Fly Away, Fly Away, Fly Away Home

Being John Watson-ish

Chapters: 17/17 COMPLETE
Fandom: Sherlock (TV), Being John Malkovich (1999)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Other(s), Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Summary: When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he’s consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.

Author's Note: The idea for Being John Watsonish came to me while talking about the film Being John Malkovich with a few of my friends. It occurred to me what I could do with this in an alternate universe. I had the idea: introduce a Sherlock Holmes without his Watson, then have him slip inside the mind of John Watson in much the same way the movie presented. Since I only used he movie as a vague guide, it wasn’t necessary to see the film. A Sherlock Holmes without his Watson? Never. Sherlock Holmes as John Watson? Better.

I’ve always been a huge sci fi fan. Most of what I write often leans that way or magical realism. This was perfect mix. So I made an outline and told my beta extraordinaire, recently folded, my plans.

I wrote the first chapters without showing her at first. Then I had to share. Each week I’d wait for recently folded to unfold her edits, comments, and suggestions for the chapters. It was this process I looked forward to as much as the original creation. For this particular story, the editing often became central to what happened next in the plot. Sure, I had that outline. I’m actually pretty obsessive about outlining my stories (just ask recently folded about my elaborate color-coded google spreadsheet), but I never strictly adhere to them. Oh, after I begin to write I’ll check where I’m at and what’s up next, but often the story slips off outline. With this story, I had less than half written before we started publishing it to AO3, and I was completely off the outline halfway through, so the “what’s up next” was “out the window.” (So sorry to recently folded on my use of scare quotes).

The story morphed as I wrote. Maybe you’ve read (and if you’re a writer yourself, you know), that characters seem to have minds of their own and take over a story. This happened a few times with Sherlock and John’s exploits in Being John Watsonish. 

As for secondary characters, I owe my Mycroft to recently_folded. I suck at Mycroft, but she’s got his stuffed shirt persona down (along with John’s sniff). She added some great zingers and suggestions for the story and pushed me to show more instead of tell. And some of my really funny typos added a bit of humor along the way. As for checking for plot holes, she kept track of the story better than I did, making sure I didn’t throw something out there and not use it later (aka Chekov’s gun scenarios) or to not use a cumbersome butterfly kisses during a sex scene.

Betas and editors are essential to the progress of any story. I’ve been so fortunate to have the best betas as a fan fiction writer. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you recently_folded and the other betas who came before you I’ve had the honor of working and collaborating with: mrbotanyb (my co-writer and friend), Lieutenant Wolf aka aesteraa, judy_blue_cat, Tiriel_35, sierralois and the Princess of Geekdom AND all the people who beta out there. You are the best of the best. Thank you again, recently folded. Your time spent on my chapters is always well above and beyond that of mere mortals. I value your judgement and care you take with all of my words and ideas.