QcCowboy

First off, do you want to write music for television or film?
If that is how you want to "compose for a living" then that is where you should go. Go to where people make TV shows and movies.

Now, if you goal is to be performed by symphony orchestras... well, that's not where the money is.

I don't know if a lot of people here actually KNOW, but... when symphony orchestra plays your piece, they don't ALSO pay you for it.

This seems to be some sort of illusion many young composers have about how the world of concert music works.

Making music from writing concert music requires that people PAY you.
People will pay you to write them something when they think you are good.
To become "good", study hard, learn all you can.
Get performed as much as possible (and sorry, but, it's all gonna either be "for free" or you may even have to PAY to get performed).

And then, maybe, miraculously, one day, someone will comission you to write for them.

There are VERY few composers who make a living by only composing.
Most have the old "back up plan" in action... teacher, athlete, porn-star, etc... (well, it depends just HOW well you want to be living)

Even royalties from concerts has been reduced so much in recent years that it's nothing more than a pittance now. You would have to have literally hundereds of works being performed by professional ensembles, in professional contexts, every week, to live off of royalty cheques.

Remember, your friend performing your piece, with no ticket price, at a local venue... that isn't going to bring in ASCAP dollars.