You know how I said, last chapter, that I would have babies with foreshadowing?

Yeah, I was serious.

Because, when foreshadowing is done well in a book I'm reading, I literally feel my uterus expand.

Too much information? Probably. Let's take it a step back.

What even is foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is when you warn your readers about something that is about to happen. This does not necessarily have to be an explicit warning, and I will discuss how there are numerous methods to foreshadowing. However, the most fundamental point about foreshadowing is that it hints at something that is about to happen within the story, well before it actually occurs.

I'm sure you've reread some of your favourite novels, and you've been like, "Whoa... the author teased us by hinting that this is going to happen! And then it did!"

Those moments are because of some beautiful foreshadowing.

Why is foreshadowing good, anyways? Like... what makes it so good, that I would literally have babies with it despite it being a literary device rather than a person? What about it makes readers all over the world drool? What about it makes Mary's Little Lamb, the Creepy Stalker, stop following children around to instead admire it?

There are two main reasons:

Whenever you have a big twist in a story, such as the reveal of a murderer or the truth about the extinction of dodo-birds, you don't want it to feel too random. Like, oh this whole story was about people travelling the world and slaying dragons and... wait, what? The dragons aren't actually dragons, but they're secretly paper plates pretending to be dragons? What?

If it is such a big, random twist, then it needs to be foreshadowed for it to be effective. That's how you make the reader squeal and be like, "Oh! That makes sense!"

For example, if we pick up a story, and the first sentence is:

The prophecy states that the protagonist will, in fact, die before she turns seventeen.

Then, dear lord, we are instantly captivated. We are terrified. Because the protagonist is sixteen, and is one week away from turning seventeen, and suddenly we just are desperately to know how she dies.

Basically, foreshadowing is your friend. Let's talk about it!

You will notice above that I have listed two distinct reasons why foreshadowing can be effective in your story: a) the twist, and b) the foreboding.

This is sort of tied into the two types of foreshadowing!

First of all, there's the This foreshadowing is as subtle as a hand grenade. The author literally tells you they are foreshadowing. They are telling you that... yo. Something is up. Be wary.

This one builds tension. It adds foreboding and a bit of excitement, because now we know something is going to happen, but it's vague enough that we want to read more. These are the types of foreshadowing that fit under this category! I've tried to make the examples fun, but dear goodness, when you don't have an actual story to foreshadow... it's tricky.

Let's pretend that there is a story about Mary Had A Little Lamb. The lamb is secretly a murderer, stalking Mary so that it can lure her into a sense of safety before it slowly rips apart her limbs with its... hooves?

This one is when the author directly addresses the reader in telling them something dangerous is about to happen.

Mary followed the lamb into the barn, eating her lollipop.

Little did she know that the lollipop would be her last meal ever.

This is when, instead of the narrator, a character tells the reader that something dangerous is about to happen.

"That lollipop will be her last meal," the lamb said. Then, cackling as demonically as a demonic lamb can cackle, he slammed the barn door shut.

For those who have read Percy Jackson, there is always that prophet who gives a bit of a rhyme to the characters, before sending them on their way. The rhyme warns them about an upcoming death, or the secret clue that they will need, or even just tell them that they cannot trust their friends.

It is directly spelled out to the reader, but it's done in a vague and twisty way that makes it difficult to predict exactly what is going to happen. We just know that something is going to happen.

Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece was white as snow

However, there is a catch

One that she will never know

He will follow her to school one day

But, from there, where do they go?

To darkness, to danger, to painful screams

And the never ending depths of sorrow

This is when the character, once again, lets you know that something bad is going to happen. However, this time, it's in their instinct. They just know something is going to happen.

As Mary followed the lamb into the barn, she felt a strange tightening in her stomach.

Something just felt wrong. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Instantly, we know something bad is going to happen. And now we are nervous for her.

What have I done to this children's rhyme?

Some authors literally tell us what is going to happen in the title.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

It tells us that we are about to read a love story in a time of cholera.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

We know someone on the Orient Express is gonna die.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Again, I wonder what happens at the end of this book!

As for my example:

Sheep Don't Follow; They Stalk

Now, those are some examples of But what in the dear name of pillow cases is

Indirect foreshadowing isn't about creating foreboding or tension. It's about giving the reader the clues they need to solve the twist of the story. However, it is done in a secret, subtle way, so that only the true detectives can really work it out, as opposed to the general audience. That way, when the reader rereads the book, they realise that you gave them so many hints to work it out -- you were just too clever and subtle about it for them to notice!

This one exists for satisfaction, as well as an explanation about the truth of your story.

How do we do it?

Now, this time, instead of the author spelling it out for the reader and telling them that something terrible is going to happen, they simply hint at it. There are a few ways this can be done:

- Symbolism. A common theme that keeps occurring in the story, that becomes relevant and makes everything come together. Whether this be the mockingjay pin foreshadowing Katniss' defiance and rebellion, or even crows appearing in stories to foreshadow death.

- Objects/People in the Wrong Place. This is basically when something just... doesn't quite seem to be in the right place. Why is the lamb at Mary's school? However, the author brushes past the weirdness, because they don't want it to be too obvious that the lamb is a murderer. Then, when the big reveal is made, the reader is like, "Ohhhh, that's why the lamb was at school! It wanted to lure Mary into its cult!"

- Weather/Setting. This is simply making the setting of the story match the events in an atmospheric way. The author makes it a quite gloomy setting, to foreshadow the misery about to come. Obviously, it's so subtle that the reader isn't really like, "Oh, there's a cloud in the sky! Something deadly is going to happen!" -- unless, of course, the reader is hysterical. Or an English teacher. And, of course, sometimes authors use the weather/setting to mislead the reader. Like, oh? Setting the story in a graveyard? We expect spooky but... nope, it's a rom-com. Okay.

Again, this is characters acting a bit strange, but nothing that really tells the reader that something is supremely wrong with them. Like, oh, this character pours the milk in before the cereal. It seems so small, but then, when we find out later that they are a psychopathic killer, everything just makes sense.

Sometimes, it's the small gestures, or even the clothes they wear, or the strange habits they have. Never seeing Edward Cullen in the sun? Hm. Odd. Maybe it's because he's a... vampire? A character always wearing gloves? Maybe it's because they are hiding the fact that they actually have hooves and is secretly Mary's stalker lamb in disguise.

Very small things that the reader doesn't really notice until it is too late.

And you know how I mentioned character instinct before? That could also play a part here, but it is more subtle. This time, instead of the author really making it obvious that something is wrong, they make it really small, like a passing remark.

As Mary followed the lamb into the barn, she felt a strange tightening in her stomach. She pushed onwards, though, reminding herself that she had skipped breakfast.

That way, the comment is made to sort of foreshadow that something is wrong, but not enough to really draw attention to it.

This time, instead of literally telling the reader what the story will be through the title, it's more subtle. It's usually more symbolic, so that as we reach the end of the story, we're like... Oh. That title makes sense now. I'm going to rattle off some titles that I've read, and trust me, you probably won't get the premise of the story from the title. Why? Because, at a first glance, the titles don't mean anything.

However, once you read the story and reach the turning point, you realise that the title was actually a clue all along.

Try guessing what these stories are about!

Things Change by Patrick Jones

Jacaranda Blue by Joy Dettman

Twilight by my queen Stephenie Meyer

The Nowhere Child by Christian White

Have fun!

How can you foreshadow something... when you don't know what's going to happen yourself?

It's like the weather man telling us a hurricane is coming when, honestly, he has no idea what the weather will be at all. He's just winging it and hoping for the best.

Plan your story if you want to include foreshadowing. You can't make a prophecy out of nothing.

Sometimes, people can accidentally write something, realise it would be good foreshadowing, and then change their story based on this. If that's how you roll, that's fine! Just be careful -- you don't want it to feel like an obvious shift in your story.

It is also not a terrible idea to wait until your second draft to start including more foreshadowing elements.

I mean, you want it to actually mean something. You don't need to foreshadow every single thing that will happen in the book. I don't need to be foreshadowed about the protagonist's toilet suddenly not working, if the toilet never appears in the book.

You want the pay-off to feel good. So you need to make sure you are foreshadowing the things that will matter and lead to this satisfaction.

I've finally slaughtered the creep. And now I'm gonna eat it.

But, for real, imagine you've got a roast lamb. How do you season it?

Well, okay, I take it back.

For those of you who actually know how to cook: how do you season it?

As someone who does love cooking, I try to season early. Before it even goes in the oven. For me, the food tastes better if you marinate it, as opposed to dumping cloves of garlic onto the lamb just before serving it.

Similarly, with your foreshadowing, you want to start early. You want to scatter and spread it out throughout the whole book, as opposed to dumping it all in one chapter. That way, as your reader reads over your story a second or third time, they are finding all these little Easter Eggs that really just tightens the story and pulls it all together.

Sometimes, as the author, we simply don't know if our foreshadowing is working. We are too familiar with our story, so when we read our story, the twists and tension just don't work the same way, because we are fully expecting each and every sentence and we are probably busy cringing over our writing because #self-critical.

So, find yourself a good friend! A good reader! And pay them with either cash or chocolate or cushions or cuddles or cauliflower, and get them to read the story over. If they find the foreshadowing overwhelming and obvious, that's something you need to dial back. If the twist makes no sense to them, then it means that things weren't quite as seamless and tight as you thought.

Duh.

See what is good in other novels. See what didn't work for you.

Learn from them.

I went from taking a month to upload a chapter to taking less than twenty-four hours. Or is it 24 hours? Or is it XXIV hours?

Why do I ask this?

I'll get that chapter to you, hopefully soon! Lots of exams. Save me.

And let me know if you have any requests! The spots are almost all taken up, because the aim is to reach 101. Hence, the title.