{"id":108991,"date":"2023-07-18T16:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T20:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=108991"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:30:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:30:46","slug":"foreshadowing-in-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/foreshadowing-in-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreshadowing in a Story: Providing Your Reader With Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does foreshadowing accomplish in a story? How can it be used to powerful effect with your readers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Wired for Story<\/em>, Lisa Cron explains that humans have an innate need to understand the reasons behind everything\u2014to make sense of what’s happening to us and around us. One of the techniques that writers can use to satisfy this human need is foreshadowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for Cron\u2019s exploration of foreshadowing in a story and how it affects readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0Shortform\u2019s guide to storytelling<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreshadowing in a Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cron argues that our brains evolved to absorb information through stories. So, writers who want to create compelling narratives should write in a way that satisfies our brains’ expectations of story. Stories developed hundreds of thousands of years ago as a way to keep us safe from potential dangers without us actually experiencing them, and thus we\u2019ve evolved to crave them. Today we continue to use stories to experience simulated realities in order to understand life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the way we make sense of what\u2019s happening to us is to call on memories from the past that help us interpret what\u2019s going on in the present. According to Cron, you need to provide your reader with such memories so major reveals in the story will make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, you can use foreshadowing in a story. This is when you give the reader hints about a change that\u2019s going to happen later in the story. <\/strong>When you foreshadow, you essentially create a memory for the reader to recall later, and that memory helps them make sense of eventual character or plot changes. Foreshadowing importantly also lets you justify a choice by your protagonist that seems out of character. In fact, any out-of-character choice your protagonist makes must be warned of in advance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Easier to Call on Emotional Memories<\/strong>

The brain pays particular attention to memories that evoke emotional responses<\/a> in order to make sense of what\u2019s happening. Because of this, you can even manipulate how well the reader is likely to remember a memory you implant for them by adjusting the emotional impact it has. For example, if you want the reader to be able to call upon the memory easily as the story goes along, you can present it in a highly emotional context that will make it stick in the reader\u2019s memory, such as by showing its immediate emotional effects on the protagonist or other characters. 

Conversely, if you want the memory to be somewhat buried so the reader only remembers it when it suddenly becomes relevant, you can couch it in scenes or contexts where the emotional impact is unclear or is only described later.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you establish in chapter one that your protagonist has a deathly fear of flying but, later, they need to get on a plane to save the world, you have to include information in those intervening chapters that justifies this choice, such as describing how the protagonist is taking steps to overcome their phobia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: You can choose to foreshadow things in your story in a number of ways<\/a>. The type of hint-dropping that Cron describes is called indirect foreshadowing<\/em>, but you can also give information that makes a clear prediction about what will happen later, which is called direct foreshadowing<\/em>. This gives the reader an explicit memory that they can expect to see play out in the story later. You also don\u2019t have to limit your foreshadowing to the text of your story: You can plant hints about the plot in your story\u2019s title or setting. To foreshadow well, avoid inundating your reader with hints, and make sure they\u2019re spread out rather than concentrated in one spot.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does foreshadowing accomplish in a story? How can it be used to powerful effect with your readers? In Wired for Story, Lisa Cron explains that humans have an innate need to understand the reasons behind everything\u2014to make sense of what’s happening to us and around us. One of the techniques that writers can use to satisfy this human need is foreshadowing. Keep reading for Cron\u2019s exploration of foreshadowing in a story and how it affects readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":54545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[1109],"class_list":["post-108991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-wired-for-story","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nForeshadowing in a Story: Providing Your Reader With Memories - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Foreshadowing in a story creates a memory for the reader to recall later, helping them make sense of eventual changes. 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