Foreshadowing and Red Herrings

Change of plans for today. I'm going to take a Free Day and just have fun.

There's no reason not to pick something to demonstrate, however. And by that I mean I get to practice something new. What should I practice today? So far I have gone over things like conflict, character development, pacing, reader immersion, voice and work-shopping help. What else would be good to go over?

Alright. I admit I have been avoiding one particular topic I don't completely understand. It is an author's tool known as foreshadowing. I have a vague understanding of its purpose, but not quite how to create and employ it. Sounds like time to research.

...

Well, I've read a little on the topic and need to try explaining it so that I can make sense of it. Foreshadowing is used to create a sense of expectancy, of anticipation of something to come, particularly a conflict or plot twist, as I understand it.

One example is writing a book where the personal growth challenge the protagonist needs to overcome is a fear of dying. To foreshadow this, we need to include clues in the character's speech, gestures and expressions of nervousness or even anger when a relative topic is brought up, avoiding thinking about death, perhaps focusing efforts on living longer or forever, or creating some sort of protection through armies, technology, or magical means.

None of these clues will be flashy or obvious. Each needs to be a hinting detail that allows the reader to come to the conclusion by putting pieces together from the mood and reactions and choice of words of your character. The character's thoughts can analyze the environment, but with moody elements in doing so, such as when a friend dies, the protagonist is focused more on worries mixed in with or even in place of sorrow.

Another way to establish the use of foreshadowing is to define its sneaky opposite: Red Herrings.

'Red herring' is a funny name for another tool in writing. It is purposefully foreshadowing to lead readers to a false expectation. Why would anyone ever want to do that to their readers? Well, its obviously because writers have a sick sense of humor. That and it is a genius way to setup plot twists.

If foreshadowing is dropping subtle clues to something very important inevitably happening, red herrings are distractions that perhaps help keep us off of what is really going on while our subconscious mind holds onto the clues for future reference. I must admit that my favorite part of reading is when I have an idea of what is going to happen at the end, what the problem is and how it will be solved, only to be hit by the big reveal that pulls that foundation out from under my feet and amazes me with an equally, if not more, rational answer.

It is one of the only times I am elated when I find out I was completely wrong. In fact, if I was right in my guesses, and I discovered I was right, I would not view the book as having a powerful story. It would feel lacking to me in the enjoyment and 'worth the read' factor.

My very favorite books are those in which I can see the end coming, I know who the real villain is, then clues make me question that and realize I was wrong, then, once I change my guesswork and am sure I now have it all figured out with a smug judgement forming that the book isn't as good as I hoped, only to find that my original guess was correct, my new guess is wrong, and the actual answer is a lot more complex than than I first thought.

That is my 'wow' factor.

If you are familiar with the concept of a paradigm shift, I believe this is a very important part of foreshadowing. The writer must conceal and reveal true and false details through the story so that the reader's perception on the story's world changes, creating new 'Aha!' moments over and over again. These are what make stories so fun!

A warning: If your actual answer, the big reveal behind the story, is not reasonable, it loses all of its kick. By 'reasonable', I don't necessarily mean possible in a real world. More accurately, I mean explainable. There have been enough tiny clues through the whole story indicating that the truth has a place in your story's reality. This is what non-'red herring' foreshadowing is for. All of the clues will come rushing back and we will say "Argh! How did I not see this coming? Its obvious!" Such interjections will immediately be followed by others like "That was so cool!" and "The writer is a literary genius!"

I don't know that I can really create an example today in a short segment of proper foreshadowing, as proper foreshadowing involves lots of clues over time. Instead I will suggest that you may find it very difficult to foreshadow if you don't know what you are foreshadowing. I would say it's impossible to foreshadow well without planning out the major plot points.

The solutions? Outline your plot, then include clues and misdirection as you write, or write your story, then go back later and add in subtle clues at appropriate parts.

Through foreshadowing and applying red herrings, you will be able to turn your adventure into an engaging guessing game that readers will love to try and fail to figure out.

On a side note, this article has completed my fourth week of blogging on the Practice Raft! Woo hoo! Hopefully this is a bit of foreshadowing of things to come and not just a red herring, but I'll leave that up to you to find out. ;)