My writing career is in its infancy and yet I have had many ups and downs - the latter being more frequent!

Earning a living as a freelance writer will take patience and a lot of practice. The advice given to me by the professionals was to try and write every day. The internet offers many opportunities for the aspiring writer to train their talent and get paid at the same time. 

•Mike Mousicos blogs at thepaidwriter.net