WHAT JOKES CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT STORY SET-UPS

I borrowed this wonderful writing tip from Bruce Hale's web site.Check out more of Bruce’s Advice: www.brucehalewritingtips.com

WHAT JOKES CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT STORY SET-UPS

Never say anything bad about a man until you've walked a mile in
his shoes. By then, he's a mile away, you've got his shoes, and
you can say whatever you want.

Like a joke (even that one), a story doesn't work properly without
set-ups. What are set-ups? Just the crucial planting of key
information in order to understand what comes next, that's all.

Set-ups create expectations, which you're then free to mess with.
In our joke example, starting out with that well-known aphorism
helped build the expectation that something profound would follow --
which I then stood on its head. Without that opening, there would
be no contrast, and hence, no joke.

Same thing with stories. Here, set-ups and payoffs create and
subvert expectations, yielding surprise, humor, alarm, and other
desirable emotions in the reader. Set-ups form the foundation for
key story twists. How does it work? Well, for example, by
planting various bits of information in set-ups, you can lead
readers to believe that Professor Snape is the villain, then at the
climactic moment, reveal that the meek Professor Quirrell is behind
all the skullduggery. (Belated Harry Potter spoiler alert!)

PLANTING INFO
But not all set-ups lead to twists. Some merely serve to plant
information before it's needed. For example, if your hero knows
how to pick locks and escapes from a tight situation because of it,
you darned well better give us that information in advance, or
readers will feel cheated. "Why, yes, Bob, I just happen to know
advanced lock-picking techniques" doesn't constitute advance notice.

Ultimately, whether you subvert or fulfill your set-up, you must
pay it off in some way. Playwright Anton Chekhov knew the
importance of this. In 1897, he stated one of the great axioms of
story structure: "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the
wall, then in the following one it should be fired." That's called
playing fair with the audience and following through on set-ups.

Three key things to remember about story set-ups:

1. Don't telegraph.
Telegraphing means tipping your hand, being too obvious. If you
make too big a deal about planting your set-up, readers will notice
and see the payoff coming. In joke-telling, if you say, "A funny
thing happened on the way here tonight," it announces, "Here comes
a joke!" And it eliminates the element of surprise, which
ironically enough, is what makes the joke actually funny.

Say you're writing a mystery and playing fair, so you plant the
clue that reveals sweet Daisy could actually be the Evil Countess
in disguise. If you plant it too obviously, the reader guesses
your payoff and it spoils the surprise.

2. Don't overload with info.
As in general exposition, a little goes a long way. You want to
give the reader just enough information, but not too much. Your
goal is reader understanding and a satisfying payoff, so bear that
in mind when deciding what to include and what to leave out. Less
is more. This is especially true if you're planting a clue and
don't want to tip your hand.

3. Don't set it too close (or too far).
You have a tricky balancing act to conduct here. If you're setting
up a key element of your story, bear in mind that -- shocking though
it may seem -- readers don't retain every line of your deathless
prose after they've read it. By your canny placement of the
set-up, you can make sure readers recall it when the payoff rolls
around.

For example, if you mention in Chapter 1 that your hero has a gift
for accents, but she doesn't actually break out an accent until
Chapter 25, your readers might need a brief reminder somewhere in
between. And on the other hand, you wouldn't want to place the
first mention of this linguistic ability in Chapter 24; that's not
playing fair.

In the end, if you keep your set-ups short, subtle and deftly
placed, you'll reap the ultimate payoff: Readers who can't put down
your story.