On Chekhov’s Laundry List – A Review

Many people reference the cinematic mainstay of “Chekhov’s gun” anytime someone brandishes a firearm on screen. Usually, they’re right to. Guns in movies often go off. But that is really only part of Chekhov’s argument.

Anton Chekhov was a late 1800s Russian author and playwright. While you’ve probably never heard of him, odds are you’ve heard of his famous “gun.” In correspondence with other writers he was vehement about making sure every detail in a story mattered. The term “Chekhov’s gun” comes from him saying: “if you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.”

Now. This is an important distinction. When you’re laying out a setting or telling a story, there is weight to “frivolity.” Sometimes you need to set the scene, even if there’s no explosive payoff at the end of it all.

Some people live for realistic description in books. If I wanted to describe the house of a huntsman, I might put a gun on his wall, or ammo on his desk, does that mean he’s going to shoot anybody or anything? No. But it’s going to allow me to build up that character without just telling you “he owns guns.”

Chekhov’s idealistic advice is important. Every detail SHOULD move the story forward. But if you force yourself into a situation where you have to do X because Y, then your story isn’t “yours” anymore, it’s a slave to hitting all the beats and payoffs that you set up rather than earned.

This is one of those ideas in writing… that… really makes sense, seems like a good idea, and is true. But it’s also a rule that you’ve got to know when to break. If everything in your story is setting up for a payoff, you’re likely to find yourself writing a punchline rather than an ending.

If you write with payoff in mind, you run the risk of sacrificing organic storytelling and ending up with a robotic “if then” statement of a narrative. But, if you spend too much time layering detail after detail, you might end up with something hyper realistic, but there’s a solid chance its going to read as nonsense, and won’t give your audience anything to be “enticed” by.

The benefits and drawbacks by this setup/payoff dynamic is explored best in HBO’s TV show, Barry. Specifically season 2 episode 5: “ronny/lily.”

A lot of people have praised Hader for his writing and his directing here. The episode is enticing from start to finish and the entire thing is almost self-contained. Throughout the entire episode we get set up after set up followed by pay off after pay off and the entire script shows mastery of the fundamentals of writing: show don’t tell, keep tone level, late in/early out, and I mean I could go on, but I’d have to charge you for an introductory creative writing course.

But while the show effortlessly sets up Ronny’s character as a sloppy Tae Kwan Do champion, it does so in a way that makes the payoffs rely on coincidence. As the episode progresses so many characters and moments pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. And sure, there are some set ups to explain why, but they: 1. Don’t measure up to the other massive payoffs throughout the episode, and 2. Don’t hold up to the “does this make sense?” level of scrutiny anyone will have during their first viewing.

The episode is a perfect example of exactly how this principle can be taken too far. But also, a demonstration on how gratifying it feels to get it just right.

It should be made clear that this show is amazing from start to finish. This episode is a lot of people’s favorites, its flaws do not detract whatsoever from the enjoyment I got out of this show.

And now, I know what you’re thinking. Connor, how in the heckers are you going to make this into a complicated metaphor about life?

I’m glad you asked.

Realistically speaking, the idea of setup and payoff, of Chekhov’s gun, feels a lot like expectation/anxiety. We, as humans, have a vested interest in seeing things work out. If we expect reality to go one way and it goes another, we can be let down. All setup, no payoff.

The reverse can happen too. If we as people experience massive shifts in our life constantly *cough cough,* life can feel like its blindsiding us. We want to be able to see huge moments coming.

It’s the traditional, meet, date, move in together, get married, arc. If you skip too many of those steps there’s a chance you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

There’s no real advice here, there’s just acknowledging that life doesn’t always give you setups, and sometimes it doesn’t give you payoffs either. Life isn’t a story. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go out of your way to get the setups you want and maybe earn a payoff or two.

Just don’t expect things to go perfectly according to plan. Still working on that one myself.

Thanks for reading, have a great reading… Reading? How did my fingers… Weekend.*

Have a great weekend. And if you end up at a fortune teller or a poetry festival, have a great reading too!