Making the Right Connections in a Story

[Zodia195]

One thing I love about writing a story is when I foreshadow something. That's one thing I remember from my English classes hehe. It's actually one of my motivation devices too because when I foreshadow something, I can't wait to get to the actual part that is hinted at. And I am excited for my readers to get to that part too.

Anyway, foreshadowing though can be a bit of a hurdle for me too because I want to make sure that connection makes sense too. Recently when I was writing something, in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out how to connect a conflict issue that happens later on in the story and I came upon the solution. I love those aha moments when I was like, "Omg this will work perfectly for that when this event happens!" Writing for me is always about problem solving and I always try my best resolve issues.

How about the rest of you? What do you think of foreshadowing and making connections in a story?

 

[sr71plt]

I have mostly the same feelings when foreshadowing either becomes possible or pops up on its own in my writing, although it's probably more a feeling of pleasure with me than excitement.

 

[FortySixtyFour]

I think I'm guilty of too much foreshadowing. A lot of my time in early chapters is spent "setting up" the later chapters' subplots, characters, and themes.

In erotica, a healthy amount of foreshadowing turns an event that's unlikely or hard to believe (there's no way they would hook up in that situation) to anticipated and even expected (awesome, they're finally hooking up).

 

[Hypoxia]

Write the entirety of a multi-chapter story before posting anything. When the plot gets iffy in a later chapter, slyly insert the necessary setup and foreshadowing in a prior chapter. Whipping out the saxophone, or donkey dick, or multichannel analyzer, should be inevitable.

 

[sr71plt]

Write the entirety of a multi-chapter story before posting anything. When the plot gets iffy in a later chapter, slyly insert the necessary setup and foreshadowing in a prior chapter. Whipping out the saxophone, or donkey dick, or multichannel analyzer, should be inevitable.

Right. I sometimes add foreshadowing either when I do the review (having only then seen all that went into the story) or when it occurs that something I put in the story could be foreshadowed effectively. This often occurs in writing mysteries when I want the clues to have been there earlier so the reader could have figured it out before the ending resolve. Can't do that if I'm publishing parts of the story before finishing the write and review.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Write the entirety of a multi-chapter story before posting anything. When the plot gets iffy in a later chapter, slyly insert the necessary setup and foreshadowing in a prior chapter.

I learned this the hard way, when I was working on Charlie and Mindy—which is a four-book, twenty-nine chapter opus. It wasn't until I was in the middle of Book 2 that I realized how something was going to work out, and there was one line in Book 1 that made that ending impossible. Fortunately, it was pretty much a throw-away line of background information. I could submit an edit making the necessary three- or four-word change; if anyone caught the discrepancy and went back to check, they would find the changed sentence, probably decide that they'd made an unwarranted assumption, and not realize that I'd actually misled them.

In the print world, I'd have been screwed.

 

[oggbashan]

I learned this the hard way, when I was working on Charlie and Mindy—which is a four-book, twenty-nine chapter opus. It wasn't until I was in the middle of Book 2 that I realized how something was going to work out, and there was one line in Book 1 that made that ending impossible. Fortunately, it was pretty much a throw-away line of background information. I could submit an edit making the necessary three- or four-word change; if anyone caught the discrepancy and went back to check, they would find the changed sentence, probably decide that they'd made an unwarranted assumption, and not realize that I'd actually misled them.

In the print world, I'd have been screwed.

I had to go back and edit part 01 with my two part story about Rapunzel. They were posted 13 years apart. I had killed off the male character in part 01, making part 02 impossible. An edit? Shazam! He's back to life!

When writing a long story if I include something or somebody they usually feature later in the plot - the foreshadowing. Some people claim that they 'know' where the story is going because my devices are too obvious. Like puzzle detective stories, once you have read the resolution you can see why something happened or the significance of a little detail. It's obvious when you know the answers, but not on a first reading.

As for Rapunzel? I wrote it long before Disney's Tangled but my Rapunzel's hair was alive and used for bondage.