An effective way to land the climax of your comic arc is to build it up using foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is when a creator lays down small nods or clues throughout their story that an event is going to happen or a character is going to act a certain way. When done effectively it can make for an even bigger impact upon readers when they re-read your comic. Ever re-watched a movie and felt that sense of dread (or excitement) when you begin to realise all the clues you missed? That is foreshadowing done right.
The best foreshadowing is when it is relevant to major upcoming events or twists. By highlighting a person’s actions or an item you are slowly building tension even if the reader isn’t aware of it. Keep in mind that when you do introduce these elements make sure that they go off in the future. The payoff is important.
Outlining your comic will help you identify points where you can introduce foreshadowing. When initially writing the outline, you might naturally put some in but don’t stress too much at this stage. When you go back and give it a second edit, this is where you can really weave in the foreshadowing elements.
If the audience guesses the major plot point don’t feel pressured to change it. Rather pat yourself on the back for doing your job right. Keep in mind that you want the foreshadowing to pay off in the climax rather than have a twist come out of left field. Nobody likes that.
A good rule of thumb to remember is that actions in the present affect events in the future. Foreshadowing is merely highlighting important puzzle pieces in the present that will become important later down the line.
DO you use foreshadowing in your comic? Let us know in the comment section below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST)!
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Foreshadowing the future
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, July 2, 2021
8 likes!
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hushicho at 3:49PM, July 2, 2021
I should add that, if you feel uncomfortable enough with an element of the story to change it, or if you don't like something that happened (especially if it involves getting rid of a character or making them unusable, which would add difficulty to your job), then that's fine. But it's rare that you'd lead up to that with foreshadowing anyway, unless you're an absolutely terrible writer. I just don't think that the sudden change of a major part -- far more so than any of those examples I've mentioned -- of a story you've built up organically tends to work, most of the time.
hushicho at 3:44PM, July 2, 2021
A very good article, but one part I'd especially like to call attention to, and that is even if the audience figures out what's going to happen, DON'T CHANGE IT. I've seen this happen so many times, and it almost never leads to anything good at all. It's the desperate act of a poor writer. If readers can figure out something from foreshadowing, good! That means your story has a coherent and natural flow. But changing it just because you resent it being guessed beforehand tends to make it less organic, and it usually ends up jarring and unsatisfying.
theRedDeath at 11:09AM, July 2, 2021
I got so much foreshadowing in my comic I got foreshadowing for my foreshadowing. I got foreshadowing for days. At this point I'm more worried about burning out before I ever get to the shadow.
Banes at 8:22AM, July 2, 2021
I've noticed as I understand a bit more (and rewatch some great shows or movies) that these 'clues' or at least 'guideposts', that frame the way we're supposed to think about what's going to happen in the climax. Like, there will be talk earlier on, probably very subtly, about whatever themes or whatever will be important about how to think about the climax. Like, if the morality is the important part, or whether a given character was good or bad...or even more literal things. It helps endings make sense I think, even if they're surprising in their specifics.