Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study of His Works and Writing Advice

Sometimes an author’s most famous work is not what they wish they were best known for. This happened with Arthur Conan Doyle, who is almost always associated with the most famous detective in the world, Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle was a mass producer of writing in many genres. He dabbled in everything ranging from the most obvious being crime, but also in fantasy, history, spiritualism, science-fiction, drama, and even war. He produced over 300 works of fiction over 1200 essays, pamphlets, letters, poems, plays, etc. Of these, Conan Doyle produced 62 stories—58 short stories and four full novels—on just Sherlock Holmes between the years 1887 and 1926.

Early Life

Born to Charles Altamont and Mary Foley Doyle in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Arthur was the second eldest of 10 children. Arthur’s mother had a passion for storytelling and a lover for books that would eventually be passed down to her son. His father, on the other hand, was an alcoholic which placed financial strains on the family. Some of Mary Doyle’s extended family were able to provide funds for Arthur’s education at a seven-year-long boarding school program, and here he cultivated the same zeal for storytelling as his mother.

Arthur Conan Doyle attended school at Stonyhurst College until 1875. After, he claimed to only tolerate his schooling there, as he found it to be too rigid and cold for his liking. The subjects they taught were not of interest to him and seemed too boring. He preferred schooling that was open and encouraged students rather than punishing them.

Sherlock Holmes

First appearing in 1887 in the novel A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes was something that Arthur Conan Doyle always acted very nonchalant about. He may have even despised the character and subsequent novels. He said they were the reason he was not fully recognized for his historical fiction works and only continued to write them due to such high demand. In letters to his mother he talked of “slaying” the character but she pleaded with him, begging him to keep writing of the detective.

It wasn’t until a periodical of The Strand was published in the summer of 1891 that Sherlock Holmes gained overnight success. Conan Doyle realized he could survive off of the wages he was making as a writer and left his medical career behind. His future writings, however, were still greatly influenced by the medical field.

Sherlock Holmes was the first detective to use chemistry, toxicology, blood tests, and ballistics to solve crimes. The craze surrounding Sherlock Holmes was unprecedented. Many fans, believing him to be real, sent letters to Conan Doyle asking for the detective’s autographs and even portraits. The methods that Holmes was using at the time also became inspiration and strategies for future medical professionals.

Although Arthur Conan Doyle was the one to create Holmes, their personal beliefs sometimes clashed with each other. While Sherlock Holmes was written as a skeptic of ghosts and fairies, Conan Doyle was actually a pronounced spiritualist. He  became very involved in the spiritualism community and its studies.

A question that has lingered for over a hundred years: what makes Sherlock Holmes so popular? Perhaps it’s that his appeal extends to many different groups of people? Maybe some find him relatable and others just can’t help but be fascinated by his differences and uniqueness? It could be that he often seems like a real person—the line between reality and fiction is often blurred in the world of Sherlock Holmes, even though elements of fantasy still exist. I’ve come to believe throughout my research on both of these men—Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes—that it is actually a mixture of all three options.

Inspired by a real person—no surprises here!—Sherlock Holmes was modeled after Dr. Joseph Bell—a forensic scientist at Edinburgh University while Conan Doyle was a clerk for Bell at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Holmes takes after Dr. Bell’s incredible talent of drawing incredibly detailed and well-thought-out conclusions after observing his patients—the defining trait for Detective Holmes.

Detective Sherlock Holmes—and his loyal friend, Dr. John Watson—have become household names since their first appearance in 1887. His influence still continues to exist today and new generations will continue at their discovering his genius for many years to come.

A Medical Career and its Influence on Conan Doyle

At age 17 in 1876 Arthur Conan Doyle began to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (M.B.C.M) in 1880 and a full M.D. degree in 1885—his thesis being “An Essay upon the Vasomotor Changes in Tabes Dorsalis”; a unique discussion of a form of neurosyphilis through a medical, but also literary, lens.

It seems as though Conan Doyle’s main priority in his earlier years was to become a doctor and open his own practice. And while he did in 1882, Conan Doyle still found himself spending his free time writing stories—and with no patients to attend to, there came lots of time for this. With his practice failing, Conan Doyle traveled to Vienna to study ophthalmology. After earning the right to perform eye tests and prescribe glasses, he moved up to training to become a surgeon, but found the German medical terms too difficult to learn and returned to London a few months later.

Numerous works of Conan Doyle’s use his scientific and medical training throughout their stories and prose. Throughout his life, he took pride on his medical knowledge and preferred writing and researching on topics that were not Sherlock Holmes related. Later in life, he would become a very prominent voice in the spiritualist community and dedicated much time and effort into his spiritualist-belief novels. He favored these and his historical novels the most and wished that they had received more attention, as opposed to that of Sherlock Holmes.

Other Works

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many works that excluded Sherlock Holmes. In nonfiction he wrote The Great Boer War (1900), The Crime of the Congo (1909), and The British Campaign in France and Flanders—which had six volumes—(1916-1920). Of semi autobiographies there are The Firm of Girdlestone (1890) and The Stark Munro Letters (1895), and Round the Red Lamp (1894) is a collection of 15 medical  and fantasy short stories. Conan Doyle wanted the same attention that was placed on Sherlock Holmes to be given to his historical fiction novels like the companion pieces, The White Company (1891) and Sir Nigel (1906). Unfortunately, this didn’t happen.

Conan Doyle also spent lots of time studying and writing about spiritualism, with novels like The New Revelation (1918), The Vital Message (1919), The Wanderings of a Spiritualist (1921), Our American Adventure (1923), and Our African Winter (1929).

Spiritualism

During World War 1, like many other people, Arthur Conan Doyle lost close family members and  loved ones. He soon after joined the cause of spiritualism—the belief that a person’s spirit continues to remain on earth, even after that person has passed away. Conan Doyle became one of the main voices of spiritualism at this time. He gave speeches all over the world, spreading its message, and devoted much of his later life and writings to the cause.

After an incident where Conan Doyle supported an instance where two little girls claimed to see fairies, some of the public started to ridicule his beliefs and lose faith in his stability. He was not pressured by society nor felt like he needed the approval of the public to believe in what he wanted, and even ended a friendship with Harry Houdini because of their differing beliefs about spiritualism. After his death, the spiritualist community gathered in his honor at Royal Albert Hall so that Conan Doyle could make an appearance beyond the grave. No one present physically saw him, but there were some that claimed to feel his presence there with them.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Writing Advice

Conan Doyle actually wrote an article for The Strand in 1924, titled “How I write My Books,” which you can read here. In this short piece, he claims that it is not necessary to sweat the small stuff. He believes that as long as you are getting words down on the page, then a writer’s goal is complete. The matter is if you can hold your reader’s attention. Your story—and in this particular instance he is speaking of the short story format, but I feel it could also apply to longer works—must be intriguing enough for a reader to want to keep reading. Without this, you have written the story for yourself, and while this is sometimes enough for some people, other writers may want that reader relationship.

Arthur Conan Doyle suggests that you pay attention to what kind of story you are writing. Ridiculous things can happen in a fantasy story because it’s fantasy and sometimes that’s explanation enough. But if you are writing a story where reality is present, you need to make sure that it’s plausible and believable. His advice was to do as much research as you can. When he wrote The Refugees (1893) and Sir Nigel (1906), he read everything he could find that was from that time. He kept journals of ideas and details that he found to be “distinctive” and then divvyed it up into categories of characters and essentially what would be their “lore.” Without this extensive research and understanding of your own characters and stories, the book will have no “salt.” It won’t have any ground to stand on, and therefore, it’s essential that time and thought are put into your writing, otherwise it will “decay.” He cites Sir Walter Scott as an inspiration for his writing and his research tactics.

Arthur Conan Doyle, like many other famed writers, recommends walking and being out in nature. It stimulates the brain and gets ideas flowing through the mind. He recalls that he once wrote 10,000 words in a single 24 hours and has twice written 40,000 word pamphlets in one week. Don’t let these numbers discourage you, though. You can be successful and still have a normal pace of writing that is healthy and well-balanced! He also recommends that writers should let the idea come to them first instead of the money. He claims to have never accepted a deal or contract before he had an idea or even completed work. He waited to contact his editor and agent until he felt satisfied with his writing, saying “I am sure that this is the best and also the happiest procedure for an author.”

In 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle was granted a knighthood by King Edward VII, at first he declined saying that he could not accept it because the only title he needed—his Dr. one—he had already earned, giving thanks to his mother. However in June of that year, Conan Doyle dined with the then Prince and after he offered again, Conan Doyle was inclined to accept—and even going as far to warm up to the idea, especially after H. G. Wells congratulated him on the honor. However, he still refused to be acknowledged as “Sir Arthur” insisting that “A. Conan Doyle” would be just fine.

Discussion Questions

Below are a few discussion questions which you can either answer in the comment section under this article or in a journal by yourself. Remember, these are supposed to be fun and there are no right or wrong answers. Have fun!

·       Have you ever read any of the Sherlock Holmes novels or short stories? Have you ever been inspired by them to write something of your own?

·       Do you agree with Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing advice that writers shouldn’t sweat the small stuff? Why or why not?

·       Conan Doyle had medical certifications and a medical career before he was a writer. Do you also have another career—or even hobbies—besides writing? Do they coincide between different areas of your life like Conan Doyle’s did?

·       Do you agree with Conan Doyle’s advice that a writer should only take a contract or deal after he has completed an idea? Why or why not?