I've seen Easter Eggs hidden in favorite DVD's like the Lord of the Rings. My kids often show me things they find in their video games. I've come across a few myself when playing Zelda back in the day. But does anyone put Easter Eggs into their novels?
You get the picture that we're not talking delicious candy treats or the product of chickens. These Easters Eggs are little hidden treats. To find them you have to follow a special procedure or sequence of steps, unless, of course, you stumble upon them by accident. They can be funny scenes, an unexpected reward or piece of equipment, maybe a whole hidden level. Often times they are inside jokes that a game or video creator has stashed away for only the industrious to find.
My teenage daughter has a very narrow definition. She insists true Easter Eggs are a reference to something not associated with the game you're playing but something that influenced the creator. For instance, in Zelda Skyward Sword you can slingshot your way to a picture of Mario and Luigi, who are obviously not characters in this game. It's a pop culture reference or shout out to the famous and infamous.
But can you put Easter Eggs into books where everything is in perfect view? You can't hide behind words. Or can you?
I admit that I can't resist, though most of mine are in the inside joke category. My favorite word is capricious. Capricious makes into each of my manuscripts exactly one time. And, let me tell you, it was hard to work that jawbreaker into the middle grade hamster story. It ain't exactly everyday language.
Capricious!!
I've included shout outs to my favorite sports teams. You find banners of the Chicago Cubs and Bears hanging in my YA dystopian. The hamsters worry about being painted blue and gold, a reference to my Fighting Irish.
Nicknames for my children might be found if a person knew where to search. Also our family's favorite label for all people who act strange or bizarre (That's right. You know it applies to you, creaper!) My sister's childhood misfortune with a turtle is there in the ending of Kindar's Cure. (Sorry, sis. She bit it, not the other way around.)
Besides inside jokes, I also enjoy planting little seeds in my manuscript that have double meanings. (No, not those type of double meanings, creaper!) Meanings only I know about that actually apply to something in the story. Keep an eye out for blue butterflies when Kindar's Cure is released and in my short story, Frost and Fog, coming from The Elephant's Bookshelf this summer. See if you can figure out the significance.
Edit: I forgot one I planned to share. In the opening of Kindar's Cure, Kindar's mother says she looks like a washed-out rabbit. That's a shout out to my YA dystopian where the mc is an actual rabbit!
So how about you? Any hidden plants to own to in your own writing? Do you have a favorite Easter Egg or maybe one you discovered?
