Gah, foreshadowing. I have very little patience for it, especially of the type you've detailed here. It takes me out of the story. If I'm worried about the hero/ine, foreshadowing, even more than past tense, takes away any of that concern. It's that sense of 'looking back' that removes tension, imo.
foreshadowing...mallory_blogOctober 5 2008, 16:53:24 UTC
I think foreshadowing can work quite well if you are writing a piece that you want to feel belongs to an earlier time. In this way, even though you are telling the reader how stupid you are as a POV character, there is additional period stuff that makes them want to know exactly what happened. It is also fun to write sometimes, it is like dipping the pen in the melodrama ink well. :)
Well, I know one thing: I've got no desire whatsoever to ever read this book you've been reviewing. Thank you for saving me the time and the money.
The second foreshadowing you cited might not have been so bad if the author had stopped at, "Something told me I had just seen the very tip of a flame." At least the heroine is smart enough to suspect someone else's motivations. But stop relating the internal dialog after just that one sentence.
The first foreshadowing would have been better if it were only the first sentence, as well. But I don't really see any point in saying even the one sentence at that point in the story.
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See, succinct and witty and what I wish I'd had sense to say.
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The second foreshadowing you cited might not have been so bad if the author had stopped at, "Something told me I had just seen the very tip of a flame." At least the heroine is smart enough to suspect someone else's motivations. But stop relating the internal dialog after just that one sentence.
The first foreshadowing would have been better if it were only the first sentence, as well. But I don't really see any point in saying even the one sentence at that point in the story.
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