I’m in a classic ‘on the fence’ position on the issue when it applies to me personally. On the one hand, I’m a sucker for lying in bed or sitting outside to complete my work, however there are also times when I feel I get the best work done when I’m sitting in my family’s office in front of a desktop computer.

I guess it really does depend on the freelancer’s attitude and personal preference when it comes to where they work. Be it the local coffee shop or the spotless office space, as long as the work is top-notch, the employers are happy.

I thought it was cool that freelancers could make money and not have to sit in those hour long daily meetings about nothing. When the senior editor mentioned how much freelancers made I said “How do I get that job?!” Needless to say, my senior editor did not look amused.

Less than six months later I was freelancing full-time, praying it would work for me. I had already tried teaching math, then I tried editing math. I hated both. I was hoping that writing math would pay the bills and not drive me crazy. So far so good!

If they needed to take a meeting, they would come to our offices. It’s very rare the client would travel to visit them.

I guess my point is this: The owners and editors of a large NYC publishing firm were aware that freelancers didn’t work in traditional offices or dress in traditional business clothing, but this was never an issue.

This may be off-topic, and I apologise, but what’s been said here has me thinking more about how we have embarked on an age of ‘presumed annonymity.’

Blogs and facebook and the like, their ready accessibility, have made it very easy for potential employers to google-and-choose. While I have no desire to work for the high-end corporate world again, I do consider carefully what I put my last name on whilst commenting on the Internet. My blog, though, is rather personal, but always told in a creative non-fiction voice. Thus, it is a true representation of who I am.

In this way, I am always concerned about image. It seems most of us are to some extent, but some of us are more comfortable with the hominess of honesty than others. I applaud them for that.

Some writers I know have several ‘representations’ of themselves out there: a blog for the personal observations; a professional CV-based site; and perhaps another with more career-based information.

It will be interesting to see how the world (and work world) adjusts to this ‘open book’ tendency, especially as the younger generations have no qualms about putting it all out there for the world to see.

If I worked in a field where a client had to come into my office/home, I’d make sure I had a suitable office to invite him into. Although I have a small workspace carved out of one side of my bedroom, I am more often found working on my (unmade) bed with my laptop. Would I invite a client in to my current working arrangement? Absolutely not. I’d be mortified. But working as I do, strictly by telecommuting, I don’t see my work environment as an issue.

However, coming from a background of working in a very corporate high-end suit-and-tie-or-you-die environment, I can also see the point Writing for Dollars is trying to make. If I was doing freelance work for my former employer, and they came across a picture on my site of me working in my pajamas on my unmade bed, it would certainly be a turn-off. Would they fire me over it? Probably not. But if they were just considering me for the job, I’m thinking they’d give me a pass based on that.

Although I do a lot of corporate writing work, I don’t share a corporate mindset. I don’t care much what people think of me, and if they think less of me for who I am or how/where I work, then that’s not really the type of person I want to work for. Still, I can see how others might feel differently. I think it’s all a matter of perception and personality.

Today is typical of autumn in Colordao — perfect crisp air with lots of sun. My favorite!

Let the old-school folks sit behind their huge ancient-forest derived desks and look down their noses at us. The telecommuting employee (in or out of their PJs) is where things are headed and I applaud everyone here who refuses to give in to the notion that a business suit makes for a better employee! This is how change happens.

“If a client asks you what you are wearing today or where you are in the home, I would start to worry about the client.”

I agree. That would be creepy. Particularly if they want to know what I’m wearing.

It sounds like Canada is more flexible with the home office deduction than the United States. Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me very much. Lucky you.

I have posted on my blog many times about where I work. I have posted pictures of both my office and my porch, and I have discussed the fact that I work better when I can change the scenery periodically. Heck, I once even dedicated an entire post to my new desk chair!

Like Latoya, I think my website and portfolio contains the means to convince any doubting client that I am a professional. And also like Latoya, if they still aren’t convinced — well, that’s probably not the type of person (or company) I wanted to work with, anyway.

Yes, we freelancers know that it’s possible to get your work done anywhere. We know that creativity rarely flourishes in an office wearing a suit. But, our clients don’t always know, believe, or trust that. It’s just not something they’re used to seeing. Whether it’s right or fair really doesn’t matter. What matters is our ability to continue to get writing jobs and work in the environment that’s most convenient and effective for us.

I won’t change the way I work to change clients’ perception of me. If my professionalism or work quality is ever called into question because of my work environment, I’ll just point to my portfolio. If questions remain, that person can go hire another writer.

Will that make my writing more professional? No way! It’s the words that I will be writing that will determine the professionalism- not the work environment.

And just to keep everybody updated, I have still NOT been paid by LCP publications, nor have they contacted me since I wrote them two professional articles. Never send LCP any articles without at least half of the $50 payment sent to your Paypal account by these people first.

But I know writers who have a lovely office area but use the family phone (or worse, the family answering machine) or have cute email names or use a family email address. In other words, they don’t present themselves in a professional manner.

I guess I’m agreeing with what Mariella said above (although I do have hardwood floors, but the globe would only take up space I need to spread around my paperwork).

What an office looks like is subjective. In my last “real” (for want of a better word) job, I would have killed for the amount of space of Deb’s new office area. I worked with people who had so little space in their cubes that they’d work at the conference room table (kind of like the dining room table, huh).

Once I was working on my back porch on a beautiful summer day when an editor called. I told her I wasn’t in my office at the moment. She said, “If it is as beautiful there as it is here, I hope you’re able to be working outside.” Editors know . . .