Scribing Dynamics Publishing Blog

Chekhov’s Gun Principle

Chekov’s gun principle is a writing principle devised by Anton Chekhov the Russian Playwright that tells you not to put in unnecessary things in your story. If you show a gun then you’ll need to use that gun at some point.

Let’s examine this a little closer with the aid of films.

Shaun of the Dead:

They’re sitting at the bar and talk about the old shotgun mounted on the wall. Later in the movie they use the shotgun to defend themselves from the zombies.

James Bond: All the Q scenes.

Remember the James Bond movies where Q explains to him what the gadgets do. This is the setup for later on when he has to use those gadgets to get out of trouble.

AVATAR:

When the woman tells the story of how only three (or something) Pandorians (not sure that’s right) rode the fearsome bird. Then later on the main character does it. It has been established that it can be done, that it has been done before. So when the main character does it, it’s amazing, but within established parameters.

***SIDE NOTE***

When you’ve been at the writing game a while you’ll start seeing some patterns when it comes to films. You’ll be able to identify things that are going to happen simply because you understand how the story works. You’ll identify a certain scene as a foreshadowing of something to come. You’ll understand the arch of the story. You’ll also get more insight into human nature.

But blurting out how something is going to end or which character is going to die will earn you some cold looks from those trying to enjoy the film.