Foreshadowing

When asked what the meaning of "foreshadowing" was, one of our club members suggested this, "In a movie when there's a murderer coming around the corner with a knife, and you see his shadow on the wall before you see him? That's foreshadowing."

The word "foreshadowing" actually predates the invention of motion pictures by several hundred years, so no, that's not exactly where the term came from. But it is a good way to think of it. Foreshadowing is hinting at what is to come. I like to think of it as "preparing the reader." You know how a shot hurts worse if you watch the needle going in? Why is that? Well, you know what's coming, so you tense up. You start to suffer before you feel the pain. And then when the prick comes... OW! On the other hand, if there's a birthday party, or a movie you really want to see, or a book you're just dying to read, if you know it's coming you can enjoy many moments of happy anticipation leading up to the actual event. Thinking about what's ahead can amplify the experience, whether it's a good experience or a bad one. And for a writer, that's always good.

There's a drawback to foreshadowing. Readers like to be surprised now and then. If the outcome is made too obvious, too predictable, the reader will be disappointed. You can deal with this problem by hiding your foreshadowing among a plethora of random details, so that the reader doesn't know what details are clues and what details are not. If you're really sneaky, and clever, you can foreshadow in such a way that the reader thinks one thing is going to happen, then pull a switch at the end and make something ELSE happen. Something else that still makes sense with all the clues you dropped along the way. And make sure it's even more spectacular than what your reader thought would happen.

Tune in next week for a lesson on tension and suspense...