How To Use Foreshadowing in Your Novel Like A Master.

If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. —Anton Chekhov

This quote by Chekhov is the basis of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is a literary device that allows you to plant clues, hint at what’s to come, build the tension, or even place a red herring in your reader’s path.

You can use foreshadowing in a variety of ways. The resulting action can be immediate or delayed. Foreshadowing can feed the tension of a scene. You can use dialogue or narrative to set the scene, and you can foreshadow a symbolic event or an ethical dilemma. You can use direct or indirect foreshadowing, and it can even be true or false.

Below are when to use foreshadowing, the major turning points in your novel, tips and how to master foreshadowing.

When to Use Foreshadowing

The question that hangs on every writers mind when they are editing their own manuscript. When you want to build suspense, foreshadowing is very effective at giving small hints to your readers about what to expect. In fact, without foreshadowing, a scene may appear to come out of nowhere, jarring your readers enough to stop them cold in their tracks. You want your reader to think “Oh! That’s why he was watching her” or “I knew she shouldn’t have gone in there!”

If you’re building suspense, your foreshadowing should be more prominent, less hidden. But if you’re foreshadowing an event to come later, you want to drop little hints along the way that readers may not even consciously pick up on until the event is revealed. It will help the twist make sense to your reader, even if they are shocked by it.

The key, as with everything, is a little bit goes a long way. You don’t want to foreshadow every scene; you need to be selective about what events need a little foreshadowing.

But how do you know what to foreshadow in your story?

Foreshadow the Major Turning Points

Foreshadowing can happen at any point in your book, but there are three key narrative points where it works particularly well.

Let’s think about the story structure for a moment. Your main character’s first major turning point in your story is near the beginning when his life is changed in some essential way. Foreshadow this event so that your reader unconsciously anticipates its arrival.

Borrowing from James Scott Bell in his book Write Your Novel From the Middle, there is a point in great fiction, usually mid-way through, that your character has a “mirror moment.” She looks in the mirror, metaphorically or physically, and asks Is this the person I want to be? Is this who I really am? Foreshadow this moment. Lay the groundwork for it to make sense.

And finally, foreshadowing the climax of your story will make this moment more impactful, spurring the emotions you want your readers to feel. Think of the moment in Star Wars when Darth Vader says, “Luke, I am your father.” Do you also remember that moment earlier on when Yoda is speaking to the spirit of Obi Wan about Luke, saying: “Much anger in him, like his father”?” That’s perfectly executed foreshadowing.

Tips for Creating Foreshadowing

The first quarter to half of your story is the set-up. This is when you’re identifying your characters, painting your story’s world, and setting the stakes. Dropping hints of what’s to come in the later sections of your book will create tension and add character depth.

Be careful, though; you don’t want to give away any of your plot secrets.

You may treat foreshadowing differently depending on if you’re a planner or a seat-of-the-pants-er. If you like to plunge in and write your story straight from the muse to your fingertips, you’ll probably address foreshadowing in the revision stages. You can look back from your major turning points and see where and how you need to foreshadow it in earlier sections as you make edits.

But if you’re a planner, you can look at your story structure or your outline and determine when and where the foreshadowing needs to come in to be most effective.

Remember, if you’re building suspense, you want the foreshadowing to be more obvious, whereas if you’re preparing your reader for what’s to come, you want your foreshadowing to be almost invisible.

The earlier you can foreshadow an event, the better because it creates a stronger, more cohesive effect. And for the big turning points, you can drop smaller, lighter hints just before the payoff to remind readers of the previous foreshadowing.

An expert piece of advice is from Brian Klems, who wrote Making the Ordinary Menacing: 5 Ways for Writer’s Digest:

When you insert a hint of what’s to come, look at it critically and decide whether it’s something the reader will glide right by but remember later with an Aha! That’s foreshadowing. If instead the reader groans and guesses what’s coming, you’ve telegraphed.

Using foreshadowing can strengthen your story and how your reader experiences it.

Let’s get a discussion going below and create a list of references. Share below with me the best uses of foreshadowing you have ever read or seen.

Please post your comments and answers below. If you think someone has an interesting point of view and answer, please invite them or share this post with them.

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