SECRET 23

Picture Your Dreams As Reality

One of the quaintest proofs of Holmes’s reality to many people is that I have frequently received autograph books by post, asking me to procure his signature.

—SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

 

 

 

In 1917, Conan Doyle wrote an article for the Strand Magazine reminiscing about the creation of his greatest character, Sherlock Holmes. In the essay, he confesses that he was astonished to realize how many of his fans thought Holmes actually existed. The character was so dynamic and well-written that he literally leapt off the magazine page and into the physical world, at least in the minds of some readers:

One of the quaintest proofs of Holmes’s reality to many people is that I have frequently received autograph books by post, asking me to procure his signature. When it was announced that he was retiring from practice and intended to keep bees on the South Downs I had several letters offering to help him in his project. Two of them lie before me as I write. One says: “Will Mr. Sherlock Holmes require a housekeeper for his country cottage at Christmas? I know someone who loves a quiet country life, and bees especially—an old-fashioned, quiet woman.” The other, which is addressed to Holmes himself, says: “I see by some of the morning papers that you are about to retire and take up bee-keeping. If correct I shall be pleased to render you service by giving any advice you may require. I trust you will read this letter in the same spirit in which it is written, for I make this offer in return for many pleasant hours.” Many other letters have reached me in which I have been implored to put my correspondents in touch with Mr. Holmes, in order that he might elucidate some point in their private affairs.

Of course, Holmes wasn’t the only fictional character who has seemed to take on a life of his own. Walter B. Hudson (writing under the pen name Maxwell Grant) was a prolific pulp writer in the 1930s who created the famous crime-fighting character The Shadow. Hudson concentrated intensely on his work, and wrote most of the three hundred–plus Shadow novels at his apartment in Greenwich Village, New York. Legend has it that after he died, subsequent residents of the apartment reported being haunted by a large figure that looked eerily similar to The Shadow. Experts in the paranormal speculated that Hudson may have concentrated on his character so much that he inadvertently created a tulpa, a mystical creature that originates from a person’s focused thoughts and willpower.

Well, you don’t have to believe in tulpas to understand how powerful fiction can be (after all, you’re reading this book!). Conan Doyle and Hudson were both able to create larger-than-life characters that transcended the printed page because of their vivid imaginations and ability to see them as three-dimensional people. Holmes is a fully rounded character, not a cardboard superhero stereotype; he’s brilliant, but he’s also moody, emotionally damaged, and a frequent user of cocaine. His voice is as unique today as it was in 1887; even if you’ve never read a Sherlock Holmes story, you know him on some level.

Your challenge is to invest the same amount of imagination and creativity in your goals as Conan Doyle invested in writing Sherlock Holmes. It’s important that you have clear, detailed, and extremely specific goals—give each one its own personality. If it’s a tangible goal, picture it in your mind until you can feel, taste, and hear it. Imagine the heft of it in your hand. If the goal is more intangible—say, a promotion at work—imagine what you’ll feel like when you achieve it. Even if you’re not the creative type, you can still paint by numbers, right? Imagine your goal as a black-and-white outline. Fill in the empty shapes with vivid colors until it’s so bright it hurts your eyes. Before long, you’ll start believing that what you want is already real—and it’s closer than you think.