Knowing my work was being read by someone else made me feel uneasy. It’s strange how different it is having your work read by your peers compared to your tutor. When I found out that someone from the class was going to read my story I was really self-conscious about what I had written. However the feedback I received was really nice and it was good to see that my story had the effect I wanted it to, particularly the comment that he picked up on the mindset of my main character, Shannon, was good to hear.

I liked being able to review someone else’s work. Their story was interesting and it gave me the chance to compare my own work to others. I found that answering these four headings made it easier to comment on the story as I had a starting point to go off.

Reading over the work of my classmates I was reminded of the importance of showing not telling when you write, something that I struggle with. Also trying not to be too extravagant in my sentences and using simpler language. I also found that in the readings there were many different takes on short stories and different theories of what makes a story a short story. When writing my own story and reading over my classmates I found that instead of trying to incorporate all the different theories, choose one you think is best and mould your story to that, otherwise it gets too busy and haphazard.

I think the relationship between the TV episode ‘A Study in Pink’ and the Sherlock: The Network app is merely that the app is a marketing tool for the TV series. The app could have been any detective app game but what  makes it apart of the Sherlock franchise are the small videos and voice clips from the characters of the show, which promote the TV show.

The character of Sherlock Holmes is almost 100 years old and the fact that it can still be popular in modern times shows the timelessness of the character. I think that when recreating Sherlock there are many things that have to remain, his perceptiveness, his poor social skills, his relationship with Watson, etc. But I think what makes the BBC series so successful is the adaption to modern times so it is much more relatable and significant. Audience plays a big role in the success of stories and it is important to think of your audience when planning your story.

I would consider myself a fan of the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes. Although I had heard of the name and knew his story, this was actually my first time engaging with the narrative of Sherlock Holmes. Because I enjoyed it so much I watched the 2009 movie with Robert Downey Jr. and read some of the short stories. However I found that my favourite version of the franchise was the TV series. I like the modern adaption because it’s more relatable to me and more realistic. I felt really engaged watching the episode, A Lady in Pink.

It was put together in a way that makes me keep watching, intrigued to figure out the case. I noticed in the introduction to the show, Watson was first introduced, followed by the case, Lestrade, and finally Sherlock, making him an enigma of sorts and more fascinating. By first introducing Watson the audience can follow through his perspective, everything Sherlock does is the first impression, we are likewise being astounded by his intelligence, deductions and observations. I also noticed that despite the clear warnings against Sherlock from sergeant Donovan and Mycroft, I was on Sherlock’s side and wanted Watson to continue helping him.

Agency, according to Janet Murray, is the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices”. Even when it does exist, our agency is limited because we are aware of expectations. I think that audience feedback is important to increase their agency and the success of your artefact, however there needs to be a balance. It is most successful if you know your audience before starting. If you have a niche target audience in mind rather than trying to appeal to a mainstream audience, you will have more success within your goals. Otherwise the market is too broad and you will find it difficult to please everyone. The moment you add a platform you expand your audience and expand the experience they have.

In The Database, Lev Manovich discusses the age of new media. As he says, “new media allows different content to be created from the same material because the work and the interface are separated”. Most TV shows, new release films, book franchises, video games, etc. now have an app, an Instagram or twitter account. He talks about the fact that “many new media objects do not tell stories, they don’t have a beginning middle or end or any development”. However different interfaces allow us to explore and experience this content in our own way and become more involved.

Despite being a fan of the show I didn’t know there was an app. The app made me feel really engaged, getting my own chance to see if I could fill Sherlock’s shoes. In the TV show when Sherlock explains things it makes it seem so easy and I feel like I could do it myself but this game showed me that it’s just the show choosing to show you certain things so you can attempt to figure it out and keep you engaged.

For project one, I took a while to get started with my creative story, simply because I was stumped for ideas. With the due date looming and no ideas coming to me I decided to force an idea. I read my notes about Lamb to the Slaughter and War of the Worlds and thought of a story concept relating to each. The idea I drew from the War of the Worlds was about a group of teenagers who go camping and return to find the world desolate and how they react. I ended up going with my idea drawing from Lamb to the Slaughter, about a psycho girlfriend who hits her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend with her car. I made this decision because I thought that it would be hard to limit the first idea to 800 words because there was a lot I would need to cover.

To start off with, I thought that I would struggle to reach 800 words. I was stumped for ideas for how I could expand my story. However I found it really helpful to plan. The process I went through was to choose one action, in one place, in one day, as Brander Matthews advises. I then planned an introduction, action and conclusion and started writing. Once I was finished there was over 1000 words so I read over it several times, culling words every time so I reached 800.

Although it took me a while to get started I enjoyed this task, finding making myself think of new ideas rather than waiting around for one a valuable procedure for future tasks.

The readings this week provided a good foundation for the the rest of the semester, describing and demonstrating short stories. In Brander Matthews’, The Philosophy of the Short-Story, he goes on about the difference between a short story and a novel; ‘a short story isn’t just a short novel or a chapter of a novel, it has to be precise’, and authors must be good at compression, one action, in one place, in one day. This is demonstrated in Roald Dahl’s, Lamb to the Slaughter. The characters remain within their town, predominantly in the house, there is one main action of Mary Maloney killing her husband, and this all occurs within one night.

Matthews’ details on how important it is in short stories to have a plan, this allows the writer to get straight to the point and be precise and concise without wasting time. As Matthew’s says, ‘construction of short stories must always be logical, adequate, harmonious’.

I found this rang true in Lamb to the Slaughter; there is a brief introduction before diving straight into the scene. I noticed that Dahl uses well-known archetypes for his characters, which allows the audience to understand the characters without having to describe them in as much detail.

I found it interesting that Matthew’s was convinced that one of the differences between short stories and novels is that novels generally always include a love story. I don’t think this is true, particularly in modern times where there a many stories which leave out a love story.

For my own short story I am going to use make sure I follow some of Matthew’s advice for short stories, including:

• Planning my story – one action, in one place, in one day.
• Choosing a good subject – Subject is very important in short story, ‘for those who think it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about only the way you say it shouldn’t write short stories’.
• Getting straight to the point, experimenting with how much I can get away with leaving out.

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