Learning how to write a short Sherlock Holmes story

My attempts at writing a Sherlock Holmes story.

Over the years I have enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes stories and watching the various adaptations in television drama and Film formats.  The publication of the Stephen Fry readings of the Canon renewed my enthusiasm for all things Holmes.

The Sherlock Holmes Canon read by Stephen Fry.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Fry's readings and found myself immersed in the world of Holmes for some months as I listened to it in its entirety.  From listening to the Canon, I was inspired to write the synopses of two short stories: one takes place during Holmes's time in Dartmoor during the 'Hounds of the Baskervilles' case and the other was a spin off story concerning what happened next to the student Gilchrist after being discovered as the cheat in the 'The adventures of the three Students' story.  Recently, I've managed to write a first draft of the 'Annals of Gilchrist' and was about to start collating feedback on the draft when I discovered a call for submissions for  Sherlock Holmes meets characters from the worlds of HG Wells anthology.  Suitably inspired to attempt to write a submission, I started to research effective ways to write a Sherlock Holmes story.

Unsurprisingly, there's lots of contradictory information out there.  However,  I found these two links the most useful:  

 https://www.katclay.com/how-to-write-a-sherlock-holmes-style-story/ (A short but informative article)

What I learned from reading the article:

This article outlines the basic structure of a Canonical Sherlock Holmes story breaking it down into four areas.  The writer of the article points out that the novice Sherlock Holmes writer, such as myself, should use the following structure points:

The opening: This should start off at Baker street where Holmes is doing something relevant to the forthcoming investigation or forecasts the appearance of a client.

The Summons:  Letter by the client outlining the details.

The Investigation: Investigation of the crime often in disguise.  Clues obtained.

The Confrontation: Confrontation with the criminal.  Mystery solved.

What I learned from listening to the Podcast:

https://writingandbreathing.com/episodes/27 (An interesting podcast featuring an interview with a Sherlock Holmes writer, Bonnie MacBird)

The point made by Bonnie Macbird that influenced me the most when approaching the planning of my short story was the reminder that Holmes and Watson stories were quite action packed when compared with other contemporary stories.  This valid point led me to include a chase sequence I hadn't hitherto contemplated and I think enhanced the story.

In addition to this, I also listened to the Audible reading of the HG Wells Science fiction from Audible.  The readings are by David Tennant, Hugh Bonneville, Sophie Okonedo, Alexander Vlahos and Jason Issacs.  It served as a good reminder of the characters and stories written by Wells and reminded me of his writing style which I plan to incorporate into my short story where appropriate.

HG Wells: The Science fiction collection from Audible.

I researched mysteries of the late nineteenth century and incorporated it into my story.  I have planned the story and I am about half way through writing it.  It will be interesting to see how it fairs.