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About Scotland's Stories

Find out more about Scottish Book Trust's annual writing opportunity, Scotland's Stories.

Please note: Entries for this year's Scotland's Stories opportunity have now closed.

Read Scotland's Stories submissions

Scotland's Stories is an annual writing project which aims to encourage all types of people to share their experiences. Every year we use a different theme to help people write about their lives, their way. The theme for 2025 is Friendship.

When you think of friendship, where does it take you?

To childhood memories? To the people that allowed you to be you? To the person who was there for you when you needed them most?

Friendship is comfort, peace of mind, the knowledge that when we unburden ourselves we won’t be judged. A good friend highlights everything we can be, but reminds us that what we are is already enough.

Whether it’s creating memories with the people that mean the most to us, making new connections that lead us through life’s difficult moments or having a blether with someone you haven’t seen in an age, our friendships are a fundamental part of our lives, deeply connected to our story.

Writing prompts and inspiration

We developed five sub-strands to friendship that we hope will help you start thinking about the story you want to share, and handy writing prompts in English and Gaelic to give you some fun, practical writing exercises that should help develop your ideas.

Formative Friendships (early memories)

Friends we found in difficult moments

Community friendships

Unexpected friendships (did we just become best friends?)

Friends for life

Impact

To be able to showcase these wonderful stories and provide a platform for individuals to grow their confidence, fostering their love of reading and writing, is something we value greatly. We are incredibly lucky to receive such great support year on year, with hundreds of entries coming in from the public. The resulting collection of stories pays tribute to the variety and depth of experience of life in Scotland. You can find out more about the impact of Scotland's Stories from a writer who was included in our 2019 collection, Blether.