Imagine that your hero is walking backward on trail. Your hero is unable to look backward. Your hero is able to see where they have been, and remember the events that led them to this point. Your hero might hear something or feel something that guides them on the steps that they take...
The analogy above hints at how characters know their past and have no idea what the future may entail.
A writer, on the other hand, knows it all.
I have written about backstory and flashbacks. Both are story elements that point the reader to events and characters from the past. (Duh.) If you want to point the reader to the future--you can do a couple of things--outright tell them or be subtle.
These options have been named: Telegraphing (that's the telling) and foreshadowing (that's being subtle).
Foreshadowing is used in a story by 'planting' hints, letting those hints grow, and then 'showing' those hints off (or not). It can be challenging to accomplish this without becoming predictable or succumbing to cliche.
This can be accomplished by:
The analogy above hints at how characters know their past and have no idea what the future may entail.
A writer, on the other hand, knows it all.
I have written about backstory and flashbacks. Both are story elements that point the reader to events and characters from the past. (Duh.) If you want to point the reader to the future--you can do a couple of things--outright tell them or be subtle.
These options have been named: Telegraphing (that's the telling) and foreshadowing (that's being subtle).
Foreshadowing is used in a story by 'planting' hints, letting those hints grow, and then 'showing' those hints off (or not). It can be challenging to accomplish this without becoming predictable or succumbing to cliche.
This can be accomplished by:
- Pre-Scene: A smaller scene before the primary scene (flash-forward).
- Narrator Statement/Opinion: Not subtle, you tell the reader (telegraphing).
- Apprehension: The character fears something...and your reader will too.
- Showing the Reader a 'loaded gun' (Chekov's Gun): you don't show a loaded gun without having a reason.
- Prophecy (Dreams)
- Symbolic Omens
As a plot device you might choose to employ the red herring: where you hint at something happening...and then let something else happen.
Interested in learning more
Check out the Infographic Below
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