Kittyhawk wrote:

I don't much like AU, but it depends on how far "off" it is. If Sherlock is still a London-based detective, I'm okay with him and John meeting as elves in Santa's Grotto... (http://archiveofourown.org/works/609765/chapters/1098620)
 

 
Wow, another good one. I couldn't believe it when you said John and Sherlock were Santa's elves, and clicked on it out of curiosity... A few hours later I'm grinning with satisfaction. Thanks again for the recs, I'll be keeping my eye out for anything you recommend in the future

ukaunz wrote:

... Thanks again for the recs, I'll be keeping my eye out for anything you recommend in the future

Thanks a lot! Unfortunately my standards have become rather high after decades of reading for entertainment. A few months ago I was appalled by Ken Follet's "The Eye of the Needle" and if I ever meet Stephen King I'll have a serious word with him about 11.22.63...

I try to lower my expectations for amateur writing, but I don't always succeed. And there seems to be a variation of Murphy's Law that states that all the brilliantly written stories are Johnlock (notthing wrong with it, but I'd like to read something new and different every once in a while), whereas all the stories that seem interesting to me from the tags and summary have major problems with the writing (tenses in English aren't all that difficult, are they?)

Btw, somebody mentioned that they thought beta readers were not necessary. I strongly disagree. I have a friend who earns her living writing novels (very sucessfully). She sends out her finished manuscripts (i. e. written, proofread and corrected to the best of her abilities ) to several of her friends for beta-reading. We read the novels and suggest corrections, she incorporates the ones she deems relevant and only then does the manuscript go to the publishers. Where it is worked on by two professional editors - one for language, one for content (technical stuff).

Incidentally, Stephen King also claims using beta readers in "On Writing". (Can't understand that nobody protested against 11.22.63).

And nothing puts me off reading faster than an author who writes in the introduction to their story: "Not beta'ed or brit-picked. As English is not my native languae, please forgive any errors I made."
(Unfortunately thanking a copy editor in the introduction is no guarantee for decent writing either...)
 

There are a couple I haven't read, thanks, Harriet

I will. But I love "Standing there at the edge of my affection", one of my favorites... I recommended it once...

Hm, I have only read two fics of the top ten list. To be honest, most of the other ones don't interest me much. I am probably missing out on something.

 

Last edited by Vhanja (June 14, 2015 10:05 pm)

tonnaree wrote:

I've read most of those.  Just a couple I haven't.  
Had never heard of The Read meaning of Idioms but I just down loaded it.  

That's one of the stories I've read, it's really lovely. 

True, and I was surprised to discover now most of my favourites among the first 80 in this list.

No, I never tried, I believe I could not decide. The Progress of Sherlock Holmes is pretty close, though.

Paradox series, paradox series... ah, perfect, haven't read them. fic food fic food yesssss my precioussss. Any more favourites I haven't read? tell me tell me :D *happy dance*

The podfic version of Progress of Sherlock Holmes is mindblowing, imo. I still remember listening to it during a train journey, and I'm pretty sure my emotions where plainly written on my face and people were staring. Well :D

Last edited by Whisky (June 15, 2015 10:30 pm)

Mindblowing was the hint, actually... my fav *is* Progress of Sherlock Homes ;-)
Apart from it, I'd strongly suggest Performance in a Leading Role or Saving Sherlock Holmes. (Well, and all the others *hehe*)

Just started the paradox series ;-)
 

Last edited by Whisky (June 15, 2015 10:45 pm)

Whisky wrote:

...
Curious: have you ever tried to pick one, only one, favourite story out of all the fanfic you've read? Like the one story you would rescue to your e-reader before the internet crashed? ;-)
....
 

For me it just might be Snorklepie's The Edinburgh Problem. Fortunately I don't have to panic when the internet crashes, because by default I download the stories I want to read to my Fonepad (if they are longer than say 2000 words). If I really like them I keep them, otherwise they get deleted. I might have to rethink that approach when I run out of storage space (though I there's a few films and lots of pictures that will have to go before I bin any good stories).

But recently I have begun to wonder how much the time of reading influences ones reaction to a story. I seem to be less and less impressed by the stories I read. And I think that's not necessarily because the stories are not as well written as the ones I read previously, but rather because I'm beginning to get bored

Not only in Sherlock fandom, by the way.  After a lifetime of reading thrillers I was very disappointed by a few highly recommended books until I hit upon Lee Child's Killing Floor and was completely blown away by it. So I can hope that there are a few more Sherlock stories out there that I'll find brilliant.