Write what you know.



That sage piece of advice has always puzzled me as I know very little about almost nothing. Since it's a mystery to me, what better way to explore the topic than by taking a peek at the most famous mystery man of all time, Sherlock Holmes and his literary father, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.          

Did Doyle write what he knew? Well he was a doctor for one, and he was mentored by Dr. Joseph Bell, a man brilliant in observation and logic. No doubt Dr. Watson sprung from here. But where did Sherlock come from?



Doyle, I've read, lived with an alchoholic father and was shipped off to boarding school for seven years. His mother was a brilliant storyteller. He served on a whaling ship and became a father to children he adored. By all accounts, he had high moral standards and a keen imagination.

So can we find Sherlock in these bits of his life? I think the answer is yes. And no. Sherlock, like any good character, is cobbled together from experiences and observations. He is a crucible where things come together that the author both loves and despises.  Sherlock Holmes was not the sum of what Doyle knew, but what he no doubt wanted to know, a world where order could be restored by  intellect, where eccentricities proved to be strengths and justice was restored.



(Ironically, Doyle grew to HATE writing Sherlock Holmes stories. More on that later.)



The best characters are probably just like Sherlock, they represent who we want to know if we could imagine a world for ourselves. If you had to pick ONE character that stayed with you long after you closed the book, which would you choose? I'd love to hear your opinion.