Foreshadowing in Fiction, by Bruce L. Cook

In writing fiction, an author needs to plan ahead. I don't recommend completely plotting a story in granular detail, but it's always important to prepare readers for what's coming. For example, in a recent story, I described a spy looking down on a mountain village. Later, when the story called for her to use a smartphone and drugs, I went back to the opening and mentioned that she had these items in her handbag.

True, there is no requirement to foreshadow everything in a book. Any item could be key to the story's resolution. That way, when the reader encounters the item, familiarity can make the conclusion more meaningful.

Let’s assume that our tearful, uplifting conclusion involves a fierce warrior wearing blue jeans. He draws an ankle knife from its sheath, rushes ahead in his Nike Air Max shoes and slams the unwitting enemy into a radiator at the back of the room, saying gently, “Sam, I want to introduce you to this radiator.”

At some point in this story, better early than late, the reader should have been made familiar with the hero’s blue jeans, ankle knife, sheath, and expensive shoes. Further, the reader should already know that this room contains a heavy radiator.

So, when you prepare to write your conclusion, check back to be sure you have made these connections. I call them “bears” which are lurking in the woods, ready to attack later.

Do these linkages qualify as bears in the woods? They are incidentals, like props in a stage play, albeit contrived. To qualify as a “bear” something occurs earlier.

In the warrior story above, the protagonist’s lady friend could have said, “Chuck, I don’t really care what you do about Sam. Just be sure I never have to speak to him again.”

Such structural story technique may seem arbitrary, especially in an age we consider ourselves so elite, but please remember that effective storytelling didn’t start with the Internet, and tightly wrapped preparation for the conclusion can mean everything for the novel’s success.?

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