Is there a such thing as TOO MUCH foreshadowing in fiction novels?

The Chatters
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21

That’s very specific. Something in mind?

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22

It is too long to explain, you need deep knowledge of the context and fandom.

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23

lol

I just wanna know where it’s from :stuck_out_tongue:

What fandom?

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24

O N E P I E C E

I think the theories are crazier than the Song of Ice and Fire fandom, but only because the tone of the series makes GOT look like Henry IV.

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25

Foreshadowing is a chekov’s gun thing, meaning everything in a story must serve a purpose. But I don’t find every single thing does, but enough of it should, to serve as world continuity. We are creatures of habits and pattern-seeing, our stories should reflect that if we want them to be human.

I tend to work in a “rule of 3s”. If I introduce something, it needs to come up 1-2 times before it pays off at the end. Anything I introduce and don’t do this with, may become a plothole or something that isn’t well explained to people. But foreshadowing, specifically, is often designed to be an honestly noticeable hint, often “eating your words”, something beyond simple pattern recognition. It’s the fancy end. If you’re being frilly, adding a lot of decoration to the icing instead of building your cake, it’s a bit of an issue.

So basically, you write a solid world and try to catch your motifs in an edit, instead of making them your goal.

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