Imagine if you could actually observe a famous author at work. Say, Toni Morrison on her sofa, in her bathrobe, with pencil in hand and legal pad on her lap. Just sitting there, churning out a bestseller.

In 1996, Jill Krementz assembled 53 of her favorite black and white photos into The Writer’s Desk. In these pages, we get to peek in on the magical spaces of writers such as Stephen King, Eudora Welty, and John Updike, writing in their favorite places.

Could these glimpses inspire the rest of us to access that mysterious place inside our own selves where great works are created?

This book got me thinking about bloggers and where they write. So I put out the question at LinkedIn and heard from a diverse group. I asked “WHERE do you blog and WHERE do you look for inspiration?” Read what they told me.

I like that no one knows what I’m doing at my end of the internet connection. I like to write my blog entries in my PJs in bed. Does that venue garner less respect?

Andrea Zak, Zak at SchizoFrenetic http://www.zakstar.wordpress.com

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I typically blog at home, after everyone else is in bed. However, I have blogged while attending conferences, but I feel that I owe the presenter 100% of my attention and I don’t feel right blogging from a conference seat. I will take notes, from which I create a blog entry.

I also keep a Moleskin with me at all times to jot down blog ideas. Especially after some human interaction.

The book “No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog” helps when I need an idea.

Links:
www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf/d6plinks/GELD-6YS7BWwww.mosleskineus.com

Gregg Eldred, Principal, NextStep Technologies, LLC
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I tend to write my posts on the train on the way to and from work and then type them up together whenever I get a chance.

On weekends I like to go to the park or the beach and take photos and write posts there as well.

Sometimes when I’m at the cafe with my friends I mentally make notes of the conversation to help with a post and then as soon as I’m alone I sketch them out (or write reminders in my mobile when I get ideas).

Bec from Brunch at Tiffanies
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Wish I could be mobile, with a writer, getting out into nature really has its pluses! That is why I take a journal with me everywhere and jot down notes. My office at home is really my bedroom and there are post its all over, LOL. My wish list this year includes a notebook laptop that I can write on anywhere. I have Blogs in several places: MySpace, MyTools, Informed Writers and others. I spend my evenings just updating and refreshing things. But I prefer to be outdoors in the sunshine where I think better, therefore create better. Gotta get outta the cave and enjoy once in awhile. Creative juices need to flow!
Miccilina Piraino, Angelwings777mp – at – Yahoo.com or Micci007 – at – Hotmail.com
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I like to look for hard data from sources like eMarketer — in their emails they will often share top level data free of charge. Much like pictures are worth a thousand words, I believe that data tells a story.

For instance, if you’re looking at a bar chart, there’s much more to it than the highest number. What is the difference separating #1 and #2? What is the ratio between the first and the last? If it’s a trend going forward five years, how would you guess the following five years might go? What else does this pattern of numbers remind you of?

Any one of those can then be elaborated on, to tell a more profound story. White papers are usually data rich in this regard as well, and can serve the same purpose.

Paul Burani, Internet Marketing Consultant
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Human interactions get the creative blogging juices flowing for me. This includes meeting people at events. But more than anything my blog posts are lessons that I’ve learned from customers, friends, prospects, and mistakes I’ve made.

The more I interact with people, the easier it is for me to blog.

Raza Imam, author of SoftwareSweatshop.com. It’s a humorous (at least I try to be funny) blog making fun of the offshore outsourcing phenomenon.
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I prefer to write my posts on the back porch, around midnight while smoking my pipe.

For inspiration, I look to my own experiences. When I started blogging, I had a deep fear of running out of things to say. I committed (to myself) when I started out that I would focus on writing new, original materials (rather than referencing other media). This put a great deal of pressure on.

I have found that even though I had a set amount of things I started off with in my head, I keep finding new ideas worthy of expounding. Sometimes one idea turns into a handful of posts. Sometimes I just remember something good…and that is what triggers a new rush. Sometimes, I just react to what seems to generate traffic.

Either way, I find my fingers sometimes know what to type before my brain realizes what I want to say. Magic.

Dennis Stevenson, SaaS Director & Start-Up Blogger at Original Thinking

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I use my laptop. Mostly at the kitchen table, but often at my office.
Just that little change of environment seems to help.

Mike Jaquish, who blogs at blog.mikejaquish.com
Email: Mike – at -MikeJaquish.com
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I usually try to do my blogging in the quiet setting of my home office, but more often than not I find myself coming across inspiration for ideas whilst listening to podcasts on the way into work, or whilst surfing the web and coming across a topic that I feel strongly about and have an opinion that needs to be voiced!

Linda Belan, blogging atwww.lbelan.wordpress.com and owner of Your Outsource Solutions, LLC and my website at www.youroutsourcesolutions.com

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I work at home, so I blog from my futon. In my contract gig, I blog the news, so I’m kind of a journalist.

On the social media blog I created, I try to empower users and help them “get it” about social media. I only write when I really have something to say. I feel tempted to add a bunch of posts since I just launched the blog. But in the end, I know that offering value is much better than blogging just to blog.

Nathania Johnson, Author of Social Media Butterflyand freelance blogger for Search Engine Watch.

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Right now I am blogging on my sailboat, mostly because of a storm that came across the southern U.S. last night brought such a freezing cold gale that I don’t want to go outside, even though it is sunny.

I blog just about anywhere I have a little time and a computer, most of the time at my office.

Scott Fillmer, who blogs at islandzephyr.com

Note: where contributor’s full names appear, individuals were quoted/cited with their full permission.

So…. what about the rest of you out there? Where do YOU blog?