Seeding and the Art of the Payoff

Writers like reinventing the wheel. In fact, we’re encouraged to do it. “The same but different” is a phrase you’ll hear from executives. Or, rather a phrase you’ll hear executes want to hear. Well, so I hear but that may be hearsay.

In this short series I shall reinvent the wheel of writers’ terms and give them new names. The first for this treatment is “Set up and pay off”, which shall now be forever known as “Seeding”.

Seeding

I find myself leaving this note quite often when reading through an early draft. My character has opened a drawer and found a wooden spoon, said wooden spoon is now going to be very useful. The thing about this wooden spoon is it’s never been seen before. Sure, maybe it’s not that big of a thing? Perhaps it just appearing right when it’s needed won’t ruffle any feathers? But why not just seed the wooden spoon? Twenty pages before, there’s a nice little spot in a scene where I can show the wooden spoon in a drawer. People may have missed it when it happened but any who didn’t can feel a little bit superior. “Hey, I noticed that wooden spoon before and now it’s being used!”

It doesn’t have to be small moments either. If you’re not seeding bigger moments then you really should give yourself a slap on the wrist. With these bigger moments we can also “water the seed”. Once, twice, three times a lady. Sorry, waylaid there. Do you have a huge mid-point twist that is going to blow people’s minds? Well, without a seed and a few waters along the way many people will feel cheated at this random event. “How was I supposed to work that out?” Deus Ex Machina if you want to get fancy about it. On the other hand, if they can go back in their minds to see, maybe not the seed plant itself but a few of the times it got watered, it feels like a magic trick. Something that can be worked out if you’re paying close attention and not a scam (say using clones).

On the other end, make sure to grow any seeds you plant. If you seed Chekhov’s gun and then it’s never that BANG!, the audience is going to be upset. Same with the bomb under the table. Don’t leave the audience asking why they were shown something that seemed important only for it to never be brought back again.

Oaks or cress, remember to seed them all.

Come back next Monday for Part 2 in this series on Seeding!