Holmes gave a lot of comments on Watson's literary talent in the canon. In The Bohemian Scandal, Holmes said, "Without my own boswell, I would be at a loss." However, Holmes often criticized Watson's creation. In "Signs of Four", he commented on Watson's research on blood characters, saying: "I skimmed it, and I really dare not compliment it. You know, detective technology is-or should be an accurate science, and should be studied in the same calm rather than emotional way. You add a layer of romance to it, and the result is like mixing a love story into Euclid's fifth postulate. " In Granci Manor, he said: "I admit that you are good at choosing materials, which makes up for your lack of effective narrative." But you always look at everything from the perspective of writing stories, not from the perspective of scientific case solving, thus undermining the demonstration of these typical cases. In order to describe the exciting plot incisively and vividly, you ignore the detection skills and details, which can only excite the readers for a while, but can't educate them. Although Holmes complained that Watson's description was "superficial, did not strictly abide by facts and data, and only accommodated secular interests" (white-faced soldier), he also called Watson a "writer" (Westphalia apartment) and expressed interest in Watson's literary career. In The Whining of the Lion, Holmes said of Watson: "Ah! If he were present, how would he exaggerate the tense beginning of the story and my final victory in overcoming difficulties? "
It is worth noting that, for different reasons, Holmes forbade Watson to publish some cases, some for secrecy, some to resent public comments on certain things, or to expose himself too much in public. Watson always seeks authorization to publish cases (veiled tenants), and only in rare cases does Holmes suggest him to publish cases, such as the horror in Cornwall, that is, the feet of the devil. For Watson, what he published should be a case that "illustrates the excellent intelligence of my friend Sherlock Holmes", so he "chooses as few sensational things as possible". However, some cases are not like this. For example, a veiled tenant is almost entirely the self-report of the parties. At the same time, Watson also left many unpublished cases for readers to imagine.
As a writer, Watson has a gift, especially to make ordinary cases fascinating to read. The pinnacle of Watson's achievement is The Hound of the Baskerville, which is not only an outstanding detective work, but also a clever Gothic novel. Once he has the opportunity to write a case involving beautiful women, he is always enthusiastic. It is particularly noteworthy that he often describes his first impression of visitors (mainly women), and then Holmes examines visitors with keen reasoning. Such a description has indeed greatly enhanced the atmosphere and highlighted Holmes' subtle reasoning.
Critics like to point out the mistakes and omissions of China students in their stories, such as the erratic Jezel bullet, the confusing date in the red-haired club, his wife's address of "James", or, as culp pointed out, the train time in the canon is only correct in one place. But none of these flaws can shake the advantages of Watson's works, and in fact, it also gives Buddhists a lot of research space.
Some literary techniques used by Wilde and Alfred (1893) in Canon, a foreign student from China, are also worthy of attention. For various reasons, he revised the facts and wrote them in the story. In Signs of Four, China students created the character thaddeus Schulto. In Doctor Watson's Warning, Randy Roberts believed that Watson used thaddeus Schulto to imitate Oscar Wilde deliberately in order to convey the information about the relationship between his son Alfred Douglas and Wilde to the Eighth Marquis of queensberry (John Schulto Douglas) (meaning that they had a homosexual relationship). But Roberts failed to explain why Watson issued this warning publicly, rather than through private letters. Of course, Schulto and Wilde also have some similarities: yellow teeth, thick lips, covering your mouth with your hand when you speak, and commenting on decorative styles and art (Wilde often mentioned it in his personal letters). In the Bohemian scandal, China students may use the "King of Bohemia" to cover up another historical figure-perhaps Archduke Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary, perhaps King William II of Germany, perhaps Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, and so on.
In uncanny valley, China students and Holmes talked about moriarty, but in the last case, Watson denied having heard of Professor moriarty (most timekeepers think that uncanny valley happened before the last case), which may be a literary technique. In The Times of uncanny valley, John Dardis thought it necessary to add a little dramatic atmosphere to the appearance of professors. He also pointed out that because Watson knew the professor when writing the last case, he could not ignore the professor's description. James Bushholtz believes that Watson and Holmes discussed the professor here earlier than the last case, but for a storyteller like Watson, sometimes some changes are needed. But Anthony Butcher believes that this case actually happened shortly before Holmes retired and did not involve moriarty. In order to please readers, Watson mentioned moriarty in his novel.
With regard to various ship names in Watson's works, Richard W. Clark put forward a theory in Ship Names in Watson's Works: none of the ship names written by Watson in the story are real names, including the names of women Watson met in the past in Inpatient Department and Five Orange Nuclei, which may confirm the words of China students in Four Signs: "(I) have experienced it.