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Suspense and Foreshadowing—Two Great Tools for Writers

I’ve found that foreshadowing and suspense often get confused. Sometimes writers even forget about them. It’s time for a quick reminder about why these are such great tools for writers and how you can use them in your next story.

What is Suspense?

Anyone can put together points in a story’s plot map. You’ve got your inciting incident, a few things that happen to move the story along, then the climax and resolution.

Suspense is what keeps the reader’s eyes glued to the page in between each of those stages.

It works in every genre and helps every story. It may even be what your work is missing if you’re stuck in your WIP because you’ve lost interest.

Example: Carver is a restaurant server and sees his crush, Aiden, get seated at Table 2 with his friends. He’s had this crush for forever and decides it’s now or never. He has to ask Aiden out before he leaves after dinner.

Where’s the suspense?: There’s an emotional suspense in the relatability of feeling nervous about asking someone out after crushing on them for a while. There’s also time-related suspense because sooner than later, Aiden will pay the check and leave. The clock is running out from the moment Carver makes his decision.

Where could you add suspense?: Carver might need to take on more tables because his coworker leaves for a family emergency. He’s rushing around twice as busy for the rest of the night. Then other guests need extra things, like another set of silverware or a ketchup refill. The night passes quickly, so Carver almost misses Aiden walking out to his car.

What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing helps build your suspense. It’s one of the key ingredients that you can work into your first draft while you’re writing or while you’re in the editing process.

You don’t need foreshadowing in every story to create suspense or keep your reader interested. However, it can be a great way to support it.

Example: After Carver decides to stop by Aiden’s table before he leaves, he’s so busy serving other tables that the group in his window booth get up and leave. They’re irritated that their food is late, so they talk with the manager before leaving for another restaurant.

Why is this foreshadowing?: It demonstrates how the events building the suspense—the other server leaving suddenly and forcing Carver to serve twice as many tables—make it more likely that Carver will miss Aiden. It also mirror’s Carver’s Worst Case Scenario: that he’s now too busy to fulfill his goal before Aiden leaves, because he was too busy with his other tables to get food to his guests before they left too.

Other Forms of Suspense

Suspense can happen in a few ways besides general plot points. You can also heighten the tension with things like:

Making your characters feel the suspense for the reader (they get anxious, start acting out of fear, feel their stomach knot up, verbally snap at another character).

Changing the scenery (the lights go dark because the power goes out, other characters step between the protagonist and their goal, the protagonist must leave due to an unforeseen reason).

Using specific descriptive word choices (maybe the vibe in a room becomes tense, someone feels agitated, a foul odor burns at the protagonist’s nose and makes them uncomfortable)

Varying your sentence structure (choppy sentences create suspense, while long sentences sound more monotonous).

Introducing conflict for the protagonist (make things go wrong so they have to sweat through a few challenges to reach their goals).

Other Forms of Foreshadowing

You may have heard of a few of these before, but they could still be something your story needs to deepen your plot or become more gripping. Think about adding foreshadowing tools like:

Flashbacks: maybe your protagonist has tried and failed/succeeded at a similar goal before

Chekov’s gun: introduce something that your character will use in the future (could be a literal gun, an object that they’ll use later to accomplish their goal, a person they’ll come back to for the friendship they seek, a trauma they’re pushing away and eventually have to face)

A prophecy: could be a literal prophecy from an oracle, but could also be something lighthearted in a fortune cookie, a Magic 8 ball, something a character mentions in passing to the protagonist, etc.

Symbolism: your character might set out for their first day on a job and drive there in a terrible thunderstorm, show up to the wrong location, immediately break the copy machine, etc. Something negative in the environment or a character making a bad choice/mistake can be symbolic for their overall goal or phase of life.

A red herring: your character believes somebody or something to be their antagonist/the reason for their conflicts, but it turns out to be something or somebody else

When to Use Foreshadowing or Suspense

It would be great if every writer knew exactly how to use one or both of these tools while they were working through their first draft. That might be possible if you’ve spent a long time figuring out the exact plot before sitting down to write, but that isn’t always the case.

You could add new elements of suspense or moments of foreshadowing while you’re in the process of writing. Just make sure you note what your wrote and why so you can carry that thread through to its completion or revelation later on.

You can also add these moments while editing. If your first draft feels like it’s missing something, adding in a new conflict and revising to work it into the rest of the draft could greatly improve your story. It’s also possible to drop a foreshadowing device in one chapter and jump ahead to another to make it reappear/complete the foreshadowing.

Claudia

Claudia

Oiga volteé en esa esquina donde dice Laurel, por favor dijo Claudia.

Es usted tan viejito que no alcanza a ver los rótulos de las calles y le tienen qué anticipar las vueltas… Por qué no usa lentes?…

Y Claudia soltó la carcajada.

Cada vez que podía, Claudia echaba en cara su juventud contra mi supuesta vejez, pero era su forma de divertirse conmigo, y admito, a costa mía.

No me importaba ni tenia un conflicto con la edad, de hecho la disfrutaba, al encontrar cosas que en otros tiempos me detenían de ser realmente lo que era: único, especial, con una personalidad que me encantaba. Y debo decir que los temas favoritos de Claudia y Jessica era la juventud y la vejez, cuando podían y sobre todo cuando ambas se juntaban a hacer equipo.

Si los dinosaurios existeieran le dirían… Amigo cómo estás? decía Claudia y si las montañas hablaran dirían pies que por aquí te vieron pasar, secundaba Jessica; si las estrellas se contaran a sí mismas, remataba Claudia, le preguntarían la última cuenta…

Por qué?

Porque antes de las estrellas ya estaba usted!!!!

Jajajajajajaja…

Muy graciosa, muy graciosa…

-Ah, Ya vamos a prosopopeyas?

-Whhhhhat?, exclamaba consternada Claudia

-La suya!!!! gritaba Jessica… Ay por si…

-Jessica te pasaste, reclamaba Claudia, te pasaste…

Muy graciosa, muy graciosa, prorrumpía yo.

Yaya?

Ya le he dicho que no me llame Yaya, decía Claudia.

Yaya porque te dicen Yaya en tu casa?

Ya sé. Porque tanto desesperabas a tu mamá en la cocina que te decía… Ya! Ya! y te aventaba el palote, o sería por eso que cuenta Jessica que te juntaba jugar karate con los hombres y movidas tus manos en posición de karate y decías IA! IA! IA! IA!; o porque tu mamá cuando estabas a punto de nacer decía cansada y con las últimas ganas y en desesperación… ya! ya!

Eres un fastidio y dolor para hombres y mujeres… Algún día cambiarás, hija mía? Te quieres confesar?

- De padre usted no tiene nada! refunfuñaba Claudia

- Lo soy y de dos hijos muy bonitos, hechos con Herdez

- Herdez?

-Hechos cooon amoorr, con toda confianza es Herdezzzz- Usted está loco!

- De poeta y loco todos tenemos un poco

- Usted nunca pierde, verdad?

- Todo lo aprendí de tíiiiiii (puedo cantar?) Todo lo aprendí de tíiii

- Ehe esa es una canción de Ana Barbara!!! Esa es un canción de Ana Bárbara! gritaba exaltada Jessica

-Ay la baba! Este no es el concurso de Adivina por los 64 mil… jugaba Claudia…. Y todos nos poníamos a reír. Jajjajajajaa

Así pasaban la bromas, por momentos, de entre las innumerables del día, multiplicados por mil doscientas lunas que eran tres años, tres meses.

Ese era el juego preferido, ver quién tenía más astucia para hacer va mal al otro, entre el cariño, el afecto y el trabajo.

I bet! if it is not happening right now. Always improving, aways creating lights in supposedly dark times for others.

Always

I can relate to this

What is the thinking process?

One by one?

One for the other?

Diminishing views?

Where are the choices that build characters?

P.D: Was that your King, standing up in a game, in a master play, and fuck you up with his own words, where supposedly the character was lost? 

Do you see and hear what  just happened? 

They got eyes and do not see, they got ears and do not hear.

“Let it be written that the King overpowered the Queen when she passed the lines in the Kingdom, nicely and swiftly, without using bombs and shells and cannons, because his authority is legitimate and needed not to probe nothing for His charismatic authority comes natural”.

Talking about loving ourselves...