How to Use Foreshadowing in Your Novel
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- Опубліковано 12 сер 2018
- Foreshadowing can be a great way to pull the reader through potentially boring scenes with the promise of something exciting on the horizon. In this video I go over published novels and how they use foreshadowing to keep the reader engaged.
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Why anyone would “dislike” these kinds of videos is simply beyond me.
Thank you so much for this great content! August truly is a great month. ☺️
FYI to everybody: Joe Hill is the pen name of Joe Hilstrom King, son of Stephen King. It's fair to say that he learned his craft well from his father and likely his mother Tabitha (who is also an author).
Another super useful and well structured video, thanks! I love how the tips you give in each of your videos apply to all novels universally, regardless of genre.
Another nice video! Keep up the great work!
I had forgotten how much I loved James and Giant Peach as a kid!
Amazing as always! Can't wait to see your next video!
Thanks, Ellen. You videos always give so much great advice.
I'm so happy you're posting another series of videos! I discovered your channel a few months ago and subscribed immediately. Your tips are extremely practical and to-the-point, which I really appreciate after browsing through other channels and blogs that have decent content but leave you wondering how exactly you're supposed to implement the advice. Just listening to your old Novel Boot Camp series alone helped me find a plot and direction for my story!
Another terrific and helpful video. And I'm so enjoying the books you're using as examples!
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Awesome video! Foreshadowing can be a little tricky so this was very interesting! Thank you Ellen :)
Pleased to see you posting content again, I think your content is to the point and very useful
Thank you so much for your videos. I've been working on a novel and learning how to actually do it right. You have helped me greatly. Thank you and please keep it coming. There are folks out here like me who KNOW NOTHING so your every drop of wisdom and experience help us. Thanks again. Thanks. :)
I really appreciate the examples you give after explaining. It helps so much! Thank you ='D
Thank you for your work, these videos are fantastic. Also, this channel is the first I have ever subscribed to!
This was amazing. Very clear explanation, excellent examples.
Thanks Ellen, this video was super helpful! I've been struggling with the beginning of my manuscript, feeling like I'm supposed to cut out as much setup as possible, leaving only action and drama. But you make a great point- setup is fine as long as there's something intriguing promised for later on that will keep the reader going. Now the question is how to put in the foreshadowing without giving everything away, haha.
I'll be applying all of your advice in my novel. All videos have interesting themes. Keep going pls :D
Thank you so much! Especially for pointing out the difference between the (sometimes rather fantastically ham-handed) foreshadowing in a children's book vs. what adult fiction is more likely to look like. (Also you are super pretty and have a really great voice for recording-- you're really nice to listen to.)
Loving all your topics!
Thanks again, Ellen! I love the helpful explanation and examples. :)
Everything you do is so helpful! You should totally do a podcast! I’d subscribe in a heartbeat
Thank you Ellen, so helpful 🙂
I’m still shocked they retitled the book Let Me In.
Antoine Bandele love your videos!
It's always kinda weird to see seemingly unrelated youtubers comment under each other's videos. Like some unexpected crossover😅
Super helpful, thanks!
Nice examples!
This is really good!!
This is much better than what I’ve been doing which is writing “Forebode....” at the top of a page.
Great! Thanks! I wish I could say more, but my parakeet is all over my keyboard.
Love your videos. I'm wondering, could you make a video (or a series) about the problem of underwriting? I'm definitely struggling with that.
Hi Ellen! I'm quite a newbie myself and you videos lately have been really motivating me to continue writing and i was wondering have you ever made a video about writing horror? right now i have to be honest, i'm trying to write my story to seem normal at first then the horrors come in but right now my story really sound like a comedic romance book and im not exactly sure what to do; thank you for reading, i hope to see more of your videos 💟
4 dislikes. Are people upset you aren't writing their book for them?!
oh, i'm subscribed.
how far should the foreshadowing be from what it's foreshadowing?
well it doesn't necessarily matter
you can do both, but, the fartest its gets, the harder it'll be to the readers notice it at first
Thank you. :)
Great video. By the way, have you seen Hello Future Me's video on foreshadowing?
How do you plan the foreshadowing? Is it included in the outline or after the first draft?
I’m looking for tips about foreshadowing in a story I’m working on
The setting is a fantasy world but set in the distant future (basically a mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy)
My main cast consists of five characters who are bounty hunters/mercenaries and I want to effectively foreshadow one character dying and another character losing his arm
The character who will be dying is in a romantic relationship with another member of the main cast and the character who’ll be losing his arm is an alien who is a warlock and uses a lot of magic
Does anyone have any tips or ideas on how I could foreshadow these events effectively?
i want to put in secrets like give clues to secret subplots so id write certain things only certain people will get certain things if they figure them out
Man oh man, foreshadowing is still such a difficult thing to wrap my head around. I understand the utility of it, but how to properly execute it eludes me.
For instance, in my novel there is a group of characters on a journey, a quest of sorts. One of the four is actually possessed by the story's antagonist, but you don't find this out until very near the end of the first book. He is in fact the orchestrator of the first books events giving him rise to seize power. I'm struggling to find opportunities to make the reader uneasy or suspecting of him. It's an adult fiction, sort of pg-13 if you will, and I don't want to treat my reader as if they are stupid. It's hard for me to find that fine line between giving it away and not being effective with foreshadowing at all. Help me please, Ellen!
What are the symptoms of being possessed? Does it leave a mark the character can try to hide? Does it cause angry outbursts? Does it cause the character to feel fatigued? If you create a symptom of possession, tell the reader what that symptom is, then subtly show the character being affected by the symptom, that would be an easy way to foreshadow it. Alternatively, you could have another character feel like there's something off about this possessed character but give the reader reason to attribute his/her distrust of this character to something else. Hope that helps!
Embodied forshadowing. I have a character who causes trouble for the protagonists and represents a dissident faction of the city the protagonist intends to visit.
Maybe it isn't foreshadowing, or maybe it'll turn out poorly. We'll see!
Really interesting, with some good examples! The question I get from watching this, though, is when and how NOT to use foreshadowing. Do you have any easy tips?
Mainly I recommend not foreshadowing things that are unimportant, irrelevant, or not interesting. The more you build something up, the more you need to deliver, so make sure the amount and prominence of foreshadowing isn't out of proportion to the value of the information.
Thanks, I'll try to keep that in mind :)
roseslikemusic And maybe if you want something to be a total surprise.
About 3:53, you talk about how, in Let Me In, that guy is reading about murder, while eating candy. Is the fact that he is eating candy (rather than e.g. bread or peanuts) significant to the novel overall?
That puzzled me, too!:) In the end, I think it's not the candy but the fact he's thinking, "That could have been me", which is not what a person normally would think looking at a murderer's picture.
I was thinking about something. What if i foreshadow something, letting some readers think 'ha, THIS is ging to happen' and then make happen something different? So, in practice, foreshadow something false?
Also: can foreshadowing be something a little more specific than 'ops, something is going to happen'? (well, the last example might answer my question, to be fair).
As always, excellent video!
orsettomorbido that's a red herring
So, before watching the video, going just off the title, I hate foreshadowing in stories. I'll be really engaged, foreshadowing happens, and it kills the story for me.
Now I will watch the video...
After: apparently what I hate is overt foreshadowing in adult books
"If he had been paying attention, all of the following horrible things would never have happened."
Foreshadowing seems to be just giving away little hints.