Writing Meme of Undeniable Coolness (stolen mercilessly from dukesfreers)

[eponymous_rose]

Name a character that you know I write or have written, and I’ll tell you:

a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her
b. One of his/her best traits
c. One of his/her worst traits
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future

I'm hoping this'll help kick-start me on some of my projects that've been neglected as I did the whole back-to-school thing. And it looks like fun! :D

(Feel free to mention characters I've only drabbled about/written in the distant past!)

Comments

[iansmomesq.livejournal.com]

Sherlock Holmes!

[eponymous-rose.livejournal.com]

a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her

The fact that, for the most part, canon only gives the barest bones of a character to work with, with glimpses of something more (sort of like Eight in the TVM, really!). I've always been a sucker for the whole unreliable-narrator idea, and I love the idea of willfully misinterpreting a lot of Watson's claims/observations in canon to fit my nefarious purposes. And the whole idea of Holmesian scholarship is so notoriously well-established that I've taken it as a challenge to go somewhere new with the character!

b. One of his best traits

One of his best traits for me as a writer is the whole self-deception motif. You've got this "perfect reasoning machine" who still makes mistakes and judgements, this self-professed loner who winds up in one of the most famous friendships of literary history, this hard-nosed scientist who scoffs at the tender passions and yet plays the violin and remarks on the beauty of flowers. He's a study in contrasts.

c. One of his worst traits

Again, I'll answer this from a writerly point of view. It's terrible to have to come up with some of those incredible deductions! The problem is - it's so much fun to do the big reveal that I never want to have to explain it afterwards. "Oho! I see that you're a carpenter with a passion for billiards and women's clothing! ...let's leave it at that, shall we?" I've scrapped too many projects because of this. Heehee!

d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character

Well, see (c). That bit is tricky. And when I first started writing Holmes!fic, I was spending about three hours on etymological dictionaries for every hour of writing I accomplished. It was a crash course in Victorian English, and I'm sure I still slip up from time to time! (Though there was a memorable moment when I actually managed to come up with an excuse for Holmes to use the word "segue" in its modern context.) In terms of voice, I tend to do all right, as long as I've immersed myself in the Merrison/Williams radio plays beforehand!

e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character

Ah, Holmes is pretty elusive. I think it's pretty telling that all my Holmes!fic is from someone else's point of view. Best glimpse of young!Holmes would probably be in A Wilderness of Mirrors (http://eponymous-rose.livejournal.com/23191.html), in the section called "Sudden in a Shaft of Sunlight". Though it's probably considered crack!fic, my Chasm (http://eponymous-rose.livejournal.com/46996.html#cutid2) DW/SH crossover does all right for a drabble!

My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future

That Chasm drabble? Extending it into a full-length story, because I'm highly suggestible and think it would be most amusing. :D