Hey everyone! This video was hell to write, but I got there in the end, QotD: how did YOU foreshadow something creatively? Let me know down below. GET ON WRITING AND WORLDBUILDING VOL II (the book with ALL the discussions we've had + tons of extra depth and detail) I linktr.ee/timhickson Stay nerdy! TIm
Hello Future Me Foreshadowing has never been my strong suit. It's always just appeared as "good writing" to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I can't identify it very well... unless it's a marval movie, then I can identify it.
Well I'm still in the planning stages of a Modern Fantasy story I want to one day right. But basically I plan on introducing about 4 main characters to form my main cast at the beginning of the story, only with one of them getting murdered at the beginning of act 2 as the main impetus for events of the narrative. I plan on foreshadowing this by first having an early scene where the main character is eating breakfast while watching the morning news, which will include a brief description of a serial killer on the loose mixed in with a bunch of other problems like protests, economic issues and the like. Then throughout act 1 I plan on having what is essentially a clock ticking down. With things like the characters agree to meet at 6, one of them being 5 minutes late and so on. Then once the subtle clock hits zero (probably with a character remarking how they are out of time to finish something) the murder will occur thus kicking off the main plot.
I sometimes used prophecies as a way to foreshadow events in the pen and paper adventures I wrote. These prophecies would normally be about the 'main storyline' of the world in which the pen and paper takes place. Certain entities or factions would be represented by symbols/animals etc. It was fun creating them like little riddles so that the players could figure out what they meant after they spent enough time and gained the right informations, without being too much of a spoiler. After that I started writing short stories about various events taking place in far away parts of the world so I could create a more lively environment and a different kind of foreshadowing. These story would lack important parts like the name of the place at which they happened and who exactly their protagonist's were. So the players only knew that, for example a rebellion was happening somewhere. PS: I found your channel when I started writing my first book. Thanks for the inspiration through videos like these. I love the On Writing and Elder Scrolls series. Hope you keep up the excellent work. Greetings from germany :)
Tim, you cause me great anguish. I have many a time intended to cry "a wizard did it!" or "hail Mishka!" only to be interrupted by visions of my friends perplexed reactions. Please become mainstream so I don't feel alone
Tolkien also had a problem with how Shakespeare handled the prophecy of that MacBeth wouldn't be vanquished until Birnham wood would come to Dunsidane castle. In MacBeth a bunch of soldiers tied tree banches to themselves as camouflage. So when Tolkien was writing The Two Towers he had the Ents conquer Isengard as a way to one up the Bard. And when GRRM was writing A Feast for Crows he had one of the characters talk about mythological talking trees, right before a bunch of Northmen wearing tree branches for camouflage ambushed them.
There is also the prophecy of "No man can kill me" about Macbeth and the Witch-King. Tolkien also disliked how McDuff was "not born of woman" due to Caesarian section. Tolkien thus had Eowyn and Merry killing his Macbeth.
Other playwrights who knew Shakespeare said that he rarely ever edited what he wrote. Writing was a job for him, which is why he released things as quickly as he could. This is also why his plays have so many useless characters and contrivances. In my opinion, he is the most overrated writer of all time.
A lot of people misunderstand Chekov’s guns as if you have a gun introduced you must fire it, when it is about if you are planning using a gun you should introduce it first. It is theatre prop advice. So people often criticize works based on speculations not happening when some introduced elements are not used. But that is a different issue.
Having unused elements is especially great for a mystery, as it can hint one character did it, but in truth being so innocuous as to not even be pointed out later.
It could work both ways, but intentionally introducing an item or a character who turn out not to be important at all i think is a case of a red herring, meant to divert the readers attention away from the real important item/characrer (which are also introduced early on but maybe not given as much attention as the red herring).
Fuck, dude, I never realized the 'peace in our time' quote was a WW2 thing. Steve must've known the reference, having grown up in the '30s and fought in the war, so that totally adds to why he's distrustful of Tony's actions. He's seen what the 'peace in our time' mentality has led to.
I swear your "A WIZARD DID IT" joke gets me every time, even when I'm expecting it it makes me laugh XD Love watching these sorts of videos, you're very interesting and entertaining to listen to!
*LIFE IS STRANGE SPOILERS AHEAD* A really interesting foreshadowing I like in Life is Strange is during Mr Jefferson's class at the start. He says "I could frame any one of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation," which perfectly sets up what is revealed about him later on. Plus small details like his vulnerable model photos hung around the school, and then later on with his mysterious relationship with Kate.
I like how Chloe's disability was foreshadowed by her car parked on 2 parking spots for disabled people and her trying to steal money from disabled fund. Serves her right.
I really like that line particularly because not only is it foreshadowing what Jefferson does to Max (and did to others), it's Jefferson _bragging._ Though technically not one, Jefferson acts like a text-book serial killer. He's charming, charismatic, hypnotic, and arrogant. He has victims, he has a "type" (victimology), he has a modus operandi, and most importantly, he has trophies. Heck, he even had a protege.
Let me just say, those have a second tangent screens are brilliant.... they force me to pause and go back in hopes of reading them out of curiosity.... when people do that you KNOW they are interested in what you say.
Spies are Forever has some of the best foreshadowing I have ever seen in my life!!! It plays so geniusly with the watchers tendency to disregard told things as just told for the effect but not ment . . .
The dead direwolf at the beginning of GoT can be seen as the "death" of the old generation and the direwolf pups represent the young generations potential.
I was really hoping for a Russian themed twist at the end! You set it up so well with the offhand prophecy of dying watching Russian propaganda and the theme returning with Putin riding his bear army.
Dude I just found your channel and I cannot even begin to tell you how helpful this is for me to flesh out my ideas. I have many ideas and putting them together in words rather than visuals is a struggle, but you are informative and well spoken. I very much appreciate everything you have put out so far and cannot wait for more. Also, "A wizard did it" is my new life motto Thank you
Probably my favorite instance of foreshadowing I've ever read was in _Fever 1793._ It's extremely subtle, since not only does it happen in the first two pages of the book, it's never explained in the story itself. The story begins right away with the main character-- Mattie, a teenage girl living in Washington-era Philadelphia-- being rudely woken up by a mosquito buzzing around her and hitting her head when she jumps from it biting her. Special attention is given to this in the line: "I sat back down, wide awake now, my noggin sporting two lumps-- one from the ceiling, one from the mosquito." The bite is significant, of course, because yellow fever is/was spread by mosquitoes, and Mattie contracted yellow fever and nearly died. It's brilliantly subtle, however, because at no point in the story is it _explained_ that yellow fever was spread through mosquitoes. Everyone thought it was spread through the air or from drinking bad water. At no point in the story is there a breakthrough discovery of how or why someone gets yellow fever; the breakthrough is simply that fevers broke and the epidemic ended when the frost arrived. Nowhere is the cause of yellow fever given until the very last pages of the book, and in the appendix rather than the book itself. Without outside knowledge of how yellow fever is contracted before reading the book, the reader gets a good sense of the same mystery and panic as many characters in the book, since no one knew where this epidemic was coming from, how people were catching it, why it was happening, and especially not how to treat it. Anyone could get sick-- parents, doctors, even small children-- and die from it at any time. And if you _do_ know how yellow fever spreads before reading the book and _do_ notice and remember Mattie's mosquito bite in the very beginning, it still gives you an immense amount of tension because, despite caring for sick family members throughout the entire book, Mattie is one of the last people to get sick. You'll spend the whole book waiting for Mattie to get sick, and in that time, you watch countless others around her get sick and die, not only increasing the impact but upping the stakes. Though maybe I just have good memories of this particular piece of foreshadowing, since I was the only one to ever notice or point it out to my 8th grade English teacher after she'd been doing lessons on this book for years and got a whole lotta praise for it.
A smal critic I have.. is that the author's name is Anton Pavlovich Chekov.. or just Anton Chekov. Pavlovich means he's the son of Pavel. Aside from that, it really bothers me whenever I see a writer or a film takes the time to show a trope or let's say a tool or weapon that can solve the conflict. Then ignores it.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." This line is more about... (Spoiler Alert!) Batman. At the end of the movie he is framed for crimes he didn't commit, so he willingly becomes the common enemy of Gotham in order to unite its people.
Well, it also relates to Harvey Dent, since, due to Batman saving his life, he ends up becoming the villain. Then later he dies and becomes a hero in the eyes of the people. The quote actually sets up a pretty cool duality that surrounds the two heroes.
It's a beautiful play on words...foreshadowing both and at the same time illustrating both ways that may happen--an internal shift a la Dent and an external shift in which you 'see yourself' becoming the villain (in the eyes of others) but are not actually the villain--the perfect motif to embody the theme of 'two face'/two sides of the same coin.
i foreshadow though relationships (Note: i'm writing a military mystery thriller) people's wants, and believes foreshadows their other selves aka the identity of the civilian should closely match the identity of the man behind the gun. The civilian life should impact or influence the war life. and vise versa
"And lo and behold, the next episode: *Fish Giant Karate-Chop!!!*" That was hilarious, maybe more for me than many others, because I studied traditional Chinese Kung Fu for many years, and we had several inside jokes about us secretly being a Ninja school and others involving Karate-chops.
You can still foreshadow in a co-op fic - you just have to be prepared for it to not go where you expected. Foreshadowing in a first draft is always tentative and/or conditional - it's one of those things that's much easier to get right in a rewrite/edit pass.
I’m aware that it’s possible, I just mean that I’ve never really tried to implement it simply because the story is so chaotic it’s almost impossible to predict anything. It’s more fun that way too
I remember listening to Johnny Sims talked about how he didn't like Chekhov's gun as a requirement. From what I remember, he said something along the lines of "If you don't use the gun, how it's described can describe the character that owns that gun. Is it a new hunting rifle? A pistol?" And I like that idea. Environment of a character can foreshadow something in a way similar to Chekhov's gun. Idk, just a neat little thing I remembered.
That feels more like a “No shit Sherlock” fact. A character’s possessions describe who they are. Well, duh. Forget fiction, you could probably get a very good idea of a total stranger’s character by looking at their room.
Perfectly on point. Each aspiring writer should watch your "on writing" videos, they are so great and filled to the brim with vital tips. Thanks a lot, Tim!
I love symbolism and forshadowing by how people see eachother. Statements directed to someone actualy ment for someone else. Meaningful red herrings, names beeing important.
Hello again, Tim, Great video! Though I’m not a writer, I always enjoy these videos and find them extremely educational. As for a time I used foreshadowing, I don’t have an example from writing, but I do have a rather humorous example of foreshadowing/irony from real life... While applying to colleges, I once joked around with my friends about this one college with the highest suicide rate in the nation that was actually built on top of cliff... I am now attending that college, and I’ve been laughing at myself ever since.
Foreshadowing is one of my favorite tools. Like seriously, I love it, and it helps me see an end to a story that I'm writing and gives me motivation to tie the ends together
Anytime I have trouble figuring out how to write anything in any context, this is the channel I come to. There's always a quality video telling me how to foreshadow a fight scene at the end of a chapter that will leave the reader wanting the finale they'll never get because it's a cliff-hanger to be resolved in book two when the chosen one rocks up on the scene 😂😂😂. Seriously though, thanks for all the awesome and thorough analysis and tutorials on some of the best parts of writing! You're the best.
I used foreshadowing without knowing it. I'm writing a story about a murderer who comes off at first, to be cold blooded but he saves someone who showed him compassion despite the danger. In the later parts of the story, it's about him struggling between morality and logic. Either to save others despite the risk that poses to his own survival or let them die as planned to survive. (spoilers: He saves them)
A great example of foreshadowing is in Fantastic Four where Doom says humanity should go extinct and later when he gets his powers he uses them to end the human race... That is what I call "Fantastic Fourshadowing" okay I'll go now.......
I've been listening to the prequel novellas to GoT that are set during the Tagarien (IDK how to write that name) rule. I think one of the best foreshadowing dreams was in the first story, where one of the Targariens who is known to have prophetic dreams sees a Dragon slain on top of the main character. There are five Targariens in the story at that point but we are only paying attention to three of them, mainly because two of them are on the main character's side. It makes you realise the more it goes on that something is very wrong that the dream hasn't come through and the payoff is brilliant.
i'm not sure if this would really count as foreshadowing or just general tension building, but if in a story, you repeatedly have your hero struggle with something, like a particular skill or item, only to have them pull through with using it at the crucial "do or die" moment, that can be really powerful if done right (and not like how every shonen anime seems to use it more like handing out new powerups)
I will be most certainly giving you guys credit when my book is done... you put so much that i intrinsically knew into perspective. I now feel more capable of properly structure the work in a more professional manner
Oh yes, I'm glad you mentioned The Prestige. I feel like it's great on all fronts when it comes to foreshadowing, and all in the first 10 minutes (the birds, the hats, the water tank, etc).
Writing a semi post apocalyptic comic for personal enjoyment and one of my favorite foreshadowing moments was when I first introduced an army earlier on in the first story that didn’t seem that big because that group wasn’t with their main group, but turns out that in the second that there an entire military industrial complex and that their a huge factor in the second comic, another I’ve been enjoying is planting a vauge hint in the first that one character likes the other but not following up on that beat until the third comic
I need to like this video three times at least. I've always struggled with foreshadowing. In my writing, in identifying it on other works, and in following it properly. I am very grateful for how you have clearly explained what foreshadowing does to the story.
I'm writing a book and until now I couldn't figure out how to foreshadow some important things without being too obvious, so this video was REALLY helpful. Actually, all your On Writing videos have been helping me a lot, I can't thank you enough. I promise that when my book is published you will have an especial section in the acknowledgments. -Greetings from Mexico. Ps. I'm also a great fan of your Avatar TLA and LOK videos. You're amazing.
3:49 the "something much heavier hit the floor" is not only in the sound, but also in how the ring moves/settles down. too quickly, no bounce, almost immediately still. it is a beautiful moment, yes, it's literally the ring weighing at least 10 kilos (and I believe it was not supposed to be just a metaphor, I believe the intention was "the ring literally changed itself to weigh that much, to settle at the precise spot where Bilbo released it, affixed itself to the ground to be there in the case Bilbo's resolve breaks and he returns to get it), and it is one of the most beautiful examples of subtle/invisible/subconscious VFX that I know of, because I damn well bet you it WAS an sfx, and they spent at least 1 manday thinking about how it should look and how to achieve that look. And then 1 to 2 more mandays to actually achieve it, just tweaking values back and forth by fractions (not including making the model for the ring, which they already had because of the previous scenes).
Hello! Love your videos. When it came to foreshadowing especially in the first chapter, I used my main character cleaning their house and chasing lesser spirits out of it, showing the problems magic and strange beings will have in the story to come and how knowledgeable the people are of it. At the same time, I had my protagonist use magic to help cook showing it will also be helpful throughout the rest of the series.
I’m writing a story where, in the whole first chapter and half of the second chapter, the aristocratic protagonist is hiding a lower-class boy in his attic until he heals of his wounds. In one scene, I make sure to emphasize the closing of the trapdoor to clue the reader in to the fact that it will be left open for someone to find the attic later.
These are the videos that made me subscribe to this channel, you explain writing in an awesome way, I really like how you make it very clear what you are talking about by giving the little summary in the beginning, it makes everything clearer. Keep up the good work
I love your on writing videos so much. I would LOVE for you to make an on writing video about Christopher Nolan movies/his screenwriting techniques. His movies are so unique and complex that I bet you would have a fun time dissecting them. Memento, Inception, The Prestige, etc... !
About Harvey Dent's foreshadowing, I think more than a foreshadowing that we were supposed not to know but we knew all the same, it also worked as an easter egg for those who knew what was going to happen to go " I understand that reference". It works as a foreshadowing to people who didn´t know, and as easter egg to those who do. Which is kinda cool.
I hadn’t actually thought about how I was going to use foreshadowing before, as I’d planned on getting the basic main themeline mapped out before focusing on specific techniques, but my current primary WIP is centred on character encounters, so I’ll try and have some characters cropping up multiple times unexpectedly. Also one of my mc quartet has a brother who doesn’t go on the adventure with them bc he can’t walk and wants to set up a career as a merchant, but I think I’m going to have him crop up somewhere in Act2 to get them out of trouble with the Granite Empire
Great video once again, I especially liked the way you broke down every little detail about foreshadowing. I forshadowed by letting a character, unknown, show up and give a throw away line that implies that he knows the capabilities of the MC, aka he bets all his money on him. The MC himself doesn't know that (Writing a vigilante story, that section i mentioned rn is a Fight Club-ish tournament with bets on the participants)
Dude. I'm teaching Macbeth to my students this term, and I am DEFINITELY using this video to discuss foreshadowing in more detail (obviously, it will be at the end of the unit - spoiillllllleeerrrrrrrrrsssss!!). Thanks SO MUCH for all the amazing content you post! You're definitely one of my favourite channels out there.
I’m writing a prologue in which the protagonist is watching a play. The play is both a Chekhov’s gun and a prophecy, as any play written by the playwright Oracle tends to manifest itself in some way.
Rowling did very well in foreshadowing events in later books with a single line, such as "a heavy lidded locket that no one could open" in OOtP, and Dumbledore being described as having a momentary look of victory in GoF after being told Voldemort took Harry's blood.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this video. It helped me realize why certain plot twists have irritated me in the past, it was because of a lack of foreshadowing - even subtle foreshadowing. First example that comes to mind is Hans turning villain in Frozen, there was zero foreshadowing for that event. In fact, there was what appeared to be foreshadowing of other events that never happened; the picture of an evil troll in the king's book feels like an unfired Chekov gun.
Speaking of foreshadowing, I’ve forshadowed a few things in my series. Thus far, very few things have come out, but one such thing that isn’t a major spoiler is where a character makes robotic bugs with stingers. Later on, it’s revealed that the bugs were taking DNA from our heroes in order for the villain to make clones. ... *spoiler ahead.* This is brought up again when you find that another character uses the same method... There’s more on that which would help it make sense, but that would mean a huge exposition dump, and no one wants to read those XD
Foreshadowing I've used: In a story I wrote, once upon a time, I had a guy watching one army getting wiped out by another, but still keep charging on, even though it was hopeless, and say to himself, "wow, what could possibly possess someone to do that." And then he found himself in a position later on where he had to do that, and busted up laughing over it as he was charging enemy bullets. In that same story I had characters talking about an extra moon that used to be there hundreds of years ago, but disappeared, and no one knew why. It turns out later that the moon was crushed down to the size of an electron to create an artificial black hole, that was, indirectly, the main cause of basically everything in the story.
Really enjoyed this video. Can I just say that the peaceful, soft music works really well with all the information you managed to put in this video? Made it balanced. Had you chosen upbeat, fast paced music I would have had a harder time consuming all of the information because my brain would have been too busy also consuming the music!
Awesome video on craft writing advice, cheers! I've recently read your 1st 'On Writing & Worldbuilding' book, & it was great too (highlighted lots, and will take notes soon)
Good watch thank you. I've got a few thousand years of story arc planned with some very long lived characters (not elves) and this will be a very fun way to write that I'll need to incorporate.
Thanks for the video. This was great.❤ One way I chose to foreshadow is that my character will be a top tier inventor and trapper (in monster hunting) by the time he's grown up. So in chapter two, he is revealed to be a wood carver that creates squirl traps and the first clock to set up or foreshadow his strengths.
I haven't written anything substantial before, but I think a great example and excellent use of foreshadowing, is the Dragonet Phrophecy from the series wings of fire. (I'm sure you'd enjoy it as it's mainly focused on dragons if you haven't already read it). The prophecy is constantly alluded to, and is used as a baseline for why certain characters take risks, and it's used well for a slightly obvious twist around book 4. I highly recommend checking it out it hits all the points you made in this video.
One of my favorite examples of “irregular action” is in Warbreaker, when the normally gruff and blunt Vasher starts talking about the World’s magic system like a scientist (or scholar), foreshadowing that he’s much more than he seems.
Chekov's Gun is applied to theater and not necessarily books/movies. Although it is always important to have introduced devices that become very important later on, it is supposed to apply to the stage where details are scarce and props inherently need purpose.
I’ve gone the prophecy route, myself. I have a character, the younger sister of the main twins, who can see the future... so, I use that to drop hints about my final battle. I feel there’re better examples as the whole prophecy route, as you mentioned, is super explicit and kind of an edge case for the phenomenon you described.
Right now I'm working on a story with a strange cosmology, which I was going to reveal in a prologue, but I changed my mind and instead it's going to be a crazy plot twist near the end. I'm working really hard to foreshadow it hard, but without giving it away. I just hope I can pull it off!
I feel that the “the bigger the event, the more foreshadowing” actually made a lot of sense. Take the Red Wedding in the ASOIAF books. Man, upon a reread there are soooooo many signs😂
Personally, my favourite example of foreshadowing is Lucky Number Slevin. It starts feeling like a parody of crime films but half way through shifts tones just before the plot twist begins to be revealed.
oh, those first 18 seconds of this video are flawless. made me literally laugh out loud. nice one :) also the inception hornpunch at the end was a nice touch.
I’m still in the process of writing this one but I think I can still use this to answer your question at the end In my story thorns of chaos, (chapter 8 or nine-ish) she find a store in Diagon alley, and a necklace that she had from before she died and was reincarnated. But in a brief third person POV scene, The store, the woman inside of it basically everything disappears except for the necklace, Except the woman vanishes in a rainbow light(foreshadowing Asgard) But also (because it’s from her past) it’s foreshadowing that her past will have an effect on her present. And the “warm feeling” she gets from it is foreshadowing it’s power as a protection spell (which will end up saving Syrus black) And the green light that triggers when the protection spell is active (being the same color as her magic) is foreshadowing that they both have the same origin The necklace being a protection spell for her And her being the daughter of Loki/princess of Asgard (People have asked me if I ever do a simple plot I asked what’s simple?)
How early do you think a change in a character's perspective should be foreshadowed? I'm writing a character that becomes less angry and violent as he gets more powerful. Instead of aiming for mass genocide of the enemy country, he realizes that violence won't make things right and tries to stop the war. Only at the peak of his power he understands this. I want to come to this point through character growth but I feel like adding some foreshadowing will do it justice. Whatever advice I can get is welcome!
I’m definitely not an expert, but I’d say probably with little actions that seem slightly out of character, like in ATLA when Iroh defends Zuko from Zhao and Zuko shows that he’s really touched by it, foreshadowing his redemption arc through his relationship with his uncle
There's a distinction between light and heavy foreshadowing that I didn't get into in the video. Lights means it happens near the event, while heavy means it happens a long time before the event. For as consequential a change as you are making it sound, this needs to be foreshadowed from the beginning (especially if this happens at the climax of the story). ~ Tim
Hey man, I've been a fan for a long while now. I just wanted to give some feedback regarding these videos, as I find them really engaging up until you put the large bodies of texts on screen. I think having a condensed version of what you're saying vs exactly what you're saying might help visually. Or maybe just have some more examples playing on screen. Overall I love listening to these videos, keep it up
I can't believe I'm only now finding your channel. This stuff is gold. I watched another video and you mentioned being in Wattpad, but I can't find you
One of my leads is a performer and a storyteller and she keeps telling the stories of the adventures her and her friends go on but exaggerating them and adding to them to make them spicier and I've been able to do some good foreshadowing that way.
Great video, for me the best use of foreshadowing is in Shaun of the Dead, where a lot of the movie is foreshadowed in early scenes; Hot Fuzz did it as well but that was more foreshadowing of the next scene as a more in your face example
Spoiler For Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood My favourite foreshadowing was in fullmetal alchemist. King Bradley tells the Ishvalan to not beg god to kill him but to do that themselves, at the end the sun (represents god) shines on his sword and blinds him leaving him open for the deadly blow that kills him.
I like to intreduce the idea of a mechanic or event happening through myths or let it happen befor on a lesser scale. Two characters merge to resolve the final conflict it can just Happen. First objects merge, the idea of people and objects merging is intruduced, but gets argued about, later one already knowen character is revieled to consist of two seperat ones so how it works and what rules it folowes is well flashed out befor the final twist happens and therefor it is prevented to feel like deus ex machina
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Hey everyone! This video was hell to write, but I got there in the end, QotD: how did YOU foreshadow something creatively? Let me know down below. GET ON WRITING AND WORLDBUILDING VOL II (the book with ALL the discussions we've had + tons of extra depth and detail) I linktr.ee/timhickson
Stay nerdy!
TIm
Hello Future Me
Foreshadowing has never been my strong suit. It's always just appeared as "good writing" to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I can't identify it very well... unless it's a marval movie, then I can identify it.
Well I'm still in the planning stages of a Modern Fantasy story I want to one day right. But basically I plan on introducing about 4 main characters to form my main cast at the beginning of the story, only with one of them getting murdered at the beginning of act 2 as the main impetus for events of the narrative. I plan on foreshadowing this by first having an early scene where the main character is eating breakfast while watching the morning news, which will include a brief description of a serial killer on the loose mixed in with a bunch of other problems like protests, economic issues and the like.
Then throughout act 1 I plan on having what is essentially a clock ticking down. With things like the characters agree to meet at 6, one of them being 5 minutes late and so on. Then once the subtle clock hits zero (probably with a character remarking how they are out of time to finish something) the murder will occur thus kicking off the main plot.
I'd love a video on Deus ex Machina.
I sometimes used prophecies as a way to foreshadow events in the pen and paper adventures I wrote. These prophecies would normally be about the 'main storyline' of the world in which the pen and paper takes place. Certain entities or factions would be represented by symbols/animals etc. It was fun creating them like little riddles so that the players could figure out what they meant after they spent enough time and gained the right informations, without being too much of a spoiler. After that I started writing short stories about various events taking place in far away parts of the world so I could create a more lively environment and a different kind of foreshadowing. These story would lack important parts like the name of the place at which they happened and who exactly their protagonist's were. So the players only knew that, for example a rebellion was happening somewhere.
PS: I found your channel when I started writing my first book. Thanks for the inspiration through videos like these. I love the On Writing and Elder Scrolls series. Hope you keep up the excellent work.
Greetings from germany :)
Hello Future Me
Thanks for all the great content, I have my exams coming up so these are amazing for revision.
I hope nothing happens to Anakin's leg and arm.
If he stays on the high ground, he should be fine.
If something does happen, I blame sand.
Clearly a red herring.
“I swear Anakin, one of these days you’re going to be the death of me” - Obi-wan Kenobi
But who cares about the rest of him. I doubt it's important.
Imagine a story where it's made clear early that A Wizard Did It... but the plot is figuring out which one and why.
That sounds like a Terry Pratchett novel.
~ Tim
I might have to look more into that soon.
...Sorcery!
Sounds like half of the Dresden Files books
could argue that's human existence, it was all god... but we're figuring out science :)
Tim, you cause me great anguish. I have many a time intended to cry "a wizard did it!" or "hail Mishka!" only to be interrupted by visions of my friends perplexed reactions. Please become mainstream so I don't feel alone
+
HAIL MISHKA!
ALL HAIL MISHKA
A wizard did it!!!
Have to smile every time "A WIZARD DID IT!" appears :'D
I can't get enough of Gandalf Jazz.
1 hour version perhaps someone?
@@joelharrison4654 ruclips.net/video/6ktnrKG8uq4/видео.html
Tolkien also had a problem with how Shakespeare handled the prophecy of that MacBeth wouldn't be vanquished until Birnham wood would come to Dunsidane castle. In MacBeth a bunch of soldiers tied tree banches to themselves as camouflage. So when Tolkien was writing The Two Towers he had the Ents conquer Isengard as a way to one up the Bard. And when GRRM was writing A Feast for Crows he had one of the characters talk about mythological talking trees, right before a bunch of Northmen wearing tree branches for camouflage ambushed them.
Fakjbf ...
So are sentient trees going in and out of hoax-dom officially a literary meme?
In fairness I don’t think it would have worked if shakespeare introduced sentient trees 😂
There is also the prophecy of "No man can kill me" about Macbeth and the Witch-King. Tolkien also disliked how McDuff was "not born of woman" due to Caesarian section. Tolkien thus had Eowyn and Merry killing his Macbeth.
Other playwrights who knew Shakespeare said that he rarely ever edited what he wrote. Writing was a job for him, which is why he released things as quickly as he could. This is also why his plays have so many useless characters and contrivances. In my opinion, he is the most overrated writer of all time.
A lot of people misunderstand Chekov’s guns as if you have a gun introduced you must fire it, when it is about if you are planning using a gun you should introduce it first. It is theatre prop advice. So people often criticize works based on speculations not happening when some introduced elements are not used. But that is a different issue.
Having unused elements is especially great for a mystery, as it can hint one character did it, but in truth being so innocuous as to not even be pointed out later.
It can still feel unsatisfying when an element introduced is not used. Or if a mystery has only red herrings and no clues.
Right on point.
~ Tim
It could work both ways, but intentionally introducing an item or a character who turn out not to be important at all i think is a case of a red herring, meant to divert the readers attention away from the real important item/characrer (which are also introduced early on but maybe not given as much attention as the red herring).
Yes! This is so true. It's not about using what you've established, it's about establishing what you're going to use.
"Putin arriving with an army of bears" sounds like it has repetition potential.
Red Alert 3 has soviet bear paratroopers.
Chekhov's name is Anton. Pavlovitch is patronymic, meaning his father's name is Pavel.
So you're telling me... He's the son of Pavel Chekhov? Ensign on the Enterprise under Captain Kirk?
@@johannageisel5390 well yes, but actually no
It is vice-versa i guess
Fuck, dude, I never realized the 'peace in our time' quote was a WW2 thing. Steve must've known the reference, having grown up in the '30s and fought in the war, so that totally adds to why he's distrustful of Tony's actions. He's seen what the 'peace in our time' mentality has led to.
F*ck appeasement, all my Czechoslovak homies hate appeasement.
Not to mention all the trauma he had to go through in winter soldier. Its normal he didn't want to trust anyone
I swear your "A WIZARD DID IT" joke gets me every time, even when I'm expecting it it makes me laugh XD
Love watching these sorts of videos, you're very interesting and entertaining to listen to!
*LIFE IS STRANGE SPOILERS AHEAD* A really interesting foreshadowing I like in Life is Strange is during Mr Jefferson's class at the start. He says "I could frame any one of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation," which perfectly sets up what is revealed about him later on. Plus small details like his vulnerable model photos hung around the school, and then later on with his mysterious relationship with Kate.
Can someone help me find my jaw?
I think I dropped it.
I like how Chloe's disability was foreshadowed by her car parked on 2 parking spots for disabled people and her trying to steal money from disabled fund. Serves her right.
I really like that line particularly because not only is it foreshadowing what Jefferson does to Max (and did to others), it's Jefferson _bragging._ Though technically not one, Jefferson acts like a text-book serial killer. He's charming, charismatic, hypnotic, and arrogant. He has victims, he has a "type" (victimology), he has a modus operandi, and most importantly, he has trophies. Heck, he even had a protege.
Let me just say, those have a second tangent screens are brilliant.... they force me to pause and go back in hopes of reading them out of curiosity.... when people do that you KNOW they are interested in what you say.
*a wizard did it*
*gandalf appears for one second*
But why?
Foreshadowing is honestly one of my most favorite things in Storytelling! Thanks for this amazing video explaining it, Tim! :)
Spies are Forever has some of the best foreshadowing I have ever seen in my life!!! It plays so geniusly with the watchers tendency to disregard told things as just told for the effect but not ment . . .
@@SingingSealRiana i did NOT expect a mention of a starkid affiliated show in this random corner of youtube.
The dead direwolf at the beginning of GoT can be seen as the "death" of the old generation and the direwolf pups represent the young generations potential.
I was really hoping for a Russian themed twist at the end! You set it up so well with the offhand prophecy of dying watching Russian propaganda and the theme returning with Putin riding his bear army.
Anton Chekhov was russian too!
But: It wasn't Russian propaganda, it was communist propaganda.
talk about set-up and no payoff ... jk, tim is awesome
The twist is happening right now
Dude I just found your channel and I cannot even begin to tell you how helpful this is for me to flesh out my ideas. I have many ideas and putting them together in words rather than visuals is a struggle, but you are informative and well spoken. I very much appreciate everything you have put out so far and cannot wait for more. Also, "A wizard did it" is my new life motto
Thank you
Probably my favorite instance of foreshadowing I've ever read was in _Fever 1793._ It's extremely subtle, since not only does it happen in the first two pages of the book, it's never explained in the story itself. The story begins right away with the main character-- Mattie, a teenage girl living in Washington-era Philadelphia-- being rudely woken up by a mosquito buzzing around her and hitting her head when she jumps from it biting her. Special attention is given to this in the line: "I sat back down, wide awake now, my noggin sporting two lumps-- one from the ceiling, one from the mosquito." The bite is significant, of course, because yellow fever is/was spread by mosquitoes, and Mattie contracted yellow fever and nearly died. It's brilliantly subtle, however, because at no point in the story is it _explained_ that yellow fever was spread through mosquitoes. Everyone thought it was spread through the air or from drinking bad water. At no point in the story is there a breakthrough discovery of how or why someone gets yellow fever; the breakthrough is simply that fevers broke and the epidemic ended when the frost arrived. Nowhere is the cause of yellow fever given until the very last pages of the book, and in the appendix rather than the book itself. Without outside knowledge of how yellow fever is contracted before reading the book, the reader gets a good sense of the same mystery and panic as many characters in the book, since no one knew where this epidemic was coming from, how people were catching it, why it was happening, and especially not how to treat it. Anyone could get sick-- parents, doctors, even small children-- and die from it at any time. And if you _do_ know how yellow fever spreads before reading the book and _do_ notice and remember Mattie's mosquito bite in the very beginning, it still gives you an immense amount of tension because, despite caring for sick family members throughout the entire book, Mattie is one of the last people to get sick. You'll spend the whole book waiting for Mattie to get sick, and in that time, you watch countless others around her get sick and die, not only increasing the impact but upping the stakes.
Though maybe I just have good memories of this particular piece of foreshadowing, since I was the only one to ever notice or point it out to my 8th grade English teacher after she'd been doing lessons on this book for years and got a whole lotta praise for it.
A smal critic I have.. is that the author's name is Anton Pavlovich Chekov.. or just Anton Chekov.
Pavlovich means he's the son of Pavel.
Aside from that, it really bothers me whenever I see a writer or a film takes the time to show a trope or let's say a tool or weapon that can solve the conflict. Then ignores it.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
This line is more about...
(Spoiler Alert!)
Batman. At the end of the movie he is framed for crimes he didn't commit, so he willingly becomes the common enemy of Gotham in order to unite its people.
Well, it also relates to Harvey Dent, since, due to Batman saving his life, he ends up becoming the villain. Then later he dies and becomes a hero in the eyes of the people. The quote actually sets up a pretty cool duality that surrounds the two heroes.
It can be two things.
@@Entertekken Harvey became a villain within himself, Batman became a villain publicly, the phrase applies to both.
It's a beautiful play on words...foreshadowing both and at the same time illustrating both ways that may happen--an internal shift a la Dent and an external shift in which you 'see yourself' becoming the villain (in the eyes of others) but are not actually the villain--the perfect motif to embody the theme of 'two face'/two sides of the same coin.
I actually love that quote in that movie, because it kind of ironically foreshadow of Harvey dent’s descent into villainy.
...whether it be tonal shifts, plot twists, THE ULTIMATE CHANGE CHANGES, or climatic resultions.
yeah, i saw that too
i foreshadow though relationships (Note: i'm writing a military mystery thriller)
people's wants, and believes foreshadows their other selves
aka the identity of the civilian should closely match the identity of the man behind the gun.
The civilian life should impact or influence the war life. and vise versa
Mystery and military have never been genres I’ve really been into, but that sounds really intriguing
Out of curiosity, are you familiar with Django Wexler's THE THOUSAND NAMES series?
Interesting...
"And lo and behold, the next episode: *Fish Giant Karate-Chop!!!*"
That was hilarious, maybe more for me than many others, because I studied traditional Chinese Kung Fu for many years, and we had several inside jokes about us secretly being a Ninja school and others involving Karate-chops.
I write a lot, but it’s more cooperative fanfiction with some other people than actual, structured story so I haven’t really foreshadowed ever
You can still foreshadow in a co-op fic - you just have to be prepared for it to not go where you expected.
Foreshadowing in a first draft is always tentative and/or conditional - it's one of those things that's much easier to get right in a rewrite/edit pass.
I’m aware that it’s possible, I just mean that I’ve never really tried to implement it simply because the story is so chaotic it’s almost impossible to predict anything. It’s more fun that way too
I remember listening to Johnny Sims talked about how he didn't like Chekhov's gun as a requirement. From what I remember, he said something along the lines of "If you don't use the gun, how it's described can describe the character that owns that gun. Is it a new hunting rifle? A pistol?" And I like that idea. Environment of a character can foreshadow something in a way similar to Chekhov's gun. Idk, just a neat little thing I remembered.
That feels more like a “No shit Sherlock” fact. A character’s possessions describe who they are. Well, duh. Forget fiction, you could probably get a very good idea of a total stranger’s character by looking at their room.
Perfectly on point. Each aspiring writer should watch your "on writing" videos, they are so great and filled to the brim with vital tips. Thanks a lot, Tim!
"Putin arriving with an army of bears."
This sounds like the single best idea for the macguffin final battle ending. Someone do this.
I love symbolism and forshadowing by how people see eachother. Statements directed to someone actualy ment for someone else. Meaningful red herrings, names beeing important.
Hello again, Tim,
Great video! Though I’m not a writer, I always enjoy these videos and find them extremely educational. As for a time I used foreshadowing, I don’t have an example from writing, but I do have a rather humorous example of foreshadowing/irony from real life...
While applying to colleges, I once joked around with my friends about this one college with the highest suicide rate in the nation that was actually built on top of cliff...
I am now attending that college, and I’ve been laughing at myself ever since.
For shadowing has got to be the best part about writing, it's so fun to put little clues throughout the story.
I spent the last 2 days finishing LotR so I could follow your videos more
Totally worth it
Foreshadowing is one of my favorite tools. Like seriously, I love it, and it helps me see an end to a story that I'm writing and gives me motivation to tie the ends together
Anytime I have trouble figuring out how to write anything in any context, this is the channel I come to. There's always a quality video telling me how to foreshadow a fight scene at the end of a chapter that will leave the reader wanting the finale they'll never get because it's a cliff-hanger to be resolved in book two when the chosen one rocks up on the scene 😂😂😂. Seriously though, thanks for all the awesome and thorough analysis and tutorials on some of the best parts of writing! You're the best.
I used foreshadowing without knowing it.
I'm writing a story about a murderer who comes off at first, to be cold blooded but he saves someone who showed him compassion despite the danger.
In the later parts of the story, it's about him struggling between morality and logic. Either to save others despite the risk that poses to his own survival or let them die as planned to survive. (spoilers: He saves them)
Where can I read this story???
One piece (by oda) is otherworldly in foreshadowing
Throughout the whole video all I kept thinking how Oda has mastered foreshadowing and subtly dropping details.
I can't help feeling there was something Strange about some of the clips in this video. Oh well, I guess that's just how Life Is...
Less time than it took to type.
@rmsgrey maybe but honestly I have seen stranger things
A great example of foreshadowing is in Fantastic Four where Doom says humanity should go extinct and later when he gets his powers he uses them to end the human race...
That is what I call "Fantastic Fourshadowing"
okay I'll go now.......
This pun is better than the whole movie ^^
I've been listening to the prequel novellas to GoT that are set during the Tagarien (IDK how to write that name) rule. I think one of the best foreshadowing dreams was in the first story, where one of the Targariens who is known to have prophetic dreams sees a Dragon slain on top of the main character. There are five Targariens in the story at that point but we are only paying attention to three of them, mainly because two of them are on the main character's side. It makes you realise the more it goes on that something is very wrong that the dream hasn't come through and the payoff is brilliant.
i'm not sure if this would really count as foreshadowing or just general tension building, but if in a story, you repeatedly have your hero struggle with something, like a particular skill or item, only to have them pull through with using it at the crucial "do or die" moment, that can be really powerful if done right (and not like how every shonen anime seems to use it more like handing out new powerups)
I will be most certainly giving you guys credit when my book is done... you put so much that i intrinsically knew into perspective. I now feel more capable of properly structure the work in a more professional manner
Oh yes, I'm glad you mentioned The Prestige. I feel like it's great on all fronts when it comes to foreshadowing, and all in the first 10 minutes (the birds, the hats, the water tank, etc).
Writing a semi post apocalyptic comic for personal enjoyment and one of my favorite foreshadowing moments was when I first introduced an army earlier on in the first story that didn’t seem that big because that group wasn’t with their main group, but turns out that in the second that there an entire military industrial complex and that their a huge factor in the second comic, another I’ve been enjoying is planting a vauge hint in the first that one character likes the other but not following up on that beat until the third comic
I need to like this video three times at least. I've always struggled with foreshadowing. In my writing, in identifying it on other works, and in following it properly. I am very grateful for how you have clearly explained what foreshadowing does to the story.
I'm writing a book and until now I couldn't figure out how to foreshadow some important things without being too obvious, so this video was REALLY helpful. Actually, all your On Writing videos have been helping me a lot, I can't thank you enough. I promise that when my book is published you will have an especial section in the acknowledgments.
-Greetings from Mexico.
Ps. I'm also a great fan of your Avatar TLA and LOK videos. You're amazing.
3:49 the "something much heavier hit the floor" is not only in the sound, but also in how the ring moves/settles down. too quickly, no bounce, almost immediately still. it is a beautiful moment, yes, it's literally the ring weighing at least 10 kilos (and I believe it was not supposed to be just a metaphor, I believe the intention was "the ring literally changed itself to weigh that much, to settle at the precise spot where Bilbo released it, affixed itself to the ground to be there in the case Bilbo's resolve breaks and he returns to get it), and it is one of the most beautiful examples of subtle/invisible/subconscious VFX that I know of, because I damn well bet you it WAS an sfx, and they spent at least 1 manday thinking about how it should look and how to achieve that look. And then 1 to 2 more mandays to actually achieve it, just tweaking values back and forth by fractions (not including making the model for the ring, which they already had because of the previous scenes).
Hello! Love your videos. When it came to foreshadowing especially in the first chapter, I used my main character cleaning their house and chasing lesser spirits out of it, showing the problems magic and strange beings will have in the story to come and how knowledgeable the people are of it. At the same time, I had my protagonist use magic to help cook showing it will also be helpful throughout the rest of the series.
I’m writing a story where, in the whole first chapter and half of the second chapter, the aristocratic protagonist is hiding a lower-class boy in his attic until he heals of his wounds. In one scene, I make sure to emphasize the closing of the trapdoor to clue the reader in to the fact that it will be left open for someone to find the attic later.
That’s the kind of thing a reader can realistically realize on a first watch and say “damn, I hope nobody forgets to close that.”
These are the videos that made me subscribe to this channel, you explain writing in an awesome way, I really like how you make it very clear what you are talking about by giving the little summary in the beginning, it makes everything clearer. Keep up the good work
I remember when we were all so excited because you were at 15k. Congrats on 175k!
I love your on writing videos so much. I would LOVE for you to make an on writing video about Christopher Nolan movies/his screenwriting techniques. His movies are so unique and complex that I bet you would have a fun time dissecting them. Memento, Inception, The Prestige, etc... !
About Harvey Dent's foreshadowing, I think more than a foreshadowing that we were supposed not to know but we knew all the same, it also worked as an easter egg for those who knew what was going to happen to go " I understand that reference". It works as a foreshadowing to people who didn´t know, and as easter egg to those who do. Which is kinda cool.
I hadn’t actually thought about how I was going to use foreshadowing before, as I’d planned on getting the basic main themeline mapped out before focusing on specific techniques, but my current primary WIP is centred on character encounters, so I’ll try and have some characters cropping up multiple times unexpectedly. Also one of my mc quartet has a brother who doesn’t go on the adventure with them bc he can’t walk and wants to set up a career as a merchant, but I think I’m going to have him crop up somewhere in Act2 to get them out of trouble with the Granite Empire
Great video once again, I especially liked the way you broke down every little detail about foreshadowing.
I forshadowed by letting a character, unknown, show up and give a throw away line that implies that he knows the capabilities of the MC, aka he bets all his money on him. The MC himself doesn't know that (Writing a vigilante story, that section i mentioned rn is a Fight Club-ish tournament with bets on the participants)
Dude. I'm teaching Macbeth to my students this term, and I am DEFINITELY using this video to discuss foreshadowing in more detail (obviously, it will be at the end of the unit - spoiillllllleeerrrrrrrrrsssss!!). Thanks SO MUCH for all the amazing content you post! You're definitely one of my favourite channels out there.
Thank you so much! Honestly, these sorts of comments are the highest of praise. I hope they help your students in some fashion.
~ Tim
I’m writing a prologue in which the protagonist is watching a play. The play is both a Chekhov’s gun and a prophecy, as any play written by the playwright Oracle tends to manifest itself in some way.
Rowling did very well in foreshadowing events in later books with a single line, such as "a heavy lidded locket that no one could open" in OOtP, and Dumbledore being described as having a momentary look of victory in GoF after being told Voldemort took Harry's blood.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this video. It helped me realize why certain plot twists have irritated me in the past, it was because of a lack of foreshadowing - even subtle foreshadowing. First example that comes to mind is Hans turning villain in Frozen, there was zero foreshadowing for that event. In fact, there was what appeared to be foreshadowing of other events that never happened; the picture of an evil troll in the king's book feels like an unfired Chekov gun.
Speaking of foreshadowing, I’ve forshadowed a few things in my series. Thus far, very few things have come out, but one such thing that isn’t a major spoiler is where a character makes robotic bugs with stingers.
Later on, it’s revealed that the bugs were taking DNA from our heroes in order for the villain to make clones.
... *spoiler ahead.*
This is brought up again when you find that another character uses the same method... There’s more on that which would help it make sense, but that would mean a huge exposition dump, and no one wants to read those XD
I dont write or read, but for some reason i am addicted to these videos.
You should read Brandon Sanderson, he is a master of Foreshadowing and Plot Twists
Lost about I'm pretty sure he has. He talks a lot about Brandon Sanderson during his vids on writing a hard/soft magic system.
True that, the motto for Mistborn is basically there’s always another secret
Foreshadowing I've used:
In a story I wrote, once upon a time, I had a guy watching one army getting wiped out by another, but still keep charging on, even though it was hopeless, and say to himself, "wow, what could possibly possess someone to do that." And then he found himself in a position later on where he had to do that, and busted up laughing over it as he was charging enemy bullets. In that same story I had characters talking about an extra moon that used to be there hundreds of years ago, but disappeared, and no one knew why. It turns out later that the moon was crushed down to the size of an electron to create an artificial black hole, that was, indirectly, the main cause of basically everything in the story.
I haven't even watched the video and yet I've already left a like
This is foreshadowing that the video is good.
Really enjoyed this video. Can I just say that the peaceful, soft music works really well with all the information you managed to put in this video? Made it balanced. Had you chosen upbeat, fast paced music I would have had a harder time consuming all of the information because my brain would have been too busy also consuming the music!
Thank you! I get a lot of good feedback about the music. It's Music for Manatees by Kevin McLeod.
~ Tim
Awesome video on craft writing advice, cheers! I've recently read your 1st 'On Writing & Worldbuilding' book, & it was great too (highlighted lots, and will take notes soon)
Good watch thank you. I've got a few thousand years of story arc planned with some very long lived characters (not elves) and this will be a very fun way to write that I'll need to incorporate.
Thanks for the video. This was great.❤
One way I chose to foreshadow is that my character will be a top tier inventor and trapper (in monster hunting) by the time he's grown up.
So in chapter two, he is revealed to be a wood carver that creates squirl traps and the first clock to set up or foreshadow his strengths.
I haven't written anything substantial before, but I think a great example and excellent use of foreshadowing, is the Dragonet Phrophecy from the series wings of fire. (I'm sure you'd enjoy it as it's mainly focused on dragons if you haven't already read it). The prophecy is constantly alluded to, and is used as a baseline for why certain characters take risks, and it's used well for a slightly obvious twist around book 4. I highly recommend checking it out it hits all the points you made in this video.
Excellent. Great information that's presented well.
Great video! Your "On writing" series is becoming my favorite :)
All hail Mishka!
One of my favorite examples of “irregular action” is in Warbreaker, when the normally gruff and blunt Vasher starts talking about the World’s magic system like a scientist (or scholar), foreshadowing that he’s much more than he seems.
Tim, love your work, mate!
Wonderful video as usual, really explains foreshadowing in a easily digested manner.
Chekov's Gun is applied to theater and not necessarily books/movies. Although it is always important to have introduced devices that become very important later on, it is supposed to apply to the stage where details are scarce and props inherently need purpose.
Thank you for this video! Literally got an idea for what was missing from a scene in my novel half way through this video!
I love the on writing videos
Could you do a video on Red Herrings, please.
The foreshadowing of Hereditary is one of the best examples of the method I can think of, it is amazing.
I’ve gone the prophecy route, myself. I have a character, the younger sister of the main twins, who can see the future... so, I use that to drop hints about my final battle.
I feel there’re better examples as the whole prophecy route, as you mentioned, is super explicit and kind of an edge case for the phenomenon you described.
Thank you my wise teacher!
Yay! I love foreshadowing! ALL HAIL MISHKA!!!!
Anton Chekhov!
"Pavlovich" is a patronymic.
I used to interpret the heavy sound of the Ring hitting ground as Bilbo doing it against the will of the Ring.
Right now I'm working on a story with a strange cosmology, which I was going to reveal in a prologue, but I changed my mind and instead it's going to be a crazy plot twist near the end. I'm working really hard to foreshadow it hard, but without giving it away. I just hope I can pull it off!
I feel that the “the bigger the event, the more foreshadowing” actually made a lot of sense. Take the Red Wedding in the ASOIAF books. Man, upon a reread there are soooooo many signs😂
Personally, my favourite example of foreshadowing is Lucky Number Slevin. It starts feeling like a parody of crime films but half way through shifts tones just before the plot twist begins to be revealed.
oh, those first 18 seconds of this video are flawless. made me literally laugh out loud. nice one :)
also the inception hornpunch at the end was a nice touch.
Thank you for this, it is honestly better than my entire english lesson on it. 😊
I’m still in the process of writing this one but I think I can still use this to answer your question at the end
In my story thorns of chaos, (chapter 8 or nine-ish) she find a store in Diagon alley, and a necklace that she had from before she died and was reincarnated.
But in a brief third person POV scene, The store, the woman inside of it basically everything disappears except for the necklace,
Except the woman vanishes in a rainbow light(foreshadowing Asgard)
But also (because it’s from her past) it’s foreshadowing that her past will have an effect on her present.
And the “warm feeling” she gets from it is foreshadowing it’s power as a protection spell (which will end up saving Syrus black)
And the green light that triggers when the protection spell is active (being the same color as her magic) is foreshadowing that they both have the same origin
The necklace being a protection spell for her
And her being the daughter of Loki/princess of Asgard
(People have asked me if I ever do a simple plot
I asked what’s simple?)
How early do you think a change in a character's perspective should be foreshadowed? I'm writing a character that becomes less angry and violent as he gets more powerful. Instead of aiming for mass genocide of the enemy country, he realizes that violence won't make things right and tries to stop the war. Only at the peak of his power he understands this. I want to come to this point through character growth but I feel like adding some foreshadowing will do it justice. Whatever advice I can get is welcome!
I’m definitely not an expert, but I’d say probably with little actions that seem slightly out of character, like in ATLA when Iroh defends Zuko from Zhao and Zuko shows that he’s really touched by it, foreshadowing his redemption arc through his relationship with his uncle
There's a distinction between light and heavy foreshadowing that I didn't get into in the video. Lights means it happens near the event, while heavy means it happens a long time before the event. For as consequential a change as you are making it sound, this needs to be foreshadowed from the beginning (especially if this happens at the climax of the story).
~ Tim
Hey man, I've been a fan for a long while now. I just wanted to give some feedback regarding these videos, as I find them really engaging up until you put the large bodies of texts on screen. I think having a condensed version of what you're saying vs exactly what you're saying might help visually. Or maybe just have some more examples playing on screen. Overall I love listening to these videos, keep it up
I can't believe I'm only now finding your channel. This stuff is gold. I watched another video and you mentioned being in Wattpad, but I can't find you
Loving your channel and all of your well spoken, informative, fun content!
One of my leads is a performer and a storyteller and she keeps telling the stories of the adventures her and her friends go on but exaggerating them and adding to them to make them spicier and I've been able to do some good foreshadowing that way.
Great video, for me the best use of foreshadowing is in Shaun of the Dead, where a lot of the movie is foreshadowed in early scenes; Hot Fuzz did it as well but that was more foreshadowing of the next scene as a more in your face example
Spoiler For Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
My favourite foreshadowing was in fullmetal alchemist. King Bradley tells the Ishvalan to not beg god to kill him but to do that themselves, at the end the sun (represents god) shines on his sword and blinds him leaving him open for the deadly blow that kills him.
I just love how try to said Czechow.
We need 'A WIZARD DID IT' on T-shirts.
I like to intreduce the idea of a mechanic or event happening through myths or let it happen befor on a lesser scale. Two characters merge to resolve the final conflict it can just Happen. First objects merge, the idea of people and objects merging is intruduced, but gets argued about, later one already knowen character is revieled to consist of two seperat ones so how it works and what rules it folowes is well flashed out befor the final twist happens and therefor it is prevented to feel like deus ex machina