Callbacks and Chekov’s Gun
How to leave clues for your readers the right way
There are spoilers for the show The Curfew and the movie A Quiet Place in this article. Also for the Sixth Sense, but that’s an old, old movie. Having said that, if you haven’t seen the Sixth Sense, go and watch it now. Most of the time I don’t care about spoilers, but for that movie, the twist is essential. I’m going to talk about about how to do callbacks well, setting things up for later. There are some brilliant ones in The Curfew (I am watching it as I type this, it inspired me).
What is Chekov’s Gun?
Chekov’s gun is an idea that when you set something up, you then pay it off. The exact way of stating it was if you show a gun hanging over the mantle in act one, it has to go off in act three. The name comes from the playwright Anton Chekov, who originated the idea.
The key to this is that if the gun is going to be the resolution to the story, you should present it early on. That way, the reader will recognize that they have seen this item; they will have a strong sense of closure at it being the instrument of resolution.
How to Use it
Include a detail early in the story, have that detail be important to the story later, but do it with a touch of subtlety. When you…
