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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/6637-Chekovs-Gun.html
Action/Adventure: November 05, 2014 Issue [#6637]

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Action/Adventure


 This week: Chekov's Gun
  Edited by: Storm Machine Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~Benjamin Franklin

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~Ernest Hemingway


Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

This is a literary device that talks about how when you devote time to describing an object and putting it into the story, you need to use that object later. It comes from a scene with a gun over the mantle or somewhere else. But if the gun is brought into the story, the readers have a thought that something will be shot.

That doesn't mean it will be a person or character in the story. There might be a wild animal that needs to be stopped or a warning shot might be fired. But we expect that the gun will be needed. Perhaps it is only to be found later, in a locker at school, when the kid should not have had access to it.

But this can apply to any object within the story that you give a lot of loving attention to. Make it beautiful. Make it your own. And make it important within your story.

In this way, nearly all stories have some object. It might not feel like something that you can hold in your hands. Even a contract between two people (like a roommate agreement) could come into play later. There are loopholes and common conventions that might be taken into account as time goes by that will throw each of them into confusion or uproar. These objects that imbue your story with meaning need to find new ways to deepen your story as well.

This is why we don't always go into all the details about a room with the wallpaper, flooring, four chairs, pictures on the walls, bookshelves lining the back of the room, and what we can see out the windows. All those details are important to ground your reader in the scene. But if I spend four pages writing about one book on the shelf, the reader is probably going to think it's important. And if it isn't, I hope that book is prepared to be thrown against the wall.

What is there in your story that takes on more life than you started with? What is there that can drag your readers to wonder what will happen? This object could also deepen a theme of some sort within the story. Use it to your authorly advantage.


Editor's Picks

 Lithowania: The beginning Open in new Window. (13+)
Two young men try to help the world they live in. Only to become the only ones who can.
#1083944 by Rose Red Author IconMail Icon

 HH1: Pay No Attention to the Cat-Girl! Open in new Window. (13+)
Half-Human Ep. 1: Kyra's frustrations with her family. 1st story in an Anime-style series.
#1163728 by Eric the Fred Author IconMail Icon

 Alastair's Journal Open in new Window. (13+)
His completed story, first draft (This was one of the first games of 3.0 D&D.)
#706229 by mithrandir Author IconMail Icon

 Where The Air Is Clear Open in new Window. (ASR)
A mountain climbing story on the great Popocateptl
#895753 by wingspar Author IconMail Icon

 A Dense Fist Open in new Window. (18+)
There's a place held within the hot, baptist state that holds its own special allure..
#857996 by Hawksmoor Author IconMail Icon

 TALK ABOUT SOLACE Open in new Window. (18+)
When a Super-Hero becomes more, is that really less?
#862716 by Hawksmoor Author IconMail Icon

 Space: The Final Frontier Open in new Window. (18+)
The end of Earth is the beginning of adventure
#1092984 by alyss Author IconMail Icon

 Hired Guns Open in new Window. (18+)
Based on an idea of single-issue story arcs, the series focusses on two mercenary cowboys.
#1252224 by Johnny A Author IconMail Icon

 Bathman Open in new Window. (13+)
Feeling frustrated at work one day, this piece was the result of my venting.
#549406 by JConrad Author IconMail Icon

 Doubt's Lousiest Acquaintance Open in new Window. (18+)
A Marriage Divided Can Sometimes Be Unusual, But This Takes The Cake...
#866103 by Hawksmoor Author IconMail Icon


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Ask & Answer

ENB Author Icon
Oh, I used to read those books! *Laugh* Yes, I am guilty of holding my place and going back. *Blush* The thing that frustrated me about those books is I could never get the right ending! I always died within my first two choices. *Facepalm*
         I think that's a common problem, hence the "cheating!"

Quick-Quill Author Icon
I love reading children's stories. They write the basics. This happened, then this happened, after that this happened, then the end. Take this outline then fill in what conflicts and resolutions help the story to THE END. It's easy
         I don't know why it can't be that easy with adult novels, either.

monty31802
A fine News Letter, I like those words "choose your own path".
         Thanks!

BIG BAD WOLF is Merry Author Icon
Always a journey.
         Some journeys you get to choose.

taliah_l
I've actually got a pretty detailed outline of a choose your own adventure novel, perhaps after exams I ought to take another look at it.
         Perhaps it might be a good time.

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