Sherlock Holmes on Creative Writing
Sherlock Homes said this:
“Oh yes, it is most necessary. Then these are your instructions, and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter, for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals in Europe. Now listen! You will dispatch whatever luggage you intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria to-night. In the morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second which may present itself. Into this hansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand end of the Lowther Arcade, handing the address to the cabman upon a slip of paper, with a request that he will not throw it away. Have your fare ready, and the instant that your cab stops, dash through the Arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a quarter-past nine. You will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped at the collar with red. Into this you will step, and you will reach Victoria in time for the Continental express.”
- “The Final Problem” in “Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” (1893) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
This is damned good advice about writing! If you want to write something original, never take the first idea, nor the second. The third may be safe. So much has been written already – some claim that everyything has been written already. How in the world do you go up against all the writing, past and present in the hundreds of cultures and languages and redbubbles that have come and gone, all churning out stories?
I guess the first idea one has will likely be the first thing that many other people thought of too. The first idea is the most obvious association. In order to stand out in writing you must do more than write the obvious.
On the other hand, there’s much to be said for spontaneous writing and spontaneous inspirations. Many writing instructions tell people to write the first thing that comes to mind.
When to be spontaneous? When to be considered? How do we reconcile these two opposites?
deliriousgirl
Some advice I got on the creative process manymany moons ago: The first and foremost responsibility of the artist/writer/musician is to provoke a strong emotional response from his audience through his medium.
I tend to be of the school that agrees with the theory that a spontaneous and authentic voice in writing is much more pleasurable to the general reader than to over-analyze the theme pursuing an original idea.
Just an opinion, for what it’s worth!
LOVE AND PEACE, jen
indeterminacy replied
Absolutely! That’s the kind of writing I like best, how evocotive it is and how authentic the voice is. As a reader, I don’t care what the writer had to do to work that out for me. If he/she had to suffer, sweat out dozens of ideas before finding the right one, or if it just flowed from the pen. It’s the end result that counts most to me.
Lehane
All the stories (I assume we refer to plots here) have been written, but the way you and I see the world through our eyes as writers is what makes each story we pen original. You are spot on, whether it’s writing or photograpjy, it matters not our journey there but the end result of arriving there. The hard bit is knowing when we have finally arrived there. Sadly the truly finished piece isn’t quite as obvious as Victoria station looming out of the London fog! ;)
indeterminacy replied
I think I could write a few pages answering this. The “there” that a piece gets to is completely subjective and depends in the author’s sensibilities and feeling, which itself is evolving over time, and any other subjective feedbacks the author receives and considers. I’ve written down so many stories and had the idea they were crap – but someone else was thrilled by it. (I’ve also had enough that were crap, and everyone, including myself, knew it).
I think a lot of potential writers worry about establishing “voice” but I think that comes natural – if when you write you just try to be yourself, use your own language, and let your feelings, intuitions and inspirations guide your hand.
Anne van Alkemade
For a writer, writing something truly unique would be a career pinacle. But for a reader it may be incomprehensible. Successful writers resonate with their readers. That doesn’t mean sell your soul to be successful – but I really wonder about success. I’m reading a Danielle Steele at the moment. I’ve never read her books before and I just can’t believe this piece of rubbish was actually published. On the other hand, it was published and thousands upon thousands of people read it.
My students are people typically who have the belief they can’t write. I always ask my students “what do you want to get out of your writing?” If it is purely for self-expression then it doesn’t matter if the first, second or tenth idea does it for them, so long as they can grasp onto an idea and write!
If it is ‘to be read’, same deal. But if it is ‘to be great’, then you’re talking about unique ideas I suppose. But then I dislike the so-called ‘perfect book’. I struggled through the blinking thing – it was boring.
indeterminacy replied
Thank you for your answer! I should say now that the post I made is based an introspection of my own writing. I have written more than 400 “one-minute short stories” at my site – in the first months, one a day, then later five a week, now one-weekish. The best stories were based on spontaneous inspirations that flowed out the first time. But they became much better after a period of polishing and afterthought. Over time it became more and more difficult to write anything new or spontaneous, so I would really be sending away idea after idea until the right one came. I think a combination of both approaches is the best.
Everyone will have to find the rules that work best for them. There is no dogma in writing. My purpose in writing was simply to weave a mini-story out of a spontaneous inspiration given by a random photograph. No special message or moral. Nothing autobiographical, etc. Everything completely invented.
I’ve been fascinated by those authors who really do resonate, like Joanne Rowling or Cornelia Funke. They have a crisp, clear and engrossing style. Somehow it works.
Lehane
The best advice I ever received: “Don’t get it right, get it written”. For all the advice we give, the best advice is to write as much as you can. The more we write the more our natural voice will develop.
And, of course, read as much as you can too. Read for the fun of it and then go back and read it analysing how the writer achieved (or didn’t!) what he/she did.
indeterminacy replied
I agree.
BeckyJean
Nice work :)
indeterminacy replied
Thank you
Natella2020
So you like Harry Potter, too?
indeterminacy replied
LOL – I dont know – my son started reading it in German, and it seems to have something. I might read it in English one day.
Natella2020
I recommend it. What about Artemis Fowl?
indeterminacy replied
Artemis Fowl rings a bell – but the bell is too far away for me to hear!
Anne van Alkemade
Oh you are totally right about JK, Inde. I love her writing. I have also been known to read a Stephen King or ten. Your observations are interesting and I understand now what you mean based on your own writing. Gosh, you’re prolific and disciplined. I have set myself those types of tasks in the past (eg 100 words a day no matter what) and never stuck to them. Now I just write when the idea hits and sticks (sounds awful doesn’t it).
I am glad that you and DB have got writers talking. It’s the hardest thing to do for some reason.
indeterminacy replied
Anne, I’m just the opposite of what you say. I cannot site down and write a hundred words, or write for an hour and then be finished. Sometimes I sit down and struggle for an hour and have only written one sentence. When I started, the first 20 or so stories, they all flowed out, just like that. After that period it turned into work! (By the way, I never count words. – I didn’t know how long some of my stories were until I posted them here!)
We’ll be in USA next month, so maybe I will look for a set of Harry Potter (in English).
I don’t know what I might have done to get people talking here – actually DB got me to join FF – I didn’t at first, because I have so few stories that are under 150 words. I see now that it’s a finely run group.
Peter Davidson
Being a literary, if not literally a moron, my judgment on good writing is that point at when the words vanish and the story takes over. Since starting to write, this happens less and less … I also agree the natural voice comes from withing, and the ability to elucidate the feelings that inspire. I’m still trying …
indeterminacy replied
My spontaneous inspirations have always been the best, I think. It was easy at first to get them – now it is more difficult. Of the 400+ stories at my site – only two of them, I think, came out “perfect” – both of them were spontaneous inspirations written in just a few minutes. I didnt see any need to change one word of how it came out.
Natella2020
Wow, Peter, I’ve never been able to describe it like that, but you’re absolutely right! I have to read the story a second time to know what happened at the beginning, because it always starts out as just a jumble of words with no meaning.
Natella2020
Hey there, Indeterminacy
My problem is the will to rewrite. Sometimes it takes so long to finally get things written down with some sort of order that when I finally have it down, I don’t feel like reading it again. I haven’t recently been able to write something that I wanted to keep re-reading, but I guess that will come with more practice.
indeterminacy replied
That’s so true, and it’s the reason why I am solidly sure I will never write a book or even longer short stories. All my pieces were short enough that I could spend an hour or two going back over them. The amount of effort I put into just a few words would be impossible at a higher level.
olawunmi
Speaking as a student writer, I find that I need the discipline of creativity which allow flexibility of ideas. Where should the focus be ti be a good writer, the story or the discipline in the hows? Then as a reader, I find that I am tilted towards the unusual, unexpected plots which might have been written over and over again but which is given unexpected twist and turns. I also find that I would rather thrillers, espionage or classics with ideas that are outdated now but lets you into another timezone all together. As for lenghts I find that writing flash fiction is very good discipline which allows you to tell a story in very few words.The more you write, the better you will become at short stories, because then every word in the story has its place. I find the process of editing and rewriting a challenge because often times one is attached to the words and sometimes think that the story cannot stand without it.
indeterminacy replied
Just do it, don’t think too much about what you are doing. Leave the hows for the literary critics, who know how, but can’t do it themselves. The best authors, I think, dont really know what they are doing, but do it out of feeling.
Sherriff
Make no way the way.
indeterminacy replied
I agree – there’s not dogma about writing. Anything I’ve discovered about writing is completely introspective, and is only what has worked for me. I marvel at the different methods of other writers, especially noticing that what works for them would never work out if I tried it.
adgray
I know this convo is 4 months old and I missed it but I wanted to put my view in here to add to it.
I am predominantly a novel writer – sagas even; the longer the better
Short stories and flash fiction intimidate me! They are excellent but they are such hard work! I cannot write to a limitation that annoys me and causes me to not be able to write! I must be free in what I write and it becomes the length it becomes. be that 30,000, 300,000 or just 30!
I learnt though that there is two kinds of writing – conscious writing and unconscious writing. Conscious writing is what you put on a page because it is the story you want to tell but unconscious writing is when that story/theme runs away with you and you feel like you cant type/write fast enough to keep up! that happened to me in my Daintree Daughter’s saga. I had an idea for a nice story to occupy my mind when I was stuck house bound on crutches. I allowed a side thought to take over and wrote 3 heroine’s stories out and brought them all nicely into a climax that I thought was rather good! When I thought I had it written I thought of just adding a simple epilogue to tie up a few loose ends and then wham! THEN it took over and I became a segue a scribe ending up sitting at my computer for three weeks solid to write another deeper, 124,444word, underlying story that tied the whole lot up and blew my mind! I long for that to happen again! Which is why I allow my fingers to create poetry in here to other’s works …. and why I feel so frustrated and annoyed when I am not left alone to write!
You said that you aspire to write a spontaneous piece inspired by a picture you have seen, I know what you mean I have done that for the last 4 months in here, poetry and story’s, but I think it has just been flukes – I don’t feel I consciously write these but unconsciously allow the story to flow through me as though I am more a segue for the story to come out like the epilogue of my novel did.
As for rewriting I HATE THAT!!! lol I so change everything each time I reread lol I don’t write to a plan I just start and end when I feel it’s right to end it no matter what I write! then when I reread I add to it usually! lol man that was hard before PCs lol That I think is the conscious writing part – when i make the unconscious flow make sense – if it doesnt :O)
But more than anything from this convo I have come to realise the different styles of writing – short long poetry etc – are like different styles of pictorial art – painting sketching photography etc and you use different thinking and techniques for each. sometimes they will compliment – sketching to painting, drawing to photography, abstract to collage, etc writers can be fluent in more than one sub-genre .... I write novels and poetry and I can do a pretty convincing business letter and you should see my University essays!!! lol But i cant write a flash fiction or short story to save myself! lol I just don’t think that small and precise! poetry is to a song like novel is to a play or movie, short fiction to a TV show and saga is to a mini series … etc each similar but very different in it’s creation. [flash fiction is an ad? :O)]
And I cannot detect my voice! A voice in writing is like an accent I do not notice my own accent but I do of others. and writing only has an accent when you write phonetically! however I do understand the concept of a voice coming from the grammar of the thoughts. I would like to give my characters their own voice from their own thoughts created from their own life environments and experiences. But as I cannot actually turn me off I find creating these different characters the challenge …. and delight in it! :O)
This has been a very enlightening convo that I have read – 4 months or 4 years later it would always be important! and I thank you for instigating it :O) ♥
indeterminacy replied
Thanks for such a long and detailed response to my ancient post! I’m rather rushed at the moment, but I’ll read this all and respond to it in time. Thank you for sharing these writing insights!
adgray
Good to see you’re still about it’s been a while :O) thanks for replying Chookas mate :O) ♥