Question from angelblack3:
Hello! I’m kind of nervous to ask this, because it’s more of a confirmation of my own characterization difficulties than anything, and I don’t want to be a bother. But in writing Johnlock fanfiction, I always find John the harder character to pin down. Even in “Training Dr. John Watson”, Sherlock is easier to write as a complete psychopath, than writing John as the slowly giving-in victim. Is this true for you too? Does the paradox of John Watson make him a hard character to write?
Hahahahahaha, ohhhh man, it’s not just you! In fact, Ivy Blossom just answered a similar question the other day, and talked about how much easier she finds Sherlock to write. Partly because she finds it easier to write characters who’re very different from her, but also partly because (and I’ve found this to be true as well) Sherlock’s ability to observe and deduce makes him pretty much THE perfect POV character. It’s like getting a freebie at 3rd person omniscient while staying firmly inside his head!
I enjoy writing from both characters’ POVs, myself, but they require different approaches and present different problems. In writing Man Who Sold the World, I’ve been using an alternating POV—odd chapters for John, even chapters for Sherlock—to follow their narratives as they start out in different places, and…I do find that Sherlock’s mind is crisper and more logical, and as a writer it makes it easier for me to navigate him, whereas I often have to work with John more to get to the meat of what’s going on with him. He’s a private sort of character, I find, and he has a way of tucking away things he doesn’t want to think about or want other (insanely perceptive) people to notice that makes me have to work to find them. Sherlock, on the other hand, more typically detaches from things he doesn’t want to deal with and just takes what he considers the important bits, but that means I can see what’s going on with him and understand what he’s (pretending he’s) not reacting to.
Please don’t think you’re a bother! It’s an interesting question, and I like hearing from people! In fact, why don’t we open this up? Hey, followers, do you find John or Sherlock the easier character to write? Or, for that matter, someone else?