Has anyone ever said your story’s ending wasn’t satisfying? Or maybe that the story didn’t hold the reader’s attention throughout? If so, these symptoms could be from a lack of foreshadowing. Today I’m going to go over two types of foreshadowing (with examples) and their purposes so you can use this tool to improve your story.
Definition
Foreshadowing is when a writer alludes to a point later in the story. It’s a hint about what will happen, but it’s NOT a reveal. You aren’t spoiling the story by telling the reader what will happen. You’re giving either subtle or obvious hints at what will occur. When done correctly, it draws readers further into the story and prepares them for the book’s end.
Types of Foreshadowing
There are two types of foreshadowing: overt and covert. Depending on your style of narration and what emotions you want to elicit from your readers, you will want to use one or both of these in your story.
1. Overt Foreshadowing
Ever have someone come up to you and say, “You’re never going to believe what happened to me today” and then proceed to tell you a story? That is overt foreshadowing. It doesn’t tell you what happened but hints at something to come. These types of hints are usually obvious and meant to clue the reader into a change coming in the story.
Usually, overt foreshadowing breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the reader. This only works for stories with narrators who are characters themselves. Another way that a writer can overtly foreshadow events is by having multiple POV characters and allowing one to know something another doesn’t. The reader then spends the whole book wondering when the information will come to light and cause conflict.
Purpose
The purpose of overt foreshadowing is to create anticipation and tension. In the example above, every second the speaker doesn’t tell you what unbelievable event happened is a second that builds your interest. It’s a pull that drags the reader into the story. You have to be careful with overt foreshadowing though. If you don’t give the readers answers to their questions in a timely manner, they will feel like they are being strung along and give up on reading further.
Examples
An example of the narrator dropping overt foreshadowing is in Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. The narrator, an older version of Ella, starts out the story by stating, “That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me.” Right off the bat, we see heavy overt foreshadowing about the main conflict. Another book that does this is I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter. Our main character announces on the first page that the book is a Covert Operations Report, meaning the story will include spies and something significant that required a full report. Both of these book examples use overt foreshadowing that create anticipation for the stories.
Overt foreshadowing with multiple POVs is found in The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. The book is mostly from Locke’s point of view, but Scott jumps to some others at key times to increase tension. The most obvious is near the end when the story switches to show some people setting a trap for Locke so they can arrest him. When Locke is invited to a party where the trap is set, the readers are screaming at him not to go. Yet he does, and the readers are left on the edge of their chairs as they wait for Locke to figure out it’s a trap. The foreshadowing is very effective and amps up the tension and anticipation in readers.
2. Covert Foreshadowing
Returning to our example above about someone telling you something incredible happened, let’s look at it from a covert foreshadowing side. Imagine a friend starts telling you about her day.
“I was so stressed this morning at work because Anna told me she didn’t get her part of the presentation done. She asked if I could do it before the afternoon meeting. I would have told anyone else no, but she is always so kind and helpful that I felt I needed to return the favor. So, I scrambled around all morning because I couldn’t get anyone to help me, not even my assistant who had errands to run. I was so upset and flustered that I marched into the conference room for the meeting like a hot mess only to find the entire company there with a cake and balloons for my birthday lunch.”
There is no sign at the beginning of this story to clue the listener in for a surprise. It sounds like a woman venting about her frustrating day, but, when you look back at it, you can see the subtle hints of foreshadowing about no one helping her…almost like they wanted to keep her busy. When you get to the end, it makes sense because you had hints that could be explained by the surprise birthday party.
Covert foreshowing is about subtly setting up something to come without tipping the reader off about it. You want to prepare the reader for the ending without giving away the twist. This type of foreshadowing should be in every story with a plot twist. As a general rule, you should allude to a twist at least three times before it happens. Usually, this is enough to give the readers hints that they feel they should have caught without broadcasting what will happen.
Purpose
Covert foreshadowing is done to manage reader’s expectations for a satisfying ending. You are preparing the readers emotionally for a big reveal or plot twist. If you throw a big surprise at them without preparation, they will feel betrayed (if it’s a big emotional reveal) or cheated (if a big problem was solved in a way they didn’t know was possible). If you want your readers to accept a shocking change, you need to subconsciously prepare them to accept it. They will still feel surprised, but, looking back, they’ll realize it had to happen that way.
Examples
I’m only going to give one example of covert foreshadowing as I will have to reveal a plot twist in order to do so. I’m using Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling in hopes that most have already read the books. If not, you may want to skip this example.
The big plot twist at the end of the series is how Harry’s biggest antagonist, besides Voldemort, is actually his ally. Snape is portrayed as a villain from the beginning. He’s mean to Harry, and he’s part of the group that follows Voldemort. Yet, when you look back on the story’s events, Snape isn’t really a villain.
You see him mumbling a spell while Harry is falling off his broom during a Quidditch match, and the readers assume he is cursing Harry but in reality he is helping him stay on the broom. You see the love Snape had for Harry’s mother and the hate he had for Harry’s father, and the reader assumes his hatred of one outshines his love for the other. But in the end, it’s Snape’s love for Harry’s mother that pushes him to protect her son. All the signs are in the books, but the readers are so biased against Snape with his ill temper that the foreshadowing is interpreted in a way that confirms their bias. That’s why so many people were surprised but not upset by Snape sacrificing himself for Harry. Looking back, it makes perfect sense.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to know how much foreshadowing is the right amount, but beta readers can help you find the right balance. For overt foreshadowing, if your readers feel frustrated, you aren’t giving enough answers. If they feel bored, you don’t have enough hints to pull them along. For covert foreshadowing, if your readers find the ending unsatisfying, you need to increase your subtle hints so they are better prepared for the twist. If your readers guessed the big reveal way before it happened, you might want to pull out some hints. When you do your foreshadowing right, the reader will feel pulled into the story and satisfied by the end.
Thanks for reading!
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