| fore·shad·ow (fôr-shād'ō, fōr-)  tr.v. fore·shad·owed, fore·shad·ow·ing, fore·shad·ows To present an indication or a suggestion of beforehand; presage. fore·shad'ow·er n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Now the reason I say this is difficult to do is that I mean it's difficult to do well. I can't tell you how many times I have read through a book and known exactly who was going to be trouble later for the protagonist. For me personally, it's a huge letdown to be able to guess immediately where the story is going. I prefer to be taken by surprise.
What does foreshadowing look like? I will attempt to craft something here on the fly, but understand this is completely off the cuff.
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Now the reason I say this is difficult to do is that I mean it's difficult to do well. I can't tell you how many times I have read through a book and known exactly who was going to be trouble later for the protagonist. For me personally, it's a huge letdown to be able to guess immediately where the story is going. I prefer to be taken by surprise.
What does foreshadowing look like? I will attempt to craft something here on the fly, but understand this is completely off the cuff.
Lawrence bent down to examine the arrowhead embedded in the road. It was an odd cut of stonework, made of some material he couldn't identify. The only indication of a shaft was a short length of black metal, broken off an inch above the arrowhead. It wasn't a clean break either; the shattered barbs looked sharp enough to easily slice through his skimpy latex gloves.
As his fingers touched the smooth stone, his vision swam and a desperate cloud of gloom descended. His breathing became labored, and screams echoed in his ears. Off to his right, a disturbing mound of freshly turned earth grabbed his attention as its surface trembled. He tried to recoil in terror, but his fingers were melded to the stone, their hue beginning to change to match the odd patterns. With extreme effort of will, he wrenched his hand away, falling backwards with a rush.
"You okay Larry?" The sheriff stumbled towards him, the oblong belt buckle barely supporting the man's immense gut.
"The name is Lawrence." His eyes jumped to the right side of the road, scanning for the mound but finding nothing. The screams were gone, likewise his apparent lack of balance. Straightening himself with effort, he pointed at the lone piece of evidence. "Do not touch it." Turning on one heel, he headed for the trunk of his car. He wasn't really sure he wanted to attempt another retrieval himself, but it was evidence. And he never left evidence behind.
This is a poor man's attempt at foreshadowing, but hopefully you get the idea. The scene hints at many things when Lawrence touches the arrowhead. There's nothing specified, other than a general sense of terror, dread, and possibly death.
The more you can keep an aura of mystery, the better your chances of keeping the reader plunging onward. They will feel a deep desire to know what it all means. This also means you shouldn't put in any items or scenes that have no meaning for the story. Including this description of the arrowhead is great as long as it's going to be important later. If I never mention anything later that ties into this scene, it makes for a confused reader.
I've run into this phenomena in books as well. An author will describe something in great detail, and then you never hear anything else about it for the rest of the book. You then spend time wondering what the significance was of that particular item, wondering if you missed something crucial. Don't do this in your own stories. It's a sure-fire way to lose your reader.
So what are my tips for the uses of foreshadowing? Here are some good ideas:
1. Make it intriguing. If you're going to introduce foreshadowing, give the reader a reason to keep that scene/item/person in mind for later.
2. Don't be transparent. Try not to tell them exactly what to expect. The more unexpected it is, the more likely you will surprise your reader in a very nice way.
3. Avoid cliches if possible. This ties into #2, but with foreshadowing, it's even more important to avoid the usual cliches. If your foreshadowing example follows the usual path, the reader will figure out early on where you're going with things.
4. Tie things together. If you create a foreshadowing event, remember to craft the scene you were hinting at later. Don't leave them wondering why you talked for three pages about a certain vase in the living room. Keep the tone the same throughout as well. Grim hints should equate to grim situations later.
5. Have fun with it. Foreshadowing is difficult, but it can be really rewarding. Hearing your beta readers (or fans after publication) talk about that one scene you worked so hard on can be awesome, so take the time and work it out effectively.
How do you deal with foreshadowing in your own writing? Was my example decent enough or how could I have made it better?
As his fingers touched the smooth stone, his vision swam and a desperate cloud of gloom descended. His breathing became labored, and screams echoed in his ears. Off to his right, a disturbing mound of freshly turned earth grabbed his attention as its surface trembled. He tried to recoil in terror, but his fingers were melded to the stone, their hue beginning to change to match the odd patterns. With extreme effort of will, he wrenched his hand away, falling backwards with a rush.
"You okay Larry?" The sheriff stumbled towards him, the oblong belt buckle barely supporting the man's immense gut.
"The name is Lawrence." His eyes jumped to the right side of the road, scanning for the mound but finding nothing. The screams were gone, likewise his apparent lack of balance. Straightening himself with effort, he pointed at the lone piece of evidence. "Do not touch it." Turning on one heel, he headed for the trunk of his car. He wasn't really sure he wanted to attempt another retrieval himself, but it was evidence. And he never left evidence behind.
This is a poor man's attempt at foreshadowing, but hopefully you get the idea. The scene hints at many things when Lawrence touches the arrowhead. There's nothing specified, other than a general sense of terror, dread, and possibly death.
The more you can keep an aura of mystery, the better your chances of keeping the reader plunging onward. They will feel a deep desire to know what it all means. This also means you shouldn't put in any items or scenes that have no meaning for the story. Including this description of the arrowhead is great as long as it's going to be important later. If I never mention anything later that ties into this scene, it makes for a confused reader.
I've run into this phenomena in books as well. An author will describe something in great detail, and then you never hear anything else about it for the rest of the book. You then spend time wondering what the significance was of that particular item, wondering if you missed something crucial. Don't do this in your own stories. It's a sure-fire way to lose your reader.
So what are my tips for the uses of foreshadowing? Here are some good ideas:
1. Make it intriguing. If you're going to introduce foreshadowing, give the reader a reason to keep that scene/item/person in mind for later.
2. Don't be transparent. Try not to tell them exactly what to expect. The more unexpected it is, the more likely you will surprise your reader in a very nice way.
3. Avoid cliches if possible. This ties into #2, but with foreshadowing, it's even more important to avoid the usual cliches. If your foreshadowing example follows the usual path, the reader will figure out early on where you're going with things.
4. Tie things together. If you create a foreshadowing event, remember to craft the scene you were hinting at later. Don't leave them wondering why you talked for three pages about a certain vase in the living room. Keep the tone the same throughout as well. Grim hints should equate to grim situations later.
5. Have fun with it. Foreshadowing is difficult, but it can be really rewarding. Hearing your beta readers (or fans after publication) talk about that one scene you worked so hard on can be awesome, so take the time and work it out effectively.
How do you deal with foreshadowing in your own writing? Was my example decent enough or how could I have made it better?
4 comments:
Nice bit of writing, and excellent points about foreshadowning. I also dislike being able to guess the plot right off. I like being surprized, too!
Very nice. My favorite foreshadowing is pulling bits of seemingly small unrelated things together. There must be logic in the tie in, and enough of a hint that things make sense when the reader looks back, but I love surprise twists.
I hate it when I read along, and then realise I am reading ahead of the book. I know the ending. I have to foreshadow a character, I wrote him in at the beginning, and now realise I have lost him somewhere. He needs to be found, so I can write him back into the storyline.
Good tips, great example, thanks.
Great example and good tips, too. Nice blog!
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