Thanks for being honest, but you should add that you are boosting your page count while seeking help, and this forum serves both purposes.
Anyway. I would say starting off, know what exactly you want to get out of it. People on sites like Upwork take advantage of "freelancers" for a cheap way to put out a low quality product. There are exceptions, but it's hard to separate the gems from the ore. I've done okay with it, but I also reduced my monthly expenses, a LOT, and I'm not trying to make a ton of money on writing for other people. It's a long story, I won't bore you with the details.
Second, once you know what kind of work schedule you want, focus on jobs that cater to that. If you have tons of time and want to start slow, freelancing sites like Upwork will get you a few clients. Take a couple junk jobs to get some reviews, then shoot for a few cents a word, and get more reviews. I get offers from Upwork all the time now, and I don't even have to do the searching. That top-rated status changes the game, but it's not worth fighting for if you want 40 hours per week, or even 20.
If you are looking more full-time, talk to local business owners about writing blog posts for their websites and managing their media accounts. Even small businesses will pay 600-700 dollars per month for daily facebook posts and tweets, and maybe a couple blogs per week, but you need to be ready to wake up and spit something out in the middle of the night or early morning if they need it. (I was going back and forth on an offer with the owner of a few bars and restaurants for a bit).
Even if you don't intend to use them, it's probably a good idea to set up accounts on a bunch of services, and include enough information on your bio where customers can reach you off-site. I got an email from one of my current clients out of the blue, because he saw my profile on WriterAccess, which is a service I never even use because I don't like the interface. He visited my blog and my facebook page, and then shot me an email.
Check newstands. Most magazines will have their content-mill listed somewhere on the magazine, and you can hire on with one of those companies.
Call newspapers and see if they are looking for intern prospects.
Start your own neighborhood periodical.
Start blogging now and building an audience, you can monetize it if it starts getting a lot of traffic, but for now it can help to keep you sharp.
Oh yeah, get on linked-in. I don't remember how to set it up, but they have a special service just for people looking for clients. I signed up and never really put it to use yet, but it looks interesting and once things settle down a bit I'm probably going back there to find some more steady work. My current clients are a little sporadic, but that works for me at the moment.
This isn't an exhaustive list, just something to get the wheels turning. Writing isn't different than other businesses. You have to pound the pavement and scrounge up some leads.
~Geckgo