When I first started writing, I wrote in the Methil dialect. Obviously, this made it somewhat difficult for most people to read.
Then, I had to contend with all the ‘experts’ who told me that Scots was not written that way. The ‘apologetic apostrophe’ was the main complaint. Sir Walter Scott may have used it, but ‘proper’ writers never would.
(Dear Mr Scott. Concerning your ‘improper’ use of punctuation …)
Well, to hell with them. The ‘proper’ way was decided by 3 literary types, who ‘decided’ what would be what. Sorry chaps, but I do not write in ‘Lallands’ (Lowlands Scots), Doric (bit further North), or Glaswegian.
Not even in Fife dialect (there are many!). I wrote in Methil. (which my blog spell-check does not recognise!).
Anyway, the readability was a problem. I tried many ways in the past: putting the story into 2 columns – one English, one Methil; putting a button on the page to swap between the Methil version and the English version; using the ‘title’ function in HTML. That works fine for spoken dialect in an English story …
see the ‘Glesca Patter’
… but isn’t so good when the whole story is in Methil.
At last, I think that I have cracked the problem! I have taken the ‘Fife stories, and done a simultaneous write, in English and Methil. If you simply look at a paragraph, it is in Methil, but if you place the cursor over the paragraph, it translates instantly in English.
On an iPad, you don’t have a cursor, but a quick tap of the finger does the job. That may also work in Android, but I have nothing to check it on.
Perhaps someone may care to let me know.
These are stories from my youth. That was a long time ago.
Click on the book, and let me know what you think.