Better The Devil You Know...Foreshadowing

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Litopians, Writers and Novelists alike,

I need not tell you what 'Foreshadowing' is a device we use in fiction to create atmosphere, build suspense, keep readers reading and most of all keep them guessing, like a forethought, a literate premonition not seen but readers have a feeling in their bones so to speak. And, it is our job as the writer to create that feeling of anticipation, effectively.
But after we do that, must we leave it open to the readers interpretation, that is the question. Yes or No?

For example:

Deep down she knew, one of them was going to die. But, she hadn’t seen it yet and with a spin of a wheel, anything was possible. She lifted her head, blotchy and tearstained from what she had just seen. She looked out, between the iron bars in her window and there it was. A white raven carrying a small bouquet of flowers in its beak. Two snapdragons flowers one was red and one was white mixed with a bunch of sword lily flowers of all colours. It flew gracefully inside and landed beside her. Gently, she stroked it and from her touch it turned into a white handkerchief. Iris took it in her hands, cleaned her face and blew her nose. Underneath the flowers was a note;

I’m sure you will find a use for these.


Yours Lovingly.

It was not signed, but she knew who had written it and why he had not signed it. She picked it up and the paper dissolved to ash.
She looked out at the window again, her last thought was a storm is coming and the smile on her face was resolute.


(An example taken from my own work, above)

Personally, for me 'Foreshadowing' is best served subtly and in more elusive ways. For example a character may say something in dialogue, that is a deliberate slip up, obviously for the readers benefit not for ours, the writer. But not enough to let it slide completely and give it away. Foreshadowing with a little ambiguity works for me, even a title of a Chapter can act as a clue, a bread-crumb of a trail. And, isn't it always more fun to work it out for ourselves. Keep us interested, wanting, begging to know more, searching high and low for the next bread-crumb. Agree? Or Disagree?

Here is an example that worked for me as a reader.

I

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men bruised themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.

Does anyone know how this ends? The War of the Worlds By H .G. Wells
(The novel, not the films)

And, tell me where is the foreshadowing in this piece? And, no, it is not the Chapter Title or The Name of The Book Itself.

FUN FACTS -

Did you know 'Foreshadowing' is also a literacy device used in music, operas, musicals and even films. Being a trained singer since childhood, my teacher used to say the instrumental segments of a song was a 'Foreshadowing' of sorts and as the singer we had to sing, perform, evoke a certain emotion, change our tone, darken our vowels to match the Foreshadowing of the song and the written rhythm and beats of the song, reflected that.


Does Red Herring and Chekhov's Gun mean anything to you? Apparently according to Wiki when it comes to 'Foreshadowing' they are wrong and misconceptions. And, they really mean 'Sideshadowing' not 'Forshadowing'.

Let The Brainpick Begin :)
 
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What follows is my opinion only, but based on what I've learned so far:

Red herring means to lay a false trail, so not associated with foreshadowing or sideshadowing (a very newly minted term), but nor is it wrong or a misconception.
A red herring is a false trail, but sometimes it's fun to lead the reader down the wrong path, until ...
Chekhov's gun basically states that if you have a gun on the wall in Act 1, it better find a use in Act 3. Not necessarily foreshadowing, but it could be, so it's not wrong, nor a misconception.

The main point for foreshadowing is to drop hints, and if the gun on the wall is associated with something that happens later, it is foreshadowing. If it doesn't get used, why is it in the story?
Everything in a story has meaning and purpose, whether it's associated with the theme or character arc, or any of the other ways to 'shape' the story, so anything could be foreshadowing - and alas, sometimes, there are none of those little things to indicate that the direction was thus pointing to what happened at the end - this is frustrating; I should have been able to go back to find the 'stones by the path' or the words to indicate, or something that led to the way the story ended.
In my mind, the only thing that's 'wrong' is to put things in a story that don't add to it in some way, that have no purpose. And, as a person who always skips static description, I'd add that as an unnecessary element, too. If the setting is experienced through characterisation, I learn from how they do it (it's best if they do it well, but I'll take any attempt and see if I can work it to suit my purpose).

There's always something to learn, and never a time to say, 'I know enough now.'
 
I think readers expect foreshadowing. Although coincidences are very common in life, readers hate them in books. It always needs to feel as though everything we've read has led up to this point.

Foreshadowing also gives your readers a sense of where the story is going; if every step forward feels random they're going to put the book down.
 
@Kirsten
Sorry, I used a vague word for my understanding - 'thing' should read 'prop' in terms of that gun on the wall.
The explanation for Chekhov's Gun is the one that says if you put a prop in the story, it needs to find a use at some stage.
I think it helps to view 'static' items the same way - if it doesn't come through the senses of the character (I'd say POV character, but some people have different ways of doing it), or to set the tone of the story at that moment. Reading a straight description of a setting is often enough to stop me reading, or if the rest of the story is good enough, I'll skip through the static bit. If there are too many, I do put the book down.
Using the principles of Chekhov's gun (a prop), Red Herrings (or any other colour they come in to create false trails), and clues (or foreshadowing, depending on the purpose in the story) is part of the 'shaping' of the story.
'He can't do this until he understands about that,' or 'in order to use that needle, she has to stick it in her pinny before she leaves the house - and forgets she's done it because so much else is happening!' If the needle is stuck in the skirt and forgotten, I want to see something happen with that needle, whether it's a jab to the boyfriend (oh, I can picture it), or to use it as a weapon ...

These tools offer so much in terms of 'shaping' the story, not making the story, and they're the things a savvy reader will note.
One of my beta readers once asked me why I put so many words into something when it didn't come up again in the story. It shows she took notice of the prop, and had expectations.
 
One aspect of foreshadowing, that's rarely mentioned, is when it's used to create a sense of anticipation in a series of stories. What appears to be irrelevant information or extraneous fluff within a tale could have knock-on effects for the protagonist in the next book.

It's something to consider when consulting a professional editor, who may remove long-distance foreshadowing to streamline the narrative. In my Cornish Detective series, the protagonist is a keen wild swimmer visiting flooded quarries, rivers and the sea—but, the ocean intimidates him—I've used the same phrase in each of the five stories... Neil shivered at his powerlessness: the sea was unopposable. His anxiety is understandable, for he's fished four corpses out of the sea. In Book 6, he'll be threatened with drowning. Loyal fans (who dey?:rolleyes:) who've followed his character arc will be aware of his deep-seated fear, while new readers will be unaware of the foreshadowing, but still swept along by the danger.

In writing a series, it's vital to drop a few seeds that will grow into something else in time, rather than strive to create a perfectly pruned self-contained story.
 
I agree, and it's glorious when you discover a book like that. Those tend to be the stories that find a permanent home on our shelves.

Personally, for me 'Foreshadowing' is best served subtly and in more elusive ways. For example a character may say something in dialogue, that is a deliberate slip up, obviously for the readers benefit not for ours, the writer. But not enough to let it slide completely and give it away. Foreshadowing with a little ambiguity works for me, even a title of a Chapter can act as a clue, a bread-crumb of a trail. And, isn't it always more fun to work it out for ourselves. Keep us interested, wanting, begging to know more, searching high and low for the next bread-crumb. Agree? Or Disagree?
I broadly agree, though I wouldn't expect to consciously search for bread crumbs unless I was reading a mystery. Foreshadowing is simply setting things up so that payoffs make sense. It can be obvious – the protagonist is a retired boxer; later on he kicks some ass. Or it can be more subtle – a story is layered with images of migrating birds; later on the protagonist leaves her husband.

The War of the Worlds By H .G. Wells ... And, tell me where is the foreshadowing in this piece?
The microscope and the bugs it revealed! :) Great story, tapped right in to the fears of its age.

FUN FACTS -

Did you know 'Foreshadowing' is also a literacy device used in music, operas, musicals and even films.

Does Red Herring and Chekhov's Gun mean anything to you? Apparently when it comes to 'Foreshadowing' they are wrong and misconceptions. And, they really mean 'Sideshadowing' not 'Forshadowing'.
This Wikipedia article covers most of these points, and in pretty much the same order as you have them above. The first reference in the article is to a site that looks interesting (I've only had a glance) – Literary Devices: Foreshadowing.

Another site with good information is Novel Writing Help. There's a page there on foreshadowing. Click here and scroll down to find it. I'm not affiliated to the site in any way, but I have found it useful (and we've posted a link to it before, here in Litopia's Writing Wiki maintained by @Carol Rose).
 
I broadly agree, though I wouldn't expect to consciously search for bread crumbs unless I was reading a mystery. Foreshadowing is simply setting things up so that payoffs make sense. It can be obvious – the protagonist is a retired boxer; later on he kicks some ass. Or it can be more subtle – a story is layered with images of migrating birds; later on the protagonist leaves her husband.
What if one of the sub-plots was a mystery in the book you were reading.
Would you look for bread crumbs then as a reader? More so, would you expect to find Bread Crumbs in a sub-plot?

The microscope and the bugs it revealed! :) Great story, tapped right in to the fears of its age.
Spot on @Rich.
 
I'm not a puzzle-solving reader. I read mostly to be entertained. Others read differently.

As for foreshadowing, I would expect to find it in all plots.
 
Does Red Herring and Chekhov's Gun mean anything to you? Apparently according to Wiki when it comes to 'Foreshadowing' they are wrong and misconceptions. And, they really mean 'Sideshadowing' not 'Forshadowing'.
I'm not sure that is what the Wikipedia article says. The section labelled Misconceptions suggests that "Foreshadowing is often confused with other literary techniques", though it provides no reference for this statement. It then lists red herring, flashforward and Chekhov's gun as examples of those misconceptions. But they're not wrong in any sense. They're just not foreshadowing. As for sideshadowing, the article (with references this time) describes it as being the opposite to foreshadowing. The article doesn't offer sideshadowing as a definition of red herring, flashforward or Chekhov's gun. All four things (five if we include foreshadowing itself) are simply different literary devices.
 
I'm not a puzzle-solving reader. I read mostly to be entertained. Others read differently.

That looks like another interesting discussion, right there. Why do we read?

I also read to be entertained, but second guessing where the breadcrumb trail left by the author is leading is, for me, part of the fun. Or just spotting the breadcrumb trail in the first place.

I wouldn't expect to consciously search for bread crumbs unless I was reading a mystery

Then again, embedded intrigues add narrative drive to a range of texts, not only stories which are explicitly mysteries.

I recently read The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (superb novel, by the way, highly recommended), whose interplay of foreshadowing devices (flashback, imperfect recall, time-hopping) keep the reader guessing (and avidly reading!) right to the end.
 
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