For one of my class assignments, we were assigned to write an audio drama. Jumping into a format of storytelling that I wasn’t familiar with, but eager to tackle, I learned much more than I anticipated. Below is a walkthrough of my thought process and WIPs that led to my final product.
At the start of the term, we were presented with a choice: a public domain IP to write for. We had to use the IP for at least one of the assignments of the term, but it was our choice which assignment and what IP. After a bit of debate, I decided to choose the world of Sherlock Holmes. I had always been a fan of mysteries but I had never engaged with the media outside of very casual interest and random assignments from high school.
For my choice in assignment, I decided to just knock out the IP required one early, and chose to write a Sherlockian audio drama. Since the audio drama was the first assignment of the quarter, I had a little more than a week to steep myself in the world and characters. I had to learn, and fast.
Thankfully, all of the original Sherlock stories are available for free online.
I read through a lot of stories, from Sherlock’s origins to Speckled Band to [insert another title here] The bit of lore within the Sherlock canon that fascinated me the most was the 10 year timeskip that takes place, both in world and in real life.
As I read through Adventure of the Empty House, inspiration struck. I had my idea set already: a “port” in a sense of the Adventure of the Empty House into an audio drama. I started writing, and began to hone into Watson’s unique voice and how he tells his story.
Of course, as creative projects go, inspiration struck me like a lightning bolt.
I was reading “The Greek Interpreter” and was introduced to Mycroft Holmes: the older brother to Sherlock.
Thankfully, the first draft that we needed to turn in was just that: a first draft. Completion didn’t matter, only the attempt did. I was able to write the first half of the plot, and partially used this draft to find the voices of Watson and Mycroft.
Wow people liked it!
Finally… here’s the final draft, for your reading pleasure.