The Place For My Writers Notes

But first put it on the wall?

Since we're madly writing away for nanowrimo, you may not be able to go back and do foreshadowing -- although you may want to do that next month or next year when you're doing revisions. However, you still may want to hang a gun over the mantle, and then later make sure someone pulls the trigger. When you do, you're firing Chekhov's gun!

As Wikipedia explains it, "Chekhov's gun is a literary technique whereby an element is introduced early in the story, but whose significance does not become clear until later on."

Chekhov himself indicated that it really means don't include anything unnecessary. When you're doing nanowrimo, don't worry too much about unnecessary -- that's more important during revision -- but the point about having various objects brought out early on, and then later on discovering or explaining their importance is one that mysteries and so forth use all the time. In the dead man's pockets, we find a gold coin, a pack of matches, and a bottle. And the amateur detective carefully tracks down each and every one of them, discovering that the bottle did not contain alcohol or other drinking beverage, but rather . . .

While it's pretty clear that Anton Chekhov gave us the principle that objects introduced in a story should be used later on, it's not quite as clear how he phrased it. Wikipedia has three different versions. I kind of like the first version, "one must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it."

Then they go into various examples. All of which suggest that you should think about planting various and sundry objects along the way, and then feel free to dig them up and explain them as you roll along in the story. Pistols, guns, carpets, locked chests, maps, secret notes -- they all can be useful!

Oh, while we're talking about odds and ends, we should probably mention the MacGuffin. "A plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story, but the details of which are of little or no importance otherwise." There's some room for debate here, as some folks have argued that the MacGuffin should be meaningful, while Hitchcock apparently thought it wasn't important. But the key is that this is what everyone is after, this is the thing that they are all chasing. The Maltese Falcon, the Holy Grail, treasure chests, secret plans, something that they are all trying to get their hands on.

And then there are plot tokens or plot vouchers. When the hero collects the three pieces of the ancient crown, then they will have the power to . . . and they're off, collecting the three pieces. Fairly often, these are somewhat mysterious odds and ends that turn out to be just what is needed to get the hero through a particularly difficult situation. The jewel that is given to him by a mysterious stranger turns out to be the magic key to the kingdom? Or perhaps the key that someone slipped into his pocket turns out to be the one and only way to get the car going that saves all their lives? Or better yet, the special equipment guy provides a set of odd tools that turn out to be perfect for the dangers ahead? Clearly, sometimes you need to go back and make planting these a bit less blatant, but they're still widely used. One suggestion -- if you are going to have them collect stuff that turns out to be well-suited to resolving the situation, also have them collect other stuff that doesn't help -- having one thing out of a dozen that can be turned to the purpose with some effort and thought seems reasonable, having one and only one thing that is perfectly suited to the purpose feels like an author was monkeying with fate.

If you've never read The Well-Tempered Plot Device by Nick Lowe -- it's over here http://www.ansible.co.uk/Ansible/plotdev.html and you really should read it. Amusing, and who knows, you might find the techniques he skewers to be just what you need for your next plot boiler.

Incidentally, if you're still wondering how to spice up the story, remember Raymond Chandler's advice, "when in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns."

And then what happens?
tink
(about 725 words)
and bow to your corner