Being a Better Writer: Chekhov’s Armory · 8:22pm Jun 18th, 2018
Welcome back readers, to another installment of Being a Better Writer! This week, I’m picking up right where I left off from last week’s discussion on Chekhov’s Guns, and moving on to another type of … Well, I guess we could call it a foreshadowing tool? Preparatory Plot Device set-up? Honestly, I’m not certain there’s an official name for this kind of thing past “Chekhov’s Armory,” but foreshadowing tool does work, though in the short term.
But that’s me getting distracted by terms, which few of us are here for. We’re here for Chekhov’s Armory, which I’m going to point out right now, Anton Chekhov did not invent. Rather, it’s simply the name that has become attached to the concept given its growth out of Chekhov’s Gun.
But again, getting sidetracked. So let’s dive right in. What is Chekhov’s Armory?
Well, to answer that question, I’m actually going to show you a youtube video. Hopefully you’re at a location where you can watch it, because this is one of those cases where showing you what something is and then talking about it will be far more effective than simply trying to explain it first. The video in question? The famous “Flying Wing Fight” from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you haven’t seen this film, rectify this ASAP. Raiders is one of the most famous films in cinema, and it’s not hard to see why once you’ve seen it.
Ah, Checkov's Armory. This is always a fun one to see used well as you pointed out with that pair of scenes. That said, I do have one question. Is there anything you would say is substantially different about setting the guns up long before the fight rather than immediately beforehand? I've definitely seen people take this approach, either fully of partially, to deliver a really big climax when the guns set into place throughout the entire piece (like the BFG you mentioned in your last post) all come together at the end, so I was wondering if you had any specific thoughts on that beyond what you laid out here and in your last post.
Also, thanks for doing the red herring post next. I obviously can't tell if that was your original plan or if I got you thinking about it, but it's definitely an important complement to these two so I'm looking forwards to reading it.
4885130
Setting the guns up beforehand is done all the time, but most often it's a bit different than an actual "Armory" which tends to set them up all at once. Setting up a bunch of them over the course of the story and then firing them off all, personally, is more akin to just a lot of individual Chekhov's Guns at different times that happen to be firing off all around the same time. When you set up an Armory, you're setting up all the guns at the same time and firing them off.
I was actually waffling on it before you said something, which pushed me from "maybe" to "Yeah, I should do this." So yeah, you saying something did push it through.
4885389
Thanks, that makes sense, and it's sounding like the only real thing we could debate here is the semantics which don't really matter as far as actually writing goes.
Awesome.