The Place For My Writers Notes

Hi, ho... over here on Writing Excuses, https://writingexcuses.com/2022/01/16/17-3-chekovs-surprising-yet-inevitable-inverted-gun/ they have a bit of homework at the end of the podcast that I think deserves some attention. The rest of the podcast is a discussion of various examples based around the maxim that if you hang a gun on the mantle in Act I, you should fire the gun in Act III, or at the very least, do something with it!

But the exercise is fairly simple. Basically, take a work in progress (you have one of those, right?). Now, pick a character, a place, a thing, some bit that you included near the beginning that you did not intend to use later on the story. Perhaps a waiter at the diner where the protagonist had breakfast, or the gas station where they filled up the car, or... something that was not intended to be a major player. And... make it one! Write it into the big climax, revise things to make this a major part of the story.

Yes, you may have to do some revision earlier in the story, and in other parts, to really make this work. But that's part of what the exercise is pointing to, is the changes that are needed to make that gun on the mantle shoot someone in the final action.

Remember, as the actors tell us, there are no small parts, only small actors. So, let your character/setting/whatever take the center stage and show you what they can add to your story!