Matching the writing style for book fandoms

[donutsweeper]

The majority of fandoms I've participated in have been tv fandoms so this hasn't been an issue, but now I find myself considering the "Sherlock Holmes" fandom and I am faced with a quandary.

Doyle's books are written in the first person with Watson as the narrator.

I do not particularly like writing in the first person (nor reading it for that matter).

So mighty friendslist, I ask of you: In your opinion should fanfic written for book!verse Sherlock Holmes be written in the first person?

(As a side note, when I wrote for "Dresden Files" book!verse I did get comments mentioning the fact I had not written it in the first person as the books are written.)

Comments

[stackcats.livejournal.com]

Nope, doesn't have to be first person! In my opinion, anyway :D

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

That's what I was hoping people would say! :)

*uses only vaguely fandom related icon*

[stackcats.livejournal.com]

Hehe, Watson is silly.

ETA: wait, no, this icon is better!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I loved the movie. I loved "Sherlock" too. And I'm rereading the books and loving those as well. I like the smart!Watson that's been portrayed of late, so much better than early movie's versions of him.

hmmm, I should make a "Sherlock" icon

eta- LOL I loved that exchange! Sherlock and John are so great together, I'm so glad they're making another series.

[stackcats.livejournal.com]

I was fully expecting to dislike Sherlock, but it surprised me nicely! It was very clever.
Loving competent!Watson too. Because really, if he was that useless, Holmes would not tolerate him.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

*waves to Brett!Holmes* I loved the Granada Holmes stories (the ones I saw anyway) They had a very good Watson too (well, two of them actually)

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

I would prefer not in first person.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Oh good, glad to hear it!

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Not at all. You're not writing a Sherlock Holmes book, you're writing a Sherlock Holmes story and unless you want it to be considered an official case, I see no reason why Watson should be narrating at all.

I write mostly in first person for the Dresden Files, because that's how I'm most comfortable writing, but if it's not from Harry's POV or if I need people to know more than just Harry's thoughts, I use third person or I switch to another character.

I don't think I've written anything outside of DF in first person. TV shows especially are hard to write in FP because, as a format, we rarely are given only one person's POV. There are also some characters, like The Doctor or Bob or probably Holmes if I ever wrote him, that I don't feel I could write accurately from a FP POV.

So, that's a long answer, but the short of it is: screw 'em!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that distinction between book vs story. Thanks!

[kateri-e.livejournal.com]

No, I would say you don't have to write first person if you wrote some Holmes fic. Now if you were seeking publication you might want to try out some traditional Doyle-esque writing but this is after all fanfic ;-)

I am now craving a Sherlock icon... must ponder this

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Oh good, glad you think so.

I only have one Sherlock Holmes icon, I probably should make more

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

You got comments about non-first person for DF? How bloody picky! I never have, but then I am writing crossovers and at least some of the fic has been first person from Harry's pov. I don't know. *grumbles about silly people*

I've never actually read ACD (probably something I should remedy), though I've grown up with Holmes in films and TV and it wouldn't bother me one little bit if you wanted to write bookverse Holmes from the POV of his bleeding violin if you wanted to, as long as it was done well (which knowing you, it would be).

Write however you are most comfortable, it might show in your writing if you aren't. Apart from DF the only character I've ever written in first person is Ianto I think (and over 10k words of pwp in fp pov is a bit mind boggling when you're writing it).

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I was surprised, but some people were rather rude that the story was written in the 3rd person

The Holmes stories are available for free in a lot of places via Project Guttenberg- I DLed them to my ipod touch and have been reading them there. The short stories are nice because you can read them in very little time and that's all I've had lately.

eta- I see what you did there with the violin *glares at you* too bad my writing brain is in Tahiti, that could be interesting

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Well, if your writing brain comes back from Tahiti, I'll make sure the violin is at your disposal. *g*

I shall bear what you've said about Project Guttenberg - short stories sound like a good thing.

[chatona.livejournal.com]

I think the beauty of fanfiction is that it doesn't have to be written in the same style or pov as the original book - fanfiction can explore, focus on different characters, different topics, different styles and yes, different povs.

Is what I think, anyways.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point, thanks! :)

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Personally I write them in first person mostly Watson, but I have written one first person Holmes. It just feels right to me and I think first person achieves the more formal nature and language of the time and setting.

And I'd prefer to read first person.

But clearly that's just me.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

It makes sense that 1st person would feel like it matches the time and setting more.

[jadesfire.livejournal.com]

Adding to the above, I'd also say it depends what you're going for. If you can absolutely catch Doyle's style and you're writing a full-on Holmes case-fic, then I'd say writing it in the 1st person would be awesome.

But if you're not going for a full-on casefic, or if you're not happy writing in the first person, then 3rd person is just plain going to work better.

Also, there's at least 1 Holmes story written by Doyle in 3rd person. It's...odd, tbh. Doyle was definitely more comfortable in 1st person, so that's what he wrote! If he can settle where he's happy, then so should we ;)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I don't remember any Doyle fics not written by Watson in 1st person, but I haven't reread them all yet- I didn't know he did that. I think you're right though- write what you're comfortable in and if I'm not as steady a writer in 1st person than it'll probably show.

[yamx]

Unless you can really match the style perfectly, to the point where one couldn't pick your story out of a line-up with Conan Doyle's, I think it'd be much better to go for third person, so it looks like an conscious choice of *your* style rather than a poor imitation of someone else's.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

it looks like an conscious choice of *your* style rather than a poor imitation of someone else's.

That's a very good point, thanks!

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

You might get slightly more comments with SH than with DF just because of the long tradition of SH pastiches (and pastiches are more defined as imitations that simply derivative like the rest of fic). I also get the impression that in book fandoms pastiches are more the norm, and that's not entirely unexpected since the style of writing is often part of the appeal of the source material. That doesn't mean you should only write pastiches for book fandoms! Fan works include art and vids as well as fic and no one expects them to be imitative instead of just derivative.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think you're right about pastiches.