Writers are not mere copyists of language; they are polishers, embellishers, perfecters. They spend hours getting the timing right – so that what they write sounds completely unrehearsed.
– Louis Menand
Month: October 2011
haiku 184
October arrives –
coyotes audition
a new soloist
Pen to Paper: Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a skill a writer must master as he works toward making art. It requires a delicate touch: if it’s too subtle, the reader will miss it; if it’s too heavy-handed, the rest of the story is unnecessary.
You can build in foreshadowing details as you go, leading the reader even as you write. Or when you get to the end of the story and realize that you need to add this element, you can go back and put it where it needs to go. The reader won’t know you stuck it in later. Sometimes, a sentence you write just as part of the narrative ends up as foreshadowing; you successfully lead yourself through your own story.
Author Cathy Clamp tells how she uses foreshadowing to alert her readers to elements of the story she wants to emphasize. The Foreshadowing page at UDL Editions gives some excellent examples of foreshadowing.
Most of us read Shirley Jackson’s famous short story “The Lottery” when we were in school. Schoolbytes shows us how Jackson used foreshadowing to hint at what was to come. And BookRags summarizes the ways William Shakespeare foreshadowed the action in Macbeth.
Do you have a favorite example of foreshadowing to share?
Fiction: Paying the Price
Lon heard a knock on his door. That was cause for concern; he had no friends, and the Girl Scouts and Jehovah’s Witnesses had better sense than to visit his neighborhood.
Still, it was a knock; someone had manners enough for that rather than to knock down the door – or make a new one. So maybe this wouldn’t end fatally.
He threw back three deadbolts and opened the door. Sonia was there, and Jerzy loomed behind her. He stepped back to let them into his little house. Jerzy closed the door.
Quotable 72
In nearly all good fiction, the basic – all but inescapable – plot form is this: A central character wants something, goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw.
– John Gardner
haiku 183
child’s screeching
permeates
superstore
Pen to Paper: Another Writing Tool
There are more ways to write a story than there are writers. There are perhaps endless techniques and tools and philosophies. Start at the beginning and work forward. Start in the middle and give the reader a little of the beginning as necessary. Let character drive the plot. Let theme drive the plot. Don’t bother with a plot.
Here’s one more tool for your writerly toolbox, courtesy of Ray Rhamey at Writer Unboxed. I haven’t tried it yet, though I may do so soon. It looks (perhaps deceptively) simple and straightforward, and I can see this might be a useful tool for breaking through writer’s block.
After this, there is a brief discussion of one reason why stories are important. It’s something I hadn’t seen put into words before, but it makes sense to me.