Chekov's Gun: Does Anyone Still Use It?

[Tcr]

So, I had a thought lately...  Scary thing, I know…  I can smell the smoke billowing out...

 

The use of the Chekov’s Gun element in fiction is a simple idea.  For reference, if one shows something (ie. A gun), then you have to show it being fired before the end of the play/novel; if you don’t, well, there’s no point to having it presented.  I can’t say I’ve seen a lot of its usage in modern works.  Most works that I’ve seen seem to disregard this idea in favour of many other things. 

 

I’ll admit, I’m guilty of this as well.  I’ll show a great many things and then completely disregard that.  Show weapons, gear, et cetera, and never use them again.

 

So, the question becomes, does anyone use it?  Does anyone ensure that the weapon they’ve shown in Scene 1 of Chapter 1 is used by the end of the novel?

Edited June 19, 2017 by Tcr

[mastershakeme]

I guess I have used Chekov’s Gun… but it was unintentional. I placed an abandoned house at the end of my character’s street. Mostly just for aesthetic purposes. I wanted the ‘isolated’ feel. But I mentioned it more than once and took pains to describe it as well and finally my beta said ‘I feel like something really cool is going to happen there! Can’t wait to figure it out’ or something like that. And lol, i felt pretty stupid, because i HAD no plans for the abandoned building.

So I made up a whole different plot line that involved the house. It was a shotty job, but maybe I’m just feeling self-conscious about it, because I know that whole area of the story is basically a band aid from my first accidental use of Chekov’s Gun. 

In retrospect, I’ll try to take more notice of that happening in my writing. Maybe it’ll be intentional next time  

[Desiderius Price]

I’ve probably guilty of building up a lot of things only to abandon them, as the story works itself out.   Also, there are times that something like that can be useful to distract too.  (ie, in a murder mystery)

[mastershakeme]

15 minutes ago, Desiderius Price said:

I’ve probably guilty of building up a lot of things only to abandon them, as the story works itself out.   Also, there are times that something like that can be useful to distract too.  (ie, in a murder mystery)

Oooooh! Murder mystery! Now that’s a whole other topic in itself! lol, I’m basing my idea of the Chekov’s gun on Jk Rowling’s style, my fricken fave author ever (Nobody laugh at me!!!) but what i mean is like, she mentioned Hermione’s locket in the third book as something insignificant and it ended up being the way she was traveling through time! 

maybe JK has issues with Chekov’s gun too though, because it seemed like Harry and Co. should always use the time turner and they NEVER used it again… JK gets criticism same as I do, same as alllll of us chums on this place  Weeeeee! It’s fun to find flaws in our writing. it’s ok! we can work on things we notice!

[Anesor]

5 hours ago, mastershakeme said:

I guess I have used Chekov’s Gun… but it was unintentional. I placed an abandoned house at the end of my character’s street. Mostly just for aesthetic purposes. I wanted the ‘isolated’ feel. But I mentioned it more than once and took pains to describe it as well and finally my beta said ‘I feel like something really cool is going to happen there! Can’t wait to figure it out’ or something like that. And lol, i felt pretty stupid, because i HAD no plans for the abandoned building.

So I made up a whole different plot line that involved the house. It was a shotty job, but maybe I’m just feeling self-conscious about it, because I know that whole area of the story is basically a band aid from my first accidental use of Chekov’s Gun. 

In retrospect, I’ll try to take more notice of that happening in my writing. Maybe it’ll be intentional next time  

 

Mine is unintentional as well, but it has happened multiple times. I’m just rolling along, telling the tale and reach an unexpected problem. I reread what I’ve already written and see something mentioned as scenery and color (and sometimes posted many chapters ago) and LO! there is a gun, sitting there, primed and all ready to be fired.  You’d think I’d planned it. It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like. I figure if I’m surprised, the readers may be too. I think it’s because I have sketchy outlines more often.

[Anesor]

Ah, I’m a pantser not an outliner. If every word is planned and intentional in setting, theme, plot, character, etc, my muse withers and dies and I can’t write at all. My one attempt at planning ahead sent my one NaNo off the rail and never recovered.  To me it feels like I’ve been written into a corner and there’s no joy as there’s nothing left to discover. Turn me loose with a sketchy idea or two and I’m fine, I fill in as I write. I have to make sure I don’t overthink it.

Setting and mindset will often include extra stuff, as even freedom fighters need to do RL along with the good stuff. I used to read mainline romances and their outline/checklists became painfully clear because there was nothing that wasn’t significant to the story. Every object was a Checkov gun, so there were not surprises and little life. Not everyone in my life was part of the plot about my degree. Those cheesy books were good as negative examples.

[mastershakeme]

2 hours ago, Anesor said:

 

Mine is unintentional as well, but it has happened multiple times. I’m just rolling along, telling the tale and reach an unexpected problem. I reread what I’ve already written and see something mentioned as scenery and color (and sometimes posted many chapters ago) and LO! there is a gun, sitting there, primed and all ready to be fired.  You’d think I’d planned it. It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like. I figure if I’m surprised, the readers may be too. I think it’s because I have sketchy outlines more often.

I think it's probably best to do it unintentionally. Yep, you can always smooth it over in edits and make yourself look like a literary genius! Your too funny I bet people are surprised :-P we're both turning scenery into guns!! 

[mastershakeme]

2 hours ago, Anon said:

It’s more a useful principle of prose that because you’re literally creating something from nothing by putting words onto a blank page that every word is necessarily intentional and must have purpose in action, setting, tone, themes, character building, etc.  It doesn’t mean that if your character has a rubber eraser sitting on their desk that the eraser must come back in the third act and be the key to the plot, but that the inclusion of the detail of the eraser as part of the scene or setting must speak thematically or to the character or contribute to the setting in some way.  

If you say “There was a blue, half-smudged eraser on the edge of the desk,” then it being blue, half-smudged, an eraser, and it being on the edge of the desk would ideally all have significance in some way.  For instance, it’s on the desk of a seasoned police officer, who’s on the brink of losing himself to the job.

Every word is going to create the story and characters and setting regardless of whether it’s your intent, so that can be used to your advantage.  It’s not 100% necessary, but it illustrates the point that you as the writer have the absolute power to squeeze significance into every single word you put down if you choose.

You're sound incredibly knowledgeable! Wow... I've always struggled with setting scenery, I guess I've gotten better but I really like the way you just explained the eraser. To keep your descriptions short, sweet and RELEVANT, the details you're going to focus will "speak thematically" about your setting. Lol, don't mind me! I'm taking notes! 

 

54 minutes ago, Anesor said:

Ah, I’m a pantser not an outliner. If every word is planned and intentional in setting, theme, plot, character, etc, my muse withers and dies and I can’t write at all. My one attempt at planning ahead sent my one NaNo off the rail and never recovered.  To me it feels like I’ve been written into a corner and there’s no joy as there’s nothing left to discover. Turn me loose with a sketchy idea or two and I’m fine, I fill in as I write. I have to make sure I don’t overthink it.

Setting and mindset will often include extra stuff, as even freedom fighters need to do RL along with the good stuff. I used to read mainline romances and their outline/checklists became painfully clear because there was nothing that wasn’t significant to the story. Every object was a Checkov gun, so there were not surprises and little life. Not everyone in my life was part of the plot about my degree. Those cheesy books were good as negative examples.

See, I'm straddling the fence between your point and @Anon's. I HATE outlining as well. When I started to get serious about writing I bought a book on outling and started plotting! 

I lost interest so fucking quick. I didn't want to go any further because I WAS BORED. 

I've found a somewhat happy medium. I have a general idea where I want my story to go, but how I get there? That's up to the characters. I toss ideas away quite a bit because once I'm actually in the scene, something else happens and I like like better, I'm not restricting myself, I just go with it. 

Idk thou. Ive got some complicated story ideas I'll probably start working on in the next year or so (I've got too much on my writing plate atm) and while I'll use some of our preferred pantsing, I'll try to use some of @Anon's advice about adding meaning with setting and description. I already *know* I want a Checkov's gun, I'll just keep that in mind and look for a good place to put it as I pants my way along! 

[Desiderius Price]

19 hours ago, Anon said:

It’s more a useful principle of prose that because you’re literally creating something from nothing by putting words onto a blank page that every word is necessarily intentional and must have purpose in action, setting, tone, themes, character building, etc.  It doesn’t mean that if your character has a rubber eraser sitting on their desk that the eraser must come back in the third act and be the key to the plot, but that the inclusion of the detail of the eraser as part of the scene or setting must speak thematically or to the character or contribute to the setting in some way.  

If you say “There was a blue, half-smudged eraser on the edge of the desk,” then it being blue, half-smudged, an eraser, and it being on the edge of the desk would ideally all have significance in some way.  For instance, it’s on the desk of a seasoned police officer, who’s on the brink of losing himself to the job.

Every word is going to create the story and characters and setting regardless of whether it’s your intent, so that can be used to your advantage.  It’s not 100% necessary, but it illustrates the point that you as the writer have the absolute power to squeeze significance into every single word you put down if you choose.

I’ll add in small details, to a few items, just so it’s more than “a desk”, or a “light”, but a “yellow light” or “wood desk”, adds a small bit of vividness.  (Of course, don’t go overboard and spend five chapters describing the intricacies of the Paris sewer system.)

[Tcr]

11 hours ago, Desiderius Price said:

 (Of course, don’t go overboard and spend five chapters describing the intricacies of the Paris sewer system.)

Jean entered the manhole, the putrid smell assaulting his nose and he pulled his thick shirt over his mouth.  It did little to settle his stomach from the smell, but it was still better than before.  He did not want to imagine what it would be like later.

(20 pages later, all describing the intricacies of the Paris sewer.  Five on the architecture, five on the smells, five on the noises, five on the rats)

In short, Jean found it to be hell right now.

 

I've never been able to get into stories that put that much detail into their stories.  Don't get me wrong, I love details, as Anon said, details help to create the world, and are a great way for the reader to infer certain elements without saying them.  To use the example, the half used, blue eraser on the desk of a detective.  It's a good way to imply many things about this detective.  Further details would narrow it down further regarding things on his desk.

Just, like DP said, don’t over do it.  (...I'm guilty of it, so...  My Come Hell or High Water, I had a long description of what was not necessary at the time description...  Although I felt it was, later came to realize it wasn’t entirely and cut things...)

[Anesor]

I try to make it a rule of thumb that things like background and descriptions can only be a few paragraphs at a time before something happens to move the focus away. Since that was the kind of thing that makes for big blocks of text, my average  paragraph length is much shorter than when I started.  Another rule is that one speaker, one idea is a paragraph. I know my eyes glaze when paragraphs  hit 20+ lines and I start skipping to where shorter paragraphs say I’m past the too much detail.  I know I probably miss a few guns but I want to get to the good stuff: dialog, tortured angst, or action of some kind. Maybe all three at once?

[mastershakeme]

18 hours ago, Desiderius Price said:

I’ll add in small details, to a few items, just so it’s more than “a desk”, or a “light”, but a “yellow light” or “wood desk”, adds a small bit of vividness. 

yesssss, I like this tip. It instantly brings an image to mind. Dude, that’s what’s up!

6 hours ago, Tcr said:

I've never been able to get into stories that put that much detail into their stories.  Don't get me wrong, I love details, as Anon said, details help to create the world, and are a great way for the reader to infer certain elements without saying them.  To use the example, the half used, blue eraser on the desk of a detective.  It's a good way to imply many things about this detective.  Further details would narrow it down further regarding things on his desk.

Just, like DP said, don’t over do it.  (...I'm guilty of it, so...  My Come Hell or High Water, I had a long description of what was not necessary at the time description...  Although I felt it was, later came to realize it wasn’t entirely and cut things...)

So…. You’ve never been able to get into stories that put too much detail into their descriptions? But you’re gulity of it in Come Hell or High Water!!! Shame @Tcr !!! 

 

I’m just kidding  I was gratreful for your help in my story, cuz I wanted to gear up and explain EVERY LAST DETAIL of that landscaping office. I like that scene so

much better now, although I was upset at the time, after the description was cut down. I didn’t need to explain every last business card to get the effect of ‘we do landscaping here, fuckers!!!’ 

3 hours ago, Anesor said:

I know my eyes glaze when paragraphs  hit 20+ lines and I start skipping to where shorter paragraphs say I’m past the too much detail.  I know I probably miss a few guns but I want to get to the good stuff: dialog, tortured angst, or action of some kind. Maybe all three at once?

I always thought my stories lacked description. So I’ve been trying not to forget it. As soon as my character enters a new setting, I make a big old paragraph of description… I feel so lame. I had my character enter somene’s house twice now, and he notices pictures on the wall. I was highlighting another character’s past, it was a childhood pic of her. and the other house, well, my character was about to meet his half brother for the first time and he saw YET AGAIN childhood pictures of him… My character was bitter because his half brother looked like a typical spoiled brat, crying at a birthday party, pouting with an ice cream cone, shit like that. But is describing pics in this way stupid??? idk. it’s relevant. The half brother is INDEED a brat. So I’m sure it’s ok… i guess. :-S

[Tcr]

25 minutes ago, mastershakeme said:

@Tcr (damn it, can't delete this...)

was highlighting another character’s past, it was a childhood pic of her. and the other house, well, my character was about to meet his half brother for the first time and he saw YET AGAIN childhood pictures of him… My character was bitter because his half brother looked like a typical spoiled brat, crying at a birthday party, pouting with an ice cream cone, shit like that. But is describing pics in this way stupid??? idk. it’s relevant. The half brother is INDEED a brat. So I’m sure it’s ok… i guess.

In my opinion (and I'm sure everyone has an opinion, so I wouldn't claim to be an expert), I would describe it in a generalized format, then center on one or two images that would describe this…

For example (Use prohibited, example only, please):

Pictures lined the wall, portraits that showed a kid at birthday parties, school portraits, and playing sports.  Each picture presented a smug son-of-bitch, the smile that said "I'm better than you" and the look to play it entirely.  One caught my eye.  The little prick crying while surrounded by presents at a party.  God I hated him; I wished I'd had a mountain of presents like him, I wished I'd had a family like he had, and he was crying!  Another picture, this one caught at the moment he was throwing a sweater across the room, his face distorted in anger.  Why would someone put that up there, as though they were proud of this display?

[mastershakeme]

2 hours ago, Tcr said:

For example (Use prohibited, example only, please):

You’re awfully smug today  Fine… fine, I won’t use your examples. I’ll just sit back and admire your descriptive genius 

[Anesor]

Very nice example, providing details and emotional weight without massive academic detail.

[Desiderius Price]

I try to avoid opening paragraphs of detail…. My current story starts with sound.  And I nest details in with the actions, quoting the start to my story (use prohibited, example only):

Quote

Clop, Clop, Clop

A solemn man rode on the horse drawn carriage, a pair of empty coffins stacked in the back, he moved across the cobblestone beneath a towering six story building with a brick facade. The man kept his eyes on the road, oblivious to the boy three floors above him, the boy in forest green climbing up the fire escape.

And yes, I agonize on the opening, because that’s key to drawing in a reader.

[mastershakeme]

10 minutes ago, Desiderius Price said:

use prohibited, example only

 

Lol! I made fun of Tcr but I'm guessing this is a typical format for quoted samples... My bad! You guys are all so serious :-P

13 minutes ago, Desiderius Price said:

And yes, I agonize on the opening, because that’s key to drawing in a reader.

I think your example works well. I like the inclusion of the sounds, it's an interesting and unique way to quickly draw up the image of a trotting horse. And then you zoom in and pick out a few important details here and there. The stacks of coffins, the cobblestones, the boy in forest green climbing the fire escape... It's a wonderful image! I can see this very clearly!

[Desiderius Price]

58 minutes ago, mastershakeme said:

Lol! I made fun of Tcr but I'm guessing this is a typical format for quoted samples... My bad! You guys are all so serious :-P

I think your example works well. I like the inclusion of the sounds, it's an interesting and unique way to quickly draw up the image of a trotting horse. And then you zoom in and pick out a few important details here and there. The stacks of coffins, the cobblestones, the boy in forest green climbing the fire escape... It's a wonderful image! I can see this very clearly!

I’m a bit more cautious as I was quoting from my own works….

Thanks for the compliment.  On the rewrite, I was like, “don’t change this!”  Apart from an odd grammar/spelling thing or two, it stayed intact.

[mastershakeme]

3 hours ago, Desiderius Price said:

I’m a bit more cautious as I was quoting from my own works….

Thanks for the compliment.  On the rewrite, I was like, “don’t change this!”  Apart from an odd grammar/spelling thing or two, it stayed intact.

Nope, thank you, DP! Yay! This site is like a writing workshop! 

Every time I break away from writing to come check out my new buds on AFF, I get a burst of inspiration!  

[GeorgeGlass]

No, I’ve never used Chekhov’s gun. Phasers won’t be invented for another 200 years.

Seriously, I think it’s an important concept, because nobody likes it when (a) a gun appears out of nowhere in Act III or (b) the gun that was described in detail in Act I turns out to have no relevance to the story.

That said, relevance takes many forms. Sticking with the gun example, that gun on the table doesn’t necessarily have to be used in Act III; it’s function may be, for example, to tell you something about the person who owns it, like the medieval weapons on the wall in Deathtrap. (IIRC, none of them actually get used, but they tell you something about their owner’s fascination with deadly things.)

[PenStoryTeller]

In a word Op, yes. It is still a widely used trope both in film and literature. Mostlky because it deals with the need to be effecient in your story telling. Do not waste time with details that really serve no purpose. If you’re going to take the time to describe an ornate sword, then it better play some role of import.

 

Chekov’s gun could be renamed ‘The rule of foreshadowing’ since that’s where it typically gets used. You hjave to remember CHekov specialized oin short p[lays and stories so the mindset is one of optimal effeciency.

[mastershakeme]

1 hour ago, GeorgeGlass said:

Seriously, I think it’s an important concept, because nobody likes it when (a) a gun appears out of nowhere in Act III or (b) the gun that was described in detail in Act I turns out to have no relevance to the story.

That said, relevance takes many forms. Sticking with the gun example, that gun on the table doesn’t necessarily have to be used in Act III; it’s function may be, for example, to tell you something about the person who owns it, like the medieval weapons on the wall in Deathtrap. (IIRC, none of them actually get used, but they tell you something about their owner’s fascination with deadly things.)

I’m really digging this thread… I shared a clumsy example of me using the gun concept, such as it is, above. But as I think it over, I realize I’ve used it more than once in my recent writing, probaly more than twice lol. Another example, in my first act I had the main character use a bat to intimidate an intruder, at the end of the scene he puts the bat behind the front door… In act two, the character’s love interest uses the same bat, still behind the door, to off a different attacker that is in the main characters house…

I like how you mention the Gun doesn’t have to be used every time as an actual murder weapon, or a plot point in general. Describing particular items can be another way to personalize a character… I’m being a little obvious using family pictures and such as my personalizing objects, but I guess I was on the right track. I’ll be molling this over for a while  Cool topic @Tcr

 

50 minutes ago, PenStoryTeller said:

In a word Op, yes. It is still a widely used trope both in film and literature. Mostlky because it deals with the need to be effecient in your story telling. Do not waste time with details that really serve no purpose. If you’re going to take the time to describe an ornate sword, then it better play some role of import.

Chekov’s gun could be renamed ‘The rule of foreshadowing’ since that’s where it typically gets used. You hjave to remember CHekov specialized oin short p[lays and stories so the mindset is one of optimal effeciency.

I’m curious, are you against the use of Chekov’s gun? I’m not trying to offend you! I just sense this air of annoyance in your post. LIke your sick of people using it as a ‘rule of forshadowing’ as you said….I agree that its commonly used as a means of efficiency… But I didn’t mention the bat in the beginning of my story because I knew I was going to use it again as a murder weapon, so… yeah.

Idk… Optimal efficiency seems to be the key. Nobody likes being bombarded with useless facts and descriptions…

[PenStoryTeller]

22 hours ago, mastershakeme said:

@Tcr

I’m curious, are you against the use of Chekov’s gun? I’m not trying to offend you! I just sense this air of annoyance in your post. LIke your sick of people using it as a ‘rule of forshadowing’ as you said….I agree that its commonly used as a means of efficiency… But I didn’t mention the bat in the beginning of my story because I knew I was going to use it again as a murder weapon, so… yeah.

Idk… Optimal efficiency seems to be the key. Nobody likes being bombarded with useless facts and descriptions…

 

Let’s put it this way. It can either be used as a tool in writing, or as a mind set that informs your use of other writing tools. It would be foolish to be against it in either case since there are many cases for its use. Chekov himself showed this in his works, as did Poe, Lovecraft and many others. Like any tool however, careless and reckless usage can yield unsatisfactory results.

Here’s a common example of chekov’s gun in action. EVer notice that whenever a movie talkes about something being impossible, highly unlikely, or absurdly improbable it winds up happening.

 

“That shot’s impossible to make without a targeting comnputer”

“No one can pull the sword from the stone”

“Atlantis is a favble and legend, reaching it is impossible”

 

Abny of those famnous last words ring a bell? But as saiud, if you use it with hamfists you’ll basically make your readers go dizzy from the eye-rolling. Improperly used and you start telegraphing things like a an easy  video game boss. and then the reader just wwinds up waiting for it which means they tend to start glossing over the rest of the details.

 

So I;m not for or against the usage. I just advise that CHekov’s gun, like any gun, be wielded with care and responsibility. I think were Chekov still alive he would say. “ The audience should never be aware that something is a ‘Chekov’s Gun’ until the Gun is fired.(as it were).

[mastershakeme]

4 hours ago, PenStoryTeller said:

Let’s put it this way. It can either be used as a tool in writing, or as a mind set that informs your use of other writing tools. It would be foolish to be against it in either case since there are many cases for its use. Chekov himself showed this in his works, as did Poe, Lovecraft and many others. Like any tool however, careless and reckless usage can yield unsatisfactory results.

Here’s a common example of chekov’s gun in action. Ever notice that whenever a movie talkes about something being impossible, highly unlikely, or absurdly improbable it winds up happening.

Say no more!!! Yep, I know understand the tone of your last post, lol! Yep, I’m familiar with these famous last words  I don’t think I’m risking that kind of eye roll, but if I am, I hope to be called out on it because I understand what you mean perfectly now and what you are warning against…. Hamfists is right  Just because your following the rules of Chekov’s Gun doesn’t mean you will be lead automatically to success. 

In writing, i feel i so often risk sounding cliched, that’s a reason i HATE to plot ahead of time. I think that takes me farther and farther away from the characters and i start hitting plot points because I think i need to, not because the characters are actually destined to reach that point. 

Anyways, thanks. I’ll keep: 

4 hours ago, PenStoryTeller said:

“No one can pull the sword from the stone”

In mind when i go through the next part of my story. I doubt i can be entirely original, is that even possible at this point? Is there any new ground to touch in this day and age? But I don’t wanna sound like i’m writing a gosh darn myth lol. 

[PenStoryTeller]

Don’t worry about sounding cliched but like anything else. Be aware of it. Once you are, you can use it toshape and guide reader expectations, and then skillfully subvert or redirect them. It’s one thing to talk about the sword that could never be held or pulled from the stone. It’s another thing entirely to make the story hinge around it.

See what I’m saying?

You can make it seem like the all important thing is the five finger death punch. or you can subvert it and make the death punch irrelevant by introducing a gun. In which case your Chekov’s Gun has become a McGuffin or a Red Herring.

 

Literary tools are fun to play with if you pay attention to what you’re doing. It’s why I liken them to tools. There are more ways to use a Hammer than most people can dream off.