Your Stories scrievin prompt: Community legends

Scottish Book Trust is celebratin Scotland's Year o Stories 2022(this will open in a new window) by speirin the fowk o Scotland tae share their true stories as pairt o oor annual scrievin project, Your Stories. This scrievin prompt is tae help ye wi comin up wi ideas and stairtin writin.

Tellin stories is a muckle pairt o Scotland's national identity. The stories we tell, and the fowk we tell them tae, are amang the foondin-stanes o oor lives.

Frae mindin o auld yairns passed doon tae us frae faimily, the wan-aff moments that led us tae a better unnerstaunin o oorsels, or the places, fowk and communities that helped us find hame, stories cleek us tae oorsels and tae the fowk aroond us.

When we think aboot the stories that hae been maist important tae oor lives, odds are that there's some muckle personalities that gang wi them. Within ilka community there's them that aye gang thon extra mile; the fowk that chynge awbody's lives in some wey or anither. Fowk that mak ithers live their lives in the wey that maitters maist, or think aboot wha they want tae be.

Yaise this scrievin prompt tae set aff on yer creative journey, then send in yer scrievin tae oor Your Stories project for the chance tae be furthset in a free book gied oot durin Book Week Scotland.

Wairm-up

Draw three columns doon a bit o paper. In the first column, pit doon the names o some fowk that hae makkit aw the odds tae yersel or tae yer community ower the years. In the next column, list some o the things that mak thon fowk sic staun-oots (their kind deeds, the darg they thole, their upsteerin wey o luikin at life). In the last column, write doon some o the times when thon qualities hae makkit a difference tae ye in yer ain life.

Brainstorm

Noo let's focus on the ins-and-oots o thon moments ye've jist been thinkin aboot. Whit wis it aboot them that wis sae important? How come they've steyed wi ye? Mebbe a local librarian's kindness and kennin brocht ye tae the first book ye ever really luved. Wis it yer favourite teacher's smeddum and faith in ye that heezed ye up tae dae somethin that maittered?

Hae a think aboot some o thon scenarios and pit doon twa-three wirds, images or sentences that come tae mind.

Luikin back

• Is there a body frae yer bairnheid or teenage years that aye bides in yer thochts? Some weel-kent face that awbody had a story o their ain aboot? Whit wey did this body chynge wha ye were or how ye luiked at life?
• If ye never got the chance tae thank them at the time, how no try scrievin them a letter? Talkin tae them direct will let ye be open aboot the aw the guid they've duin in yer life.
• Mebbe yer community legend wis a bit o an unco body, wan o them that naebody really kent awfie muckle aboot but still managed tae come up wi aw kinds o stories aroond. Whit pairt did thae stories play in the lives o yerse an yer pals at the time?

Luiking forrit

• Imagine yer community in twa, ten, or 30 years' time. Whit daes it luik like? Think aboot the guid that's come aboot wan wey or anither thanks tae yer community legend. How no scrieve them a letter, peyin tribute tae the chynge they've brocht aboot.
• Or you could scrieve frae thon moment ye're thinkin o in the future, describin whit wey it maitters tae yersel or the community around ye.
• If yer scrievin stairts tae feel mair like a dedication, ye micht want tae mak a video o it as weel. Tellin them it straicht will be an awfie pouerful wey o thankin yer community legend.

Makkin the maist o the noo

• Is there somebody in yer life the noo that keeps yersel or the fowk in yer community haudin forrit? Somebody that's kept ye smilin ower the past twa, awfie haird years? Whit acts o kindness, smeddum or jist guid crack hae stuid oot for ye?
• Mebbe yer community legend keeps themsel tae themsel. Somebody that no awbody kens, but that it ayeweys heezes up yer hert tae see them. How daes this body mak whaur ye are feel like hame?

Stairt scrievin

Noo that ye ken whit ye'd like tae focus on it's time tae stairt scrievin!

Hae a think aboot whit pynt o view ye'll be scrievin frae. Will ye luik at things as an earlier version o yersel, tae pit the reader richt in the hert o the story? Or if ye'd like it tae feel mair thochtie and wairm ye could mebbe try scrievin a letter insteid.

If the images ye associate wi yer kenspeckle chairacter are awfie vieve, how no try and get the story doon as a comic strip.