How to Use Foreshadowing to Jazz up Slow Scenes

Foreshadowing is the writer’s secret weapon. Hand in hand with the obvious benefit of using it to clue readers in on what’s yet to come (and thus keeping them from feeling betrayed by the big plot twist in the end) foreshadowing also offers the super-slick secret power of injecting unbearably awesome tension into even the slowest and most introspective of scenes.

In other words, with the proper use of foreshadowing, you can rivet readers to their seats even during a scene in which your character does nothing more than watch an ice cube melt.

Okay, well, maybe it’s not quite that powerful.

But consider Patrick Rothfuss’s The Wise Man’s Fear. This is a mammoth book, even within the fantasy genre, and many of its early chapters are concerned with nothing more than the protagonist’s relatively pedestrian adventures and misadventures as a university student. Despite the charms of the unusual setting and the author’s skill at both character building and humor, this section is pretty leisurely.

All in all, the level of conflict is low, and everything’s pretty good in the character’s life. In some books, this could be the kiss of death. A couple hundred leisurely pages of everything going pretty much the protagonist’s way could easily spell boredom for readers. But it doesn’t.

One of the chief reasons these chapters are anything but boring is the author’s adept use of foreshadowing. Rothfuss made sure readers knew early on that this relatively tranquil university life ain’t gonna last forever. Events are looming on the horizon—big, bad events that are going to turn the protagonist’s life upside down.

This foreshadowing is what keeps readers reading and allows Rothfuss to use these chapters to solidify his character and his readers’ loyalty to that character.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! What other techniques can authors use to hook readers during slow scenes? Tell me in the comments!