Writing a Great Retelling

When I say retelling, it's Sherlock Holmes who comes to mind. Just in recent film and TV, Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumber-batch stand out for their interpretations of Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved character.

- Moriah Richard

But then there's also Henry Cavill's role in Enola Holmes, where Sherlock was a bit character, and the star of the story was his little sister.

What about the retellings that don't have Sherlock translated so directly? Dr. Gregory House of the hit TV show "House," for example, is a known adaptation of Holmes, with homages to the original story sprinkled throughout the show (like the fact that his apartment is 221B).

And when it comes to unpaid creative work, a quick check on the fan fiction site Archive of Our Own shows that as of writing this article, there are 139,718 works with the tag "Sherlock Holmes." There are more retellings out there than I could ever hope to count, and there are more being written by the day. Whether it's Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, William Shakespeare, or well-loved myths, you might be called to retell a story through a brand new lens. Before you dive into it, here are some aspects to consider.

FIGURE OUT YOUR "WHY"

The story has already been told successfully-so why do you want to retell it? What is going to be different about the way you tell the story that will add something to the original tale? What will your voice add to the conversation that the original author started?

This is going to be the most important part of the retelling process. Because if you can't answer how your story will put a special spin on the original tale, then you'll probably have a hard time making your book stand out among the crowd later on.