Edition created by Elizabeth N.
Table of contents
“Solved by Sherlock Holmes” was originally published anonymously in “The Evening Star” on October 12th, 1895, on page 20. It features a nameless protagonist meeting who he thinks is the fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, realizing all the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle were actually real, and then helping Sherlock publicize his business of mystery-solving. As an enjoyer of fanfiction, I wanted to learn more about the history of fanfiction and see how early pastiches compare to fanfiction nowadays, and show the value of modern fanfiction through the comparison, both to enjoyers and those who are critical of fanfiction.
Solved by Sherlock Holmes
How a Reporter Was Aided in Finding the Secret of the Holt Will.
Written for The Evening Star1
Being detailed to ferret out the mysteries surrounding the Holt2 will case, I at once recognized that so intricate a problem should have brought to bear upon it the discerning mind of the finest detectives that could be procured. This one conclusion is all that I claim the credit for in unraveling this most mysterious case. Results that followed I attribute to luck only, and I can never doubt that luck is an element in the determination of human affairs.
It was pure luck that led me to discover that Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the famous London detective, whose confidence was gained by one Conan Doyle3, was in Washington4. I was walking along Pennsylvania avenue on the evening day after the burned will was received for record, meditating on the herculean task before me. My attention was attracted by a strange-looking object hobbling along on crutches. The man had evidently lately met an accident, and I became interested in him at once, thinking there might be a story concerning his mishap that would prove of value. Has was gazing in a shop window as I came up to him and I stopped by his side. His left hand was bandaged and a large piece of court plaster ornamented his right cheek.
“Railroad accident?” I asked as the crippled man glanced toward me.
The stranger did not deign to reply to my question, but, looking me over from head to foot in a hasty manner, replied, to my great astonishment:
“I will see you at 7:30 today. My address.”
The man placed a small piece of paper in my hand, and, with no other word, hobbled away on his crutches. This strange proceeding excited my wonder, and I would have again accosted the cripple, but, being pressed for time, I continued my way down the avenue, examining the bit of paper I had just received. I was still more perplexed when I read:
SHERLOCK HOLMES,
No. — E street,
Washington, D. C.
“Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes,” I repeated, to call to mind any one I had known bearing that name. “That’s Conan Doyle’s detective,” I ruminated; “but surely Conan Doyle’s detective is a myth,5 and, if I remember correctly, he was killed in Switzerland while on the track of a criminal.6”
My mysterious friend, however, was real flesh and blood, although considerably battered. I determined to allow nothing to prevent me from calling at the address, for I believed there was something man and the accident he had lately met worth knowing.
“Come in.”
These words came as a response to my knock. I had sought the address of the mysterious cripple and had located him in a back room of the top floor of a rather dingy house. With some hesitation I opened the door. The room was a large one, comfortably furnished, with two large windows facing the south, whence came a refreshing breeze. The gas was burning dimly, and by its light I saw a man reclining on a couch.
“Be seated. Breeze near the window,” he said.
Still the figure reclined, and I felt a little uneasy regarding my surroundings, as I closed the door and accepted his invitation, or rather followed his instruction, as I regarded it from the tone in which it was given. I had actually forgotten to inquire for Mr. Holmes, which I then lost no time in doing. When I did so the reclining figure sat upright; then arose, and, walking across the room, took a seat by me. It was plain that it was the man I had seen on Pennsylvania avenue, though there was no evidence of lameness, and the bandage and court plaster had disappeared.
“What paper do you report for?” he asked.
I had said nothing that could lead him to believe that I was connected with any newspaper. I was so mystified that I became abashed, and sat for a moment unable to reply.
“Of course, you are interested in the solution of the Holt will case,” he continued. “If such a slight matter should be of importance to you as a newspaper man I will look it over and unravel the skein of events that make it complicated and unfathomable to the lawyers– and the reporters,” he added, with a look that suggested a sneer.
Looking the man over carefully, I was inclined to believe that I had a madman to deal with, or at least a harmless crank, and I remained silent.
“Now, mind you,” said my queer acquaintance. “I will give you the results of the investigation I proposed making on one condition. I’ve been cheated by those mushhead Scotland Yard detectives7, so that they always get credit for what I do, but they paid me and it made no difference. They got credit for all I have ever done, but the pay I received was all I wanted, together with the amusement that came to me from following my profession. I have decided to leave England forever and to take up my home in Washington, which is destined to be the greatest capital of the world.8 Conan Doyle wrote a great fake about my being killed in Switzerland.”
Holmes smiled with satisfaction as he continued. “But don’t blame him for that. He knew no better. That was a little game of my own, to keep the public eye off me while I ran down some delicate matters. But that is past.”
“To come right down to business, I propose to settle here, and want an advertisement. Once I am known there that will be no end of professional business that will seek me. I will unravel this little mystery about the burned will, and you can have the results, but you are to give me credit for it. See! After I am known here, I don’t care about having credit for anything. Do you promise?”
I hastily replied that if he would lay before me the solution of the Holt will case I would give him ample credit for his revelations. I asked him to tell me why he supposed he could get at the solution so great a mystery.
“So great a mystery!” he repeated, as if mocking me, and in a sneering tone. “Anything is mysterious to the ignorant and the blind. I have not yet given a single thought to the case,” he went on, “except to see that the newspapers here are making a great hurrah over it. The reporters are about as obtuse as the Scotland Yard detectives.”
Having given my solemn promise that he should receive all the credit for unraveling the mystery, I related, at his request, the circumstances of the case, how Judge Holt’s property was being distributed to his heirs-at-law when a mysterious burned document was received by the register of wills. I told him all I knew of the case, of which he appeared to be utterly ignorant. I thought I had given him all information that a detective could desire, but at the conclusion of my narrative he asked if that was all I knew, and remarked that detectives, lawyers and reporters see only what is unimportant, while they allow the salient facts to pass unnoticed.
“Were there any marks on the burned paper– no finger prints?”
I replied that so far as I knew there had been no attempt to discover such marks.
“Of course not,” he ejaculated, with impatience.
“Were there any fly specks on the paper, and on which side were they?”
I told him I didn’t know.
“Was either side of the paper stained a light yellow, as if it had been exposed for a long period to the sun?”
I didn’t know.
“Was there a small blot of red ink in the upper right-hand side of the paper on the reverse side?”
I didn’t know.
“Of course you don’t,” exclaimed Sherlock Holmes, jumping to his feet. “If this wasn’t the simplest case in the world I would have to find something about it. I suppose the lawyers and the reporters have spent their time identifying the signatures and endeavoring to learn at what letter box the document was dropped. That is the way the Scotland Yard mushheads go to work. They concoct theories and then try to work them out. Come here tomorrow evening. Same time.”
Sherlock Holmes then crossed the room, and, taking up a violin that lay on a chair, began playing a dainty waltz, his appearance showing that he had become oblivious to my presence. I withdrew from the room and house, and when on the street, for the first time since my call, breathed easily. I firmly believed I had escaped from the presence of a crank; but my curiosity caused me to visit the house again on the following evening.
Upon calling on Sherlock Holmes a second time I found the detective engaged in the performance of a jig, waving his arms in a frantic manner. The door to his room was standing open, and he did not see me for several minutes. When he did observe me he bowed politely, and said he was taking his usual after-dinner exercise. He invited me to a table in the center of the room and lighted the gas, the room on my arrival being lighted only from an electric light on the street. He produced a photographic copy of the burned will and laid it on the table. Then he brought out another sheet of paper, partly burned, and laid it over the will. I at once saw that the burning was exactly the same on both sheets. The holes made In the paper of the will corresponded with those on the sheet of paper he had placed on It. When laid together it appeared evident that the two pieces of paper must have been together when partly consumed by the fire. It seemed impossible for human effort to have produced such a result except by burning both sheets at one time; but I realized that the real significance of the similarity in the partial destruction of the sheets must be found in the explanation that Sherlock Holmes was to make, and for the first time I began to regard seriously the queer antics of my newly made acquaintance.
“Read,” he said, pointing to some faint marks on the sheet of paper.
He handed me a magnifying glass, and I read:
“Canceled. To be burned.”
“That handwriting,” said Mr. Holmes, “is in the hand of Judge Holt. That can plainly be seen. These papers, among others, were put aside to be destroyed, and this inscription shows that the judge left their destruction to some servant. They were partially burned over an open grate wood fire. Had they been burned over a gas jet they would not have had these small holes through the center of the sheets. But while they were over the fire in the hands of the servant the importance of the paper was recognized, and it was withdrawn from the flames in time to save it. The fact is Judge Holt in marking this paper ‘Canceled. To be burned,’ thought he was writing on the back of his will, which was to be made of no effect. These two papers were on his desk and stuck together. See,” said Mr. Holmes, pointing to very faint yellow stains on the back of the sheet indorsed “Canceled. To be burned.” “I have analyzed those stains and find they contain gum arabic9, small drops of which had fallen on the leaf and caused the two sheets to adhere. Similar spots should be found on the back of the will, and upon chemical examination it will be found to contain gum arabic. I have not seen the original sheet of the will, but that little chain in the evidence, I presume, may be left to the paid lawyers in the case or to the newspapers.
“Do you see? These papers were stuck together when Judge Holt thought he was writing a cancellation on the back of his will. The servant started to burn the papers and then saved the will, throwing the sheet in my hand here away. It was this sheet,” he said, holding it in his hand, “that was nearest to the fire, as is evidenced by the fact that it is yellow from the heat. In just such a position the writing of the will would be visible to the person burning the papers.”
“How is it that the blank sheet was not burned when the servant decided to save the will?”
“That is easily accounted for. Discovering that something of value was being burned the person doing the work walked from the fire and to the light to read what was on the paper more carefully. The blank sheet found sticking to the will was then thrown in the waste basket and the will was saved.”
“But, Mr. Holmes,” I said. “how do you know that these papers ever were together? You have discovered the servant who mailed the will.” I said, continuing to grow interested. “or else your theory is clever, but of no value.”
“Theory,” said Holmes, “I have no theory. I have facts. I have discovered this odd sheet of paper at a junk shop.”
I could not refrain from giving vent to my amusement. I was wasting my time with a crank and actually taking his ravings for the wisdom of a great detective.
“When I saw that the will had been burned, I concluded,” said Mr Sherlock Holmes. “that other papers had been destroyed at the same time. Men very seldom burn a single paper. There are desk cleaning times, when men rummage over their old papers and destroy what is not wanted. Although Judge Holt is said to have been eccentric, I had no reason to believe that he differed from other men in that respect.”
“But,” I objected, “where did you discover this paper?”
“The simplest thing in the world,” said Mr. Holmes. “I concluded that a man of Judge Holt’s prominence must have had many papers. While he kept great quantities of these papers to the day of his death, he also laid aside many others to be burned during the long illness that preceded his death. It is usual for men to burn only especially important papers, while other documents less important are thrown aside, and generally are sold by servants to the junk shops for the few pennies that may be so secured. This partly burned paper found its way into the junk shop in that way.”
“But how do you know all this?” I persisted, fully believing that the man was romancing10.
“I have the most satisfactory evidence of it,” said Mr. Holmes. “I discovered that in Washington, as in all large cities, the junk dealers have divided the town among themselves. In extraordinary cases waste paper may find its way into any junk shop, but as a rule, paper in any particular section gets into a particular junk shop. Where there are but small quantities of such paper, it is usually given to the ash man, but in the case of Judge Holt’s house, there was such a quantity of paper that it was probably sold to a dealer at so much a pound. I have not thought it necessary to determine this detail, or I could tell exactly how it left the house. But that it got into the shop of a dealer in the southeastern part of the city there is no doubt. It was a dealer there who got the waste paper from the neighborhood in which the judge lived, and learning this fact, I called on him.”
“You don’t mean to tell me you found this paper at a junk shop when it was probably taken from the house several years ago, even if your theory is correct?” I queried.
“Young man11, Sherlock Holmes has no theories. He has facts only. Had I been looking for an ordinary piece of paper it would have been folly to go to a junk shop for it. But, remember, I was looking for a piece of paper partially burned. With your superficial knowledge of such matters you doubtless do not know that when waste paper is received by junk dealers it is separated into several classes. Various kinds of paper are placed in separate bags. Are you aware that one of the finest tooth powders is made of burned linen paper? The junk dealer knows that and places in a separate bag all partially burned linen paper, as it could not be sold with other linen paper usually intended to be made over into material of similar grade. As a rule there is very little partly burned linen paper received at a junk shop, so that the bag into which it is collected does not get filled for very long periods. I have known cases where such material was ten years old in a single junk shop. So I went to the junk dealer for the purpose of examining the burned linen paper he had on hand, and he told me he had been collecting his present stock for three years, and it was probably within that time that Judge Holt laid out the old will to be burned. I have reason to believe that the writing on the back of the will was not placed there before the year 1892, but there are other evidences that prove conclusively that the will was nullified long before that, but I have no time now to give you the foundation for that belief. The will was with many other old papers, and it was only in a general clearing up that it was discovered, canceled and laid aside with instructions for its burning.”
“I admire your ingenuity,” I said, addressing myself to Holmes, “but I do not believe that any court would accept your evidence as satisfactory.”
Holmes smiled and shook his head. Then, walking across the room, he picked up another paper from a table and brought it to me.
“You doubt.” he said, “that the paper I have given you really was a part of the burned document now in the possession of the register of wills. I have told you that something remarkable caught the eye of the servant and stayed the complete burning of the will. It was this.”
He allowed me to read the second paper he had to exhibit. It was indeed a remarkable document. The writing on it was in red ink, as I thought, and the letters were large and thickly made. I read:
“Another evidence of human inconstancy. My blood attests my deep regret that love is born to die, or to give way to other affections. J. HOLT.”
“That writing,” continued Holmes, “is in the hand that wrote the document now held by the recorder of wills, but being written with human blood,” as I have ascertained by analysis, “the lines are thicker. It was the remarkable appearance of that page that caused the person burning the papers to save them from the flames, and after examination, to save the charred will. That sheet was pinned on the front of the will and you observe that it is burned on the same edges as is the document which now mystifies the lawyers and the reporters. I attach no especial importance to this writing with blood, or to the expressions used. Men frequently adopt such means of inscribing a thought when deeply affected, and it is difficult to account for such peculiarities.”
Holmes, in an abrupt manner, indicated that he didn’t care to pursue the subject longer, He crossed the room and seated himself by the window in an abstracted way. I remained silent several minutes watching his strange mood. When he recovered his usual manner he begged to be excused for his apparent abstraction, and remarked that he had been engaged in forgetting all he knew about the burned will, as he didn’t care to remember anything that would be useless to him in the further pursuance of the subject, which would relate solely to the recovery of the later will made by Judge Holt.
I was about to withdraw when it occurred to me that I had had no explanation of Holmes’ appearance on the street on crutches and with his hand bandaged.
“Oh, that was my method of getting acquainted with you,” he replied. “I really wanted to work this case up for one of the newspapers, and being a stranger in the city, knew that if I should appear in public in the disguise in which you saw me, it would not be long until I would be spoken to by a curious reporter. I had no other intention, I assure you.”
I left Mr. Holmes with assurances that if I cared to have him discover the missing will he would look it up in a few hours.
Interpretive Essay
“Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is a pastiche published anonymously on October 12th, 1895, in The Evening Star in Washington D.C., featuring an unnamed protagonist who meets Sherlock Holmes after presuming he is fictional. This interpretive essay examines the difference between a pastiche and fanfiction and the various levels of respect both garner, then discusses the extent to how closely this story resembles a self-insert fanfiction, rather than an unnamed first-person protagonist or a reader-insert protagonist.
The definition of pastiche, as described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work”, and the definition of fanfiction, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “creative writing that uses existing characters”. The difference between fanfiction and pastiches is blurry, oftentimes not having any difference, other than vague feelings of quality. As Amy Thomas points out on “The Baker Street Babes”, in regards to pastiches, “Works that ‘fail’ someone’s subjective test are, all-too-often, relegated to second-class status: In other words, fanfiction” (Thomas 2015), showing that oftentimes people think of no true difference between a pastiche and a fanfiction other than their view of the quality, as “despite greater recognition in contemporary public discourse, fanfiction is often still associated with criticisms of”bad” (i.e., amateurish or non-normative) writing” (Sapuridis, Alberto 2022). Even people who actively enjoy fanfiction do not necessarily consider it high-quality, as “Fanfiction is kind of like comfort food or”junk food.” It’s something that makes you feel good…but you can’t survive off of it if you want to be a serious writer” (FirelightLion 2024). This is not a concrete way of differentiating the two, since “fanfiction is a legitimate literary genre” (Lorente 2020), and should not simply be dismissed as low-quality. In the end, both pastiches and fanfiction are intended to be celebrations of the work they are derived from and express admiration for said works, rather than satirizing them, as parodies do. Because “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is written by someone who is a fan of Sherlock Holmes but is not the author, anyone closely connected to the author, anyone employed by the author, nor owns the rights to Sherlock Holmes, and because it acts as a celebration of Sherlock Holmes, “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” can be described as a fanfiction. If there is no true difference between a pastiche and a fanfiction, fanfiction as a whole deserves respect, since, as “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” shows, they can often be quite good.
To determine if the fanfiction/pastiche “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is a quality work of art and thus deserves respect, it will be compared to the original Sherlock Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle, on the grounds of the structure, function of characters, and characterization. In “A Scandal in Bohemia”, the plot opens with the mystery: the King of Bohemia is to be married soon, but worries that previous relations with a woman named Irene Adler will be exposed, as they have a photograph of them together. Thus, Sherlock Holmes must find where she is keeping the photograph. Sherlock devises a clever way to draw the photograph out of its hiding, by staging a fire and getting Irene to reveal its location. Finally, the mystery is revealed in a manner atypical for most Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock is outwitted by Irene, who discovered his ploy and escaped via train, but leaves a note explaining what she did. In “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, it starts with the protagonist discovering a mystery afoot about a missing will from a judge, then Sherlock reveals he has found the will and explains his thinking, and the final outcome of the mystery of the will is revealed: that it was saved then sold by a servant of the judge. In summary, in both stories, a mystery is established, Sherlock explains his thinking about the mystery to the protagonist, and the final outcome is revealed, thus “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is quality writing when it comes to structure. When it comes to the function of characters, Watson is the protagonist of “A Scandal in Bohemia”, and acts as the main way for the reader to discover the mystery, since both the reader and Watson do not already know the outcome of the mystery. In “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, Watson is oddly replaced by another protagonist who is never named, yet serves the same function as Waston: a way for the reader to discover the mystery alongside the characters. Later in the essay, the fact that Watson is replaced by the nameless protagonist will be examined for its similarity to self-insert fanfiction. On the other hand, in both “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Sherlock acts as a way to drive the plot forward, and to explain the mystery to the reader. Thus, the functions of the characters in both of these stories remain the same and adds to the quality of “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”. Finally, characterization. In “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Sherlock Holmes is shown to be condescending and rude to those he sees beneath him when it comes to intellect, treating the King with boredom when he says he has a limited time to solve the mystery, stating, “‘Oh, then we have three days yet,’ said Holmes, with a yawn.” (Doyle 1891) and when the King at first refuses to reveal his identity, Sherlock reacts with “‘I was aware of it,’ said Holmes dryly” (Doyle 1891), as he already knew his true identity. In “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, Sherlock is still condescending as ever, dismissing the protagonist when he is confused about the mystery, saying “Anything is mysterious to the ignorant and the blind,” (Anonymous 1895). In both stories, Sherlock is also shown to be extremely clever, as he is aptly able to solve the mystery of the location of the photograph and the will, even though he is later outwitted by Irene. Furthermore, in both stories, the mystery is incredibly compelling with surprising ways of solving them, like thinking to stage a fire in “A Scandal in Bohemia” to draw out Irene’s photo, and exploring precise junk stores where people sold old bits of paper in “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”. Since the structure, function of characters, and characterization remains consistent throughout “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, it shows that “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is a quality Sherlock Holmes story and should be respected.
One of the few things often less respected than fanfiction, is self-insert and reader-insert fanfiction. In The Fan Fiction Studies Reader, by Francesca Coppa, on page 224, a diagram from Brunching Shuttlecock is shown describing “The Geek Hierarchy”, with published science fiction/fantasy authors and artists being at the top, then amateur SF/fantasy writers, then fanfic writers, followed by fanfic writers who put themselves in the story, showing the clear distaste for self-insert fanfiction (see chart below). Reader-insert fanfiction is written for a reader to insert themselves as the protagonist, and then interact with characters they are interested in. Author self-inserts, on the other hand, are more specific, inserting specifically the author and their personality into the fanfic. The only true way to find out if a work of fiction is an author-insert is if the author themself confirms it, otherwise, nothing can be confirmed or denied. Because this story was published anonymously and the author is likely deceased, finding it out definitely is out of the picture, and what remains is how closely this could be seen as a self-insert. The difference between a reader-insert and a self-insert is a reader-insert is more general, and oftentimes does not include a background, name, or description for the reader, so that anyone may insert themselves as the reader, whereas a self-insert takes specifically from that person’s life. “Self-insert fanfiction is fanfiction in which the main character, or occasionally, another character important to the story, is the author’s surrogate character. This means the character, even with a different name or appearance, is supposed to represent the writer’s personality and essentially be them in the fictional story” (Miles 2023).
In what ways does “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” exhibit elements of self-insertion in other stories that are not fanfiction? In this story, it mentions Sherlock moving to Washington (footnote 4), which is close to where the author lives, since the newspaper, Washington Evening Star, is also located in Washington. It also mentions specific political figures from the time, showing that it also occurred at the same time as the author. Including real-life political figures helps to specify the historical and political landscape at the time, like how Miss Dollar includes real authors and political figures such as Wilhelm I to flesh out the world. Not only does it mention political figures, but the author also uses Holmes as a political mouthpiece at one moment, claiming that Washington “is destined to be the greatest capital of the world” (footnote 8), which shows the author’s political beliefs regarding Washington D.C. This is similar to “New Year’s Dream” by Cai Yuanpei, where the story was less about a plot, but more describing the author’s ideal society, and his ideas for political reform, detailing how happy everyone would be under said rule, which shows that authors can insert their political views onto other characters. Although it was not the protagonist who said this, in “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, it still shows how the author put some of his political beliefs into other characters, which could have also happened to the protagonist’s personality. Additionally, adding such specificity questions the fictionality, or whether or not these stories took place in real life. For instance, in “The Dancing Girl”, by Mori Ogai, many of the events that took place in the story are incredibly similar to Ogai’s biography, with Ogai and the protagonist moving to Germany from Japan and meeting a girl while in Germany. Later, both Ogai and the protagonist left the same girl behind in Germany, with her ending up pregnant. In an editorial of “The Dancing Girl”, it mentions in the background a conversation Kimiko had with Ogai, with Kimiko saying, “I feel so sorry for her… I heard there was something about her being pregnant” (Bowring 1975). Ogai even admitted that the story was based on his experience in Germany, which means that the protagonist is at least partially a self-insert. Moreover, this question of author self-inserts also appears in “Sevastopol in December”, by Leo Tolstoy. Although Tolstoy never confirmed anything regarding whether or not the protagonist is a self-insert, “Sevastopol in December” features the protagonist being given a tour of an active war zone, which is remarkably similar to Tolstoy’s own experience where he toured the active war zone in Sevastopol, which takes into question which parts are fictional and which are based on his experience. In an editorial of “Sevastopol in December” by Liza Knapp, the 17th footnote mentions that, in reference to a scene describing a person named Kornilov, “Tolstoy himself had witnessed Kornilov doing this: he had described this very scene in a letter written to his brother. (LK)”, (Knapp 2017). This shows that although an author’s self-insert may not be confirmed, by comparing the details of the story to the details of the author’s life, one can extrapolate that the protagonist may be an author self-insert. Even though stories like “Sevastopol in December”, “The Dancing Girl”, and “New Year’s Dream” are not fanfictions, they still exhibit elements of author self-insertion, since author self-inserts and fanfictions can be mutually exclusive. Although there is no direct confirmation from the author of “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”, this goes to show that the story taking place in a similar setting and time period increases the extent to which a story can be viewed through a lens of a self-insert.
In what way does “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” mirror modern-day author self-insert fanfiction? The protagonist in “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is written to have meta-knowledge of Sherlock Holmes (footnote 5), with references to Arthur Conan Doyle being in the story, which makes the protagonist aware, and almost a fan of Sherlock Holmes, just as the author would be to make a fanfiction about Sherlock Holmes. This is a trait that often appears in self-insert fanfiction, with many authors putting themselves, with their knowledge of the universe, into said world (Saltymongoose 2022), or with characters being able to break the fourth wall and interact with the protagonist/reader, with the protagonist knowing, or believing, the character to be fictional (Wallyshusband 2023). Furthermore, in fanfiction, the difference between a reader-insert and a self-insert can be blurred, with some authors even admitting they just wrote themselves but didn’t specify their name and tagging it as a self-insert (Bamsara 2022).
Moreover, self-insert “imagines” are described as “short works of fanfiction, often consisting of mere descriptive passages that place the reader in proximity to a character or person associated with the fan-object, to the effect of ‘imagine meeting…’ or ‘imagine dating…’ that character or personage” (Sapuridis, Alberto 2022). Looking at “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” with the context of a self-insert “imagine” story, it closely mirrors that type of story, with the main protagonist being a person who already knows about the world and suddenly meeting said character, and closely following the dialogue and relationship between the protagonist and Holmes.
Furthermore, this story gets rid of Watson, who already published Holmes’s adventures for him and followed Holmes around, which the protagonist does in “Solved by Sherlock Holmes”. If this was simply a story focusing on the mystery, why would the author get rid of Watson only to replace him with a first-person perspective protagonist who functionally does the same thing? This means that Holmes meeting the protagonist and forming a relationship with them was somewhat more important to the author than the mystery or rest of the story. Such a significant emphasis on the relationship and reaction of the protagonist and Holmes is typical of self-insert fanfiction, with that being extremely important to the author (Ms0mimic 2024). As fanfiction is often associated with “an overt focus on sexual or other ‘wish fulfillment’ content over actual storytelling” (Sapuridis, Alberto 2022), this could be seen as wish fulfillment on the author’s part, wanting to see themself in the story taking Watson’s place. Another piece of wish fulfillment this story exhibits is it retroactively changes the ending to Doyle’s highly controversial “The Final Problem”, in which Holmes died and caused many readers to be “outraged by Holmes’ premature demise” (Armstrong 2022), instead making it so Holmes simply faked his own death to throw the public eye off of him.
Given that the author of “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” specifically chose to narrate from the first-person point of view of someone familiar with the Holmes stories, set in the same place the author lived, and given that there is a significant emphasis on the relationship between the narrator and Holmes, and a helping of wish-fulfillment of a fan, the extent to which this story closely matches a self-insert fanfiction is greatly increased, and speaks to how quality self-insert fanfiction should be treated with as much respect as an original story would get. Because this story can be viewed through an author’s self-insert fanfiction lens, yet still is a quality Sherlock Holmes story, shows the attributes of self-insertion and fanfiction do not automatically degrade the quality of the story, thus self-insert fanfiction should not be instantly dismissed as low-quality.
Creative response
Earlier in this digital edition, I discussed to what extent this matches fanfiction, specifically reader and author self-inserts. I decided to make this story available now in order to show how humanity, in some ways, remains the same, even after over a century has passed, and also to give legitimacy to the fanfiction community as a whole, since fanfiction is widely disrespected in the writing community, although pastiches like these are not disregarded in the same way. I contemplated how I would show the similarities and differences between the two, and came to the conclusion that I should represent it in a form of digital artwork. A staple of fanfiction is the interaction between fans, fanartists, and fanfiction writers, and oftentimes people will make fanart of fanfictions that they like. Just as fanfiction and pastiches are made in order to celebrate their original works, fanart can also be made of fanfiction as a celebration, to show how much they appreciated the story. A great way to connect this historical fanfiction to modern times would be to engage in this story as I would with other works that I enjoy, by making artwork of these characters to show the author my appreciation for their work. This would enhance the original work by providing a visual aspect to the story, as Phiz did for Charles Dickens, and as Sidney Paget did for Arthur Conan Doyle in 1893. I incorporated many modern aspects of fanart into the artwork to create a modern spin/spoof on the work. To connect my creative response to both the work itself and the modern fanfiction, I employed many techniques that many modern fanartists use when creating fanart of reader-insert stories, but also drew the characters as they appear in official Sherlock Holmes art.
Typically, when people draw self-ships, which can be but are not necessarily romantic, people draw their “sona”, the artistic representation of the artist, and the character itself. Unfortunately, much of the narrator’s characteristics are not revealed, with the exception that he is male, with Holmes describing the protagonist as “young man” (footnote 11). Thus, I decided to do two renditions, one with a gender-bent (male) version of my own “sona” in place of the representation of the author, in order to show the connection between the original fanfiction writers and the modern fanartist. The other rendition, instead, uses techniques typical of reader-insert fanart, as it is the next closest form to an author self-insert. In a lot of fanart of reader-insert fanfiction, people often draw the inserted protagonist as a featureless character with “Y/N”, representing “Your Name”, replacing any key characteristics on the person’s face, as to allow the viewer to more easily insert their own self into Y/N’s place. They are typically drawn with an ambiguous gender, non-specific hairstyle, and a gray complexion (Bamsara 2022), so I tried to include this by drawing them with those characteristics and a simple suit to match the time period. To show how shocked they are that Holmes is not fictional, and to also highlight the contrast between Holmes’ intelligence and sophisticated attitude and the protagonist’s lack thereof, I drew the protagonist with messier lines and still showing some guidelines from the sketch, compared to Holmes’ crisper lines.
I decided to do this on an iPad in order to further include the aspects of modern fanart. To begin, I used a pencil-brush to replicate the pencil illustrations of official Sherlock Holmes artwork, by Sidney Paget, in August 1893, as seen below. Then, I decided to include the protagonist examining the will with characteristics from the story on it to reference that part of the story, yet looking shocked at Sherlock Holmes, since they believe him to be fictional. The only amount of color I included in this piece was the blood on the back of the will, as a reference to the story, where Judge Holt writes in his own blood on the back of his will. I decided to utilize my own style when it came to this drawing, both because I doubted my artistic abilities to mimic a more realistic style, as I tend to favor stylized, cartoony drawings more, and because I wanted to again highlight the modern aspects of creating fanart of a story that is more than a century old. Finally, I drew Sherlock Holmes, trying to adhere to the description in official Sherlock Holmes artwork. In A Study of Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes is described as “being more than six feet tall, very lean, with piercing eyes and a thin hawk-like nose” (O’Brien 2013). In order to compare Sherlock to the self-insert character, I used https://www.heightcomparison.com/ to get a visual guide of how tall someone more than 6 feet would be compared to my own height, 5 foot 4 inches. Finally, I decided not to include the background and shade in articles of clothing and hair using pencil to further exemplify the artwork of the past. I also decided to draw a quick doodle of the similarities of fanfiction creators across time, in an exaggerated, comedic tone of voice, showing the childlike glee authors can receive when inserting themselves into a story.
Works Cited
Anonymous. (n.d.). Solved by Sherlock Holmes. Solved by Sherlock Holmes – The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia. https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Solved_by_Sherlock_Holmes
Armstrong, J. K. (2022, February 24). How Sherlock Holmes changed the world. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160106-how-sherlock-holmes-changed-the-world
Bamsara. (2022, April 28). Solar Lunacy. https://bamsara.tumblr.com/post/682822744180686848/you-know-i-modeled-the-yns-personality-in-solar
Ōgai, M., & Bowring, R. (1975). Maihime. (The Dancing Girl). Monumenta Nipponica, 30(2), 151–176. https://doi.org/10.2307/2383840
Doyle, A. C. (1891). A Scandal in Bohemia. The Strand Magazine.
FirelightLion. (2024, February 23). Fanfiction is kind of like comfort food or “junk food.” It’s something that makes you feel good. It’s something that [Comment on the blog post “Fanfiction makes you writing worse”]. https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1axk4yq/comment/kru8jh9/
Knapp, Liza. (2017). Tolstoy: Sevastopol in December (1st tale).
Lorente, J. E. (2020, June 11). APPRECIATION OR ABOMINATION? A STUDY OF FANFICTION AS LITERATURE. http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/170822/1/EGIDO LORENTE, Júlia TFG.pdf
O’Brien, J. (2013, February 28). Meet the main characters. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/book/40669/chapter/348356458
Thomas, A. (2015, March 10). Pastiche vs fanfiction: The debate that wouldn’t die. The Baker Street Babes Pastiche vs Fanfiction The Debate That Wouldnt Die Comments. https://bakerstreetbabes.com/pastiche-vs-fanfiction-the-debate-that-wouldnt-die/
Saltymongoose. (2022, January 30). Yandere Self-Aware Madness Project Nexus Hcs (Main Story). https://archiveofourown.org/works/36767071/chapters/91719349
Sapuridis, E., & Alberto, M. K. (2022, May 30). Self-insert fanfiction as digital technology of the self. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/3/68
Miles, Kerra. (2023). I Know What You Did on Wattpad: Understanding the Adolescent Desire to Write Self-Insert Fanfiction. Honors Theses. 979
Ms0mimic. (2024, April 05). https://www.tumblr.com/ms0mimic/746938582654124032/a-few-more-sketches-for-you-my-suns-p-fake
Wallyshusband. (2023, April 03). Look at Me. https://archiveofourown.org/works/46212559
License
The text of “Solved by Sherlock Holmes” is in the public domain.
All editorial material by Elizabeth N. is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
- The Evening Star was a daily afternoon newspaper that published in Washington D.C. from 1852 to 1981. Although there are many newspapers called The Evening Star, the source I found specifically mentions it is from Washington D.C. (Anonymous, The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia).↩︎
- This is based on a real-life case that took place a few months before this was published regarding the will of the real person Judge Holt. After Judge Holt’s death, another will was found that contested the first will, with much speculation regarding the other will, with people claiming it was meant to be burnt.↩︎
- Referencing Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes.↩︎
- The very same place that the newspaper is published.↩︎
- In this universe, Sherlock Holmes is a presumed-to-be fictional detective, which allows the protagonist to have meta-knowledge regarding who Sherlock Holmes is already.↩︎
- Referencing, and retroactively changing the continuity of “The Final Problem” by Arthur Conan Doyle before Sherlock Holmes was revived in “The Adventure of the Empty House” published in 26 September 1903. In this universe, Sherlock Holmes is a real person, but is presented as fictional by Arthur Conan Doyle.↩︎
- The headquarters of London’s Metropolitan Police, referenced in many Sherlock Holmes stories.↩︎
- Again, mentioning the place the author presumably lived.↩︎
- A sticky substance used as food and a lickable adhesive, like for envelopes.↩︎
- “Romancing”, in this context, meaning he is deluding himself.↩︎
- Revealing the narrator’s gender for the first time.↩︎