Four Ways to Foreshadow in Your Story

Most of the feedback from my novel, A Time of Stones, was that most of the conclusive moments were random and did not prepare the reader for what happened.

At the time of writing and editing, it seemed to make sense but as I read over it after the feedback – there was no foreshadowing weaved throughout the story of the main plot. It was like a lightbulb struck the dark room.

Has anyone else encountered the same problem?

As I edit my novel for the fourth time, I realize that foreshadowing is like the secret ingredient that helps your writing make sense. It’s often apparent only after readers reach the big event you’ve been prepping them for and a few little clues along the way will prime the pump for your novel’s most critical plot points.

For those still struggling with foreshadowing – here are four tips to help you foreshadow in your story.

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Five Steps to Write a Novel

This idea came to me yesterday at school, (I teach children with autism in high school), and the mainstream school organised an event, Write A Novel In A Day. From 8am to 8pm, in groups, the students would write, edit and illustrate a novel in 12 hours. In between classes, I was checking their progress and observing the workmanship of students between grade 7-9 (age 13-15).

At times, writing a novel can be overwhelming and sometimes taking on such a large task will let the writer’s block get the better of you. But when you get down to it, those steps are a lot simpler than you might expect and you can finish a novel like those students.