regshoe

Oooh, thank you for posting this! I also searched for contractions in canon and adjusted in my fic accordingly when I went through the fic the last time, but I didn't analyze it as closely as you have done. Very interesting comparison between different novels, too.

I am entirely unsurprised that there are no contractions in the narrative. I didn't think consciously about this when I wrote, but I'm pretty sure I have no contractions at all in my narrative, either.

I, for one, intend to put this nerdery to good use by writing a 100,000 word slow-burn slash fic in which the contraction ratio for each chapter is carefully calibrated to reflect the growing closeness and informality of the relationship between the characters, as well as how much time each of them has spent in Yorkshire recently.

This sounds like an excellent idea! *g*