70 Deadly Wattpad Sins (The Book Of Evil Advice!)

Sin #14: Chekhov's Gun (Say hello to my litto fwen'!)

  Remember kids, it's always important to follow through and finish what you start-

  Watch out, he's got a gun!! *Hides under desk*

  It's not a real one. Our sharp minds are the only weapons allowed in this room!

  Oh, phew! We're safe then... So what're we supposed to be covering today?

  Dramatic principles, of course! If you think that anyone can just start 'writing' a story from scratch, you'd be dead wrong. There are centuries of fictional writing behind us, guiding our notions of what qualifies as good drama. Sometimes, we don't even realise how those early lessons affect our current society!

  Zzzz... Huh? Did we get to the cool part about guns yet?

  Oh, for the love of... Okay. Let's just skip the history lesson and talk about Chekhov's Gun. To cut a long story short, this Victorian bro with an awesome name stated that theatrical performances should follow a strict logical pattern with their story telling.

  His idea was that if a loaded rifle hangs on the stage wall during Act I, it must absolutely go off during Act II or III. To have the audience note the gun's presence and not fire it at any point, Chekhov saw that as a 'promise that hadn't been kept'. 

  Of course, this applies to much more than just firearms. Perhaps in your book, your MC's first words are part of a lengthy monologue, detailing how she has 36 hours to assassinate the Queen of England — and then she proceeds to do nothing but sip tea for the rest of the story. 

  In another novel, maybe some deadly hyper-potent super cooties have been unleashed upon the world, but the pandemic is never referenced in dialogue and your daily-life-romance characters were just lucky to never hear or be affected by it in any way.

  Some plot devices can have absolutely nothing to do with the plot itself, which distracts the reader's attention and invents hopeful theories that will never come to fruit. It is superfluous, unrelated and a complete waste of everyone's time.

  Woah there! Who the heck decides whether our plot devices are unnecessary or not?

  You decide! Just because some old fart wants every element in his story to contribute drama, that shouldn't stop you from writing yours in a unique way. You need to remember that good form isn't always foolproof; sometimes, exceptions have to be made.

  Keep your side plots tied to the main event, and have your main characters interact in natural, story-lending ways. That's the best that we can hope for, barring any accidental slip-ups.

  It can be embarrassing to forget the 'guns' promised in previous chapters. Sometimes a passing object or two slips through the cracks, especially with so many Wattpadders taking frequent hiatus vaycays.

    *Ahem...*

  What? Not me... I'm just straight-up lazy.

  To be fair to Chekhov's principle, it really does help to look back on your old chapters and see if you've left any concepts up in the air. 

  A common mistake I've made myself is planning for certain characters to take on larger roles, only to change their motives half-way and leave them with conflicting dialogue at their introduction.

  But if I cut out everything that's pointless, I won't have a story left!

  Then it sounds like you've got deeper issues than this particular sin, bud. For the sake of an argument though, let's pretend there are two main rule-benders for this old-fashioned guideline:

  Red Herring: Sounds delicious, but don't let that distract you. Red herrings are plot devices that serve to mislead the reader and/or protagonist, usually to create a sudden plot twist. 

  For example, Chekhov's Gun may have been placed on-stage to make the audience believe that someone would be shot in that scene, only for ninja stars to fly through the window instead.

  Foreshadowing: Didn't see that coming, eh? Foreshadowing is the insertion of clues that point to the plot's future, either through symbolic or anecdotal means. Recently, this has taken a tumble into the 'history always repeats itself' trope.

  Chekhov's Gun may have been displayed to suggest that a character would get shot by another gun in an upcoming scene. Not the same gun, obviously... That'd just be ordinary, boring murder.

  (Of course, history tells us that no one fired anything... Which is how the principle got its name in the first place, duh.)

  ----

  There you have it! Whenever you're writing a new chapter and end up with too many descriptives, you should ask yourself which parts could be misconstrued by your audience. 

  Don't talk about guillotines unless you're planning an execution later, don't mention a character's love letter to the brooding bad boy if they aren't going to confess at all — and for the love of Batman, do not confuse those two in your story.

  There are exceptions to Chekhov's Gun, namely red herrings and foreshadowing; these are not crutches to be used, only distinct free passes. Your story-telling should always be efficient, truthful and easy to understand at this level.

  Sure, some people tend to use unreliable narrators as a twist, but they have to try so much harder to pull the technique off convincingly. Even then, they still adhere to these dramatic principles! There isn't a method you can perfect by putting less effort in.

  Sooo... How many people do you think will get the Scarface reference?

  Hmm, you're right. Doesn't seem very relevant to the chapter, does it? I should follow my own rule, and take it out-

  *Grabs rifle*

  O-Okay, let's just leave it in.