Inspiration from the Common Wealth of Writers to Boost Creativity

Jacqueline Smith

May 2018 · Jacqueline Smith

About this ebook

The 2014 team directing the XXth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow had declared they would: '... be passionate in our work and encourage flair and creativity in all that we do', and they most certainly were. Is this approach the secret behind the successful and prolific careers of critically acclaimed poets, novelists and playwrights and others who choose to live, work and write in this dynamic and inspiring city? While the rest of us gaze at blank sheets of paper, struggling to come up with a first sentence, the contributing writers from America to Zimbabwe like: Kei Miller, Skye Loneragan, Liz Niven, Ryan Van Winkle all seem to polish off poem after poem and novel after novel.

Despite producing work that seems effortless, all of them have straightforward techniques and sources of inspiration for fending off 'writer's block'. In 'Inspiration from Common Wealth of Writers to Boost Creativity', Jacqueline Smith collects personal memories of how the writers got started, who & what inspires them, advice they would offer to other writers and important aspects for crafting your writing. Jacqueline provides her own commentary and tips for keeping the spark alive, plus much more from some of today's best Commonwealth writers who reveal the secrets of their writing success.

About the author

Jacqueline published several poems and short stories and a poetry collection, ‘Muted Hellion’ in 2007, then began ‘The Scottish Witchfinder’ novel. She completed the Creative Writing MLitt at Glasgow University in 2012.

During the course in 2010 also ran Poetry@The Ivory and was later Chair of the Scottish Writers Centre.

In 2013, Pothole Press published ‘Inspiration from the Common Wealth of Writers’ based on Ivory author interviews as an ebook, and in 2015 it was published in print by Fleming Publications. The Scottish Witchfinder novel was also published by Fleming Publications in 2018 and The Two Seeings novel in the same year, by the Independent Publishing Network. Slaves of Men and Gods YA novel was published in April 2020.