From Clues to Revelation: The Magic of Foreshadowing in Crafting a Memorable Story

Foreshadowing is probably one of the most elusive narrative techniques involving time. But when mastered, it has huge potential.

Of all the narrative technique involving time, foreshadowing is probably the more elusive and less straightforward.

Loosely speaking, foreshadowing is a way of prefiguring what will happen in the story, but it is not an anticipation.

Foreshadowing is a way of prefiguring what will happen in the story, but it is not an anticipation.

There are indeed many similarities between foreshadowing and anticipation. Both work with prefiguring at an early stage what will happen later in the story. But there are also substantial differences.

1. The anticipation works at the moment that is spoken. It tells of a future event. This event is offered as such, it is presented as something that will happen in the future. Whether it is a prophecy, a prediction, or hope expressed by an authoritative character, the reader is aware in that moment that a prediction is made by someone with the appropriate ‘narrative power’ and so will look for its fulfilment in the unfolding of the events.
2. The foreshadowing is seamlessly woven into the story, and when the reader first encounters it, it will likely be unspotted. Although the foreshadowing will find its fulfilment in the future of the narration, strictly speaking, it isn’t a prediction. Very often, it isn’t about the outcome, but about the essence. The existence of the foreshadowing will arise later in the story. Only then it will work, letting meaning and connections arise inside the unfolding events.

Example of anticipation

In The Lord of the Rings, Sam sees in the Mirror of Galadriel his beloved Shire being destroyed, the trees burned and ripped down, and the people reduced to slaves.

Even if Galariel says that it isn’t certain this will come to pass, when the Hobbit go back to the Shire, that’s exactly what they found.

The anticipation works at the moment that is spoken. It tells of a future event. This event is offered as such, it is presented as something that will happen in the future

In narrative terms, this is anticipation. It is made in an authoritative way, by someone who possesses the gift of foresight, and even if the character herself poses doubts at the actual fulfilment of the vision, we as readers know that vision will probably come true.

Even if presented as possible and not certain, the vision will create anticipation in the reader.

When we go back to the Shire with the returning Hobbits, we find precisely what Sam saw in Galadriel’s Mirror. Sam’s vision brings that part of the story inside the larger one. As readers, we will look for it to happen, and until it doesn’t happen, the story isn’t over.

Example of foreshadowing

At the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, when the Shire is presented as a sort of serene paradise where Hobbits live a simple, happy life, we meet Ted Sandyman, the miller’s son. He is a Hobbit who only seems to speak about bad things (for example, at his first appearance, he insinuates that Frodo’s mother might have tried to kill Frodo’s father), while at the same time dismissing any talk of worrying things happening on the Shire borders as mere tales with no substance.

In the Mirror of Galadriel, Sam sees Ted Sandyman cutting down trees.

When the Hobbits return to the Shire, Ted Sandyman operates the machine-filled building that now stands on the site of the old mill and is neck-deep involved in the dealings with the chief-men.

Although the foreshadowing will find its fulfilment in the future of the narration, strictly speaking, it isn’t a prediction. Very often, it isn’t about the outcome, but about the essence.

There is no true prediction here. When we read Sandyman’s insinuations about Frodo’s parents’ death, it might sound like another gossip. There’s no real harm in it (we can think), gossip is, after all, a national pastime in the land of the Hobbits.

But in truth, we are foreshadowed that even in the quaint Shire, evil thoughts exist. When at the end of the book, we see Sandyman as one of the main collaborators of the destruction of the Shire, we may realise that destruction isn’t a mere imposition over the gentile nature of the Hobbits, but it has taken hold because malice and deception were already present in the Shire.

Yet we won’t see it when the first part of the foreshadowing is introduced (Sandyman’s gossip). We will only see it once the second part of the foreshadowing enters the story (Sandyman as the chief-men’s collaborator).

How to build a foreshadowing

For a large part, foreshadowing relies on suggestion, and this is one reason why it is so tricky to explain, to use and even to spot. It doesn’t rest on a chain of cause-and-effect, but it relies on inputs (often quite subtle) on the part of the author and intuition on the part of the reader. Because of the substantial involvement of the reader’s intuition, foreshadowing might be missed. Not all readers will decode the message. But when the message gets decoded, it will become more powerful.

On the side of the author, foreshadowing needs to be carefully structured. It often arises in revision, rather than in drafting. To efficiently structure foreshadowing, we need to have all elements in place, plot points and themes quite clear in our mind, so to use all of them to their fullest.

Foreshadowing rests on at least two episodes:

1. First episode. It happens in the normal storyline mode and in the main timeline. It’s usually placed in the very early stages of the story, preferably in Act I, or in the early stages of a character or narrative act (which may happen anywhere in the story). There is nothing that sets the foreshadowing apart from the rest of the story at this point. Unlike flashback, it doesn’t use any markers, so the reader is unaware of its happening. But it may contain a trigger. Very often, though — like in Sandyman’s example — foreshadowing is very subtle and linked to themes more than to structure.
2. Second episode. It happens a lot later in the story, very often in the climax or right before it. Because of the distance between the first and the second episode, sometimes the reader is reminded and pointed out the connection by using the trigger again. Some other times, the connection is left to the reader’s intuition, and — like in Sandyman’s case — hinted at by the position of the character inside the story and his connection to the themes.

Triggers

Triggers are unique elements used inside the foreshadowing that designed to be noticed, and as such partly serve in the same way temporal markers do in flashbacks. They may appear as unique turns of phrase or as story structure since sometimes foreshadowing are entire episodes inside the story, with their own narrative structure that will then be repeated in the event happening later on.

Triggers will help to connect the two halves of the foreshadowing so to signal their connection to the reader.

But very often, foreshadowing is linked to the theme of the story rather than its structure and so its existence will be more subtle and often won’t employ triggers.

Why foreshadowing an event

The subtler the connection, the trickier it will be for the reader to pick it up. Besides, because of its intuitive nature, foreshadowing always runs the risk to not be spotted by the reader.

Why then even bother to use it?

It must be said that decoding a foreshadowing isn’t essential to the story. Even when the reader doesn’t realise the connection, the story perfectly works all the same.

But when it is picked up, the connection opens up new meanings and implications.

This is the reason why we might want to use foreshadowing in the first place: to create a connection between the different parts of the story, strengthening the feeling of wholeness, and give a more profound sense of meaning.

Because of the active role the reader needs to play (it is mostly up to them to catch the connection), foreshadowing also enhances the involvement of the reader into the story and its internalisation.

Conclusion

There’s no fast rule in the use of foreshadowing. A large part of its application is left to the author’s ideas, devises, goals and skills.

Because of the author’s lack of control over the ability of the reader to pick up the clues, the reader might miss the connection. But then, foreshadowing is often most effective, the less apparent it is, when it plays with the elements that already constitute the story rather than introducing extraneous elements more likely to catch the reader’s attention.

But when this chemistry works, it makes the story so much richer, layered and meaningful to the reader’s experience.

How to write a character that impacts the story? By giving them not just history and character personality traits but also a strong narrative role. Create characters that leave a mark. Give them a strong desire, make them fight for it. That’s how to create memorable characters. Download The Protagonist Builder, a free worksheet and start creating your character right away.

Sarah Zama wrote her first story when she was nine. Fourteen years ago, when she started her job in a bookshop, she discovered books that address the structure of a story and she became addicted to them. Today, she’s a dieselpunk author who writes fantasy stories historically set in the 1920s. Her life-long interest in Tolkien has turned quite nerdy recently. She writes about all her passions on her blog https://theoldshelter.com/