Otherways- Fiction Fanatics

Despite being caught with my car windows down on multiple occasions, storms do not generally appear out of nowhere. There are warning signs, from the frozen curved tails of high-flying cirrus clouds to the sudden ominous drop in atmospheric pressure that let an observant soul know what is coming. If you spend any time outside, especially if you live in a region prone to storms, you become sensitive to smaller changes, too. Shifts in the direction of the wind, a sudden coolness to the breeze, or an odd quality to the light can all be omens, warning you of the storm that is about to break on top of you.

In writing we call these warnings foreshadowing, but in public speaking the term is signposting. The difference between the two is subtle, but important. Storms don’t warn you they are coming because they care about your safety and want you to have time to roll up your windows before the rain hits. Frankly, they don’t even notice you exist. Those tell-tale signals they give off are just part of them being what they are, we learn to recognize them because we value our own safety and comfort enough to pay attention.

Public speakers, on the other hand, have a very vested interest in you knowing exactly what is coming, and getting you to go along with it. Although there are other forms of speech, the vast majority you will hear are persuasive speeches, where the speaker has something they want you to do, buy, or agree with by the time he’s done. The rule of thumb they operate under is : tell them what you’re going to say, tell them what you’re saying, and tell them what you said. So the ultra short form of Billy Bob’s speech would be something like this: “I am going to tell you all about how dangerous falling rocks are. Falling rocks are really dangerous, you could die. Remember when I told you falling rocks could kill you? It’s still true.” Hence the term signposting.

Fiction writers, by and large, can’t operate that way. They need people to have some idea that interesting and exciting things are happening, and that they will continue to happen, but they can’t afford to give away all their secrets. Foreshadowing is the art of hinting at what is to come in such a way that the audience is still surprised by the way events unfold, but it still seems natural.

It is an art form, and some authors are better at it than others. With the best of them, once the plot twist straightens itself out you experience a “how did I not know that was coming?” moment. The twist fits, it makes perfect sense, there were even subtle clues along the way that it was coming, but it still has the power to surprise you. Others, well, they’re more in the “danger, falling rocks” category.

Just something to think about as you churn out your pages, bend your plot twists to your will, and create your imaginary universes.

Cheers,

Michelle