Pairt o the Scots Warks project.

I have spoken the Doric dialect of Scots since I have been able to talk, however, I only began writing in Scots around four years ago. Initially, writing in Scots started out as a hobby for me. I have always been passionate about the importance of keeping Doric alive and writing in Scots provided me with a new way to blend such an interest with my love for writing. Initially, I volunteered as the Scots editor for my university’s student newspaper. This led to me writing more and more non-fiction Scots pieces for other online platforms, and ultimately for The National newspaper for over two years. 

My journey of learning to write in Scots has been one of trial and error. In particular, I have spent many hours contemplating the conflicting issue of staying true to my local dialect while also adhering to standardised spelling. Over the years, I have found that my most useful tools, when writing factual pieces in Scots, are online Scots dictionaries, the online Scots language community and my own voice! More often than not, reading a text out loud has proven helpful in ensuring that the tone, grammar and sentence structure are correct. 

Taking part in this project matters to me because I want to help make it easier for others to turn their love for speaking Scots into one for writing Scots, without facing the same issues that I have along the way. The more people that can confidently write in Scots, the richer the Scots’ discourse.  

About the project

This Doric travel series includes eight parts, mostly discussing European city break destinations (with the exception of the final article which covers a potentially longer trip). 

The project aims to provide an example of writing in Scots which is factual but also descriptive. It is accompanied by recordings of the text, so that, anyone wishing to do so, may compare the written language with its spoken form.