Don't Mince Your Words. By Dan Cooke

Everything written must have at least some value, must pay off in some way, or add something to the story you are trying to tell. It is no good adding a scene, character or object just for the sake of bulking out what you have, everything must play a role.

This of course is the principle behind what is known as Chekhov' gun, the principle created by its namesake, Anton Chekhov, who famously wrote, "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

These words ring true in many narrative forms, so of course the same applies to us as writers.

The key is that everything must have its use, it must be there for plot progression or character development purposes,  now this could be directly or indirectly, pay off straight away or further down the line. The important thing is that it does pay off, that it does play a role and add something, otherwise the readers are going to feel cheated.

Our eyes can be drawn to many things, but as writers, we must
draw the eye with our words, to the things we want them to see,
or, want them to read and forget, at least for this moment.

If they read a part of the story that ultimately leads to nothing and adds nothing to the overall story, they are not going to be impressed. They may feel cheated, as if they wasted the time they did spend reading that part before. And as is often the case, filler can be good, but nothing compares to the real thing.

One of the major differences between writing and other media is that it is hard to drop things in subtly, or subliminally, they can't notice something subtle in the background unless it is actually brought to their attention by yourself, the writer. With this in mind, it is hard to make things subliminal unless they are lost in a sea of other things being introduced, or something else that seems more pertinent will seem more important at the time, but further down the line will turn out to not be.

Jason stood admiring the row of framed pictures on the wall, some of Mark with his family, one of an old biplane, framed certificates addressed to both Mark and Julia, one framed picture of a green muscle car, then one on then end caught Jason's eye, he turned to his friend. "You met the President?"

Mark stepped up next to him to admire the picture. "Once." he smiled. "He came to my workplace to examine our work and I just got lucky."

Jason pointed at it, glancing at his friend. "Lucky is right, wish I could have been there."

There were a whole load of things introduced in that brief moment, but because our characters are (generally) human, they will notice the things important to them. In this case the picture of his friend with the president. The other things are pretty much glossed over, but they are still there, so if for example there was a crime later and a green car was used for the getaway, the information is still there to be called upon, without the readers feeling like it was either super obvious, or that the reveal came out of nowhere.

If all else fails though, the words of Chekhov are worth remembering.