Chekhov’s Gun

Chekhov's gun is the idea that any notable element or detail within a story has to have some impact on the plot; if it disappears into obscurity it creates false promises that leave the audience feeling frustrated or duped. The canonical example is a pistol hung on a wall: if noted, it has to be fired.

The concept is attributed to Russian playwright Anton Chekhov:

"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."

This principle was made a literal appearance in the final season of Breaking Bad, with the writers starting the season with a vignette of Walter purchasing a machine gun, despite no clear idea of how they would use it later in the story.

In content marketing, Chekhov’s gun illustrates the idea that we have to deliver on the promises created by our writing:

• An article titled “7 Top Tips for CRM Adoption” needs to offer tips and not strategies.

• The header “How to Build an Applicant Tracking System” needs to leave the reader capable of actually building their own ATS.

• A paragraph that promises to explore how an entrepreneur “built community and grew an audience” needs to followed by sections explicitly showcasing how they built their community and grew their audience.