Stick to the Relevant Information Using The Chekhov's Gun

The Chekhov's principle — also known as the Chekhov gun — refers to the writing principle of sticking to the essential and relevant parts of the story. The principle emphasizes the importance of removing all the details that are irrelevant to the story.

The principle came from Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860 - 1904), a Russian playwright and short-story writer. Chekhov remains one of the greatest writers of all time. Chekhov once advised: ”Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. 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.”

Our writing can improve by practicing the Checkov gun where applicable. We should ask ourselves: Is all this information REALLY relevant to the main message/story?