Shadows and Echoes

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After reading books, blogs, and websites on writing for any length of time, there are certain phrases and bits and pieces of literary jargon that begin to be familiar.  It's not always clear what they mean, and sometimes they're downright unfortunate - internal conflict, for instance, always makes me wonder if the character had mayonnaise and pickles for lunch.  Some of them, however, are quite apt.  One rare example of this is foreshadowing.

Those of you who have followed Scribbles since pretty near the beginning are already aware that foreshadowing is one of my favorite aspects of writing.  It gives me a thrill to read a book, especially one familiar to me, and catch a new instance where threads of future scenes are woven into earlier sections; I love it when the first book of a series plants seeds for those that follow.  I am not sure why, save perhaps that, though (and perhaps because) I am a writer myself, it never ceases to amaze me that an author's mind can contain such a monumental and complete thought.  It is one thing to start at the beginning and bumble clumsily to the end; it is another thing entirely for the ending to be foretold by the beginning.

There are many different styles of foreshadowing.  One of the most obvious is that of premonition or deja vu, two phenomena we don't really understand, but that serve us well as writers.  They allow us to give the character a hint of whatever disaster is to come - not a vision, for that tends to ruin the suspense, but an unpleasant and indefinable taste.  And through the mind of the character, the reader feels it as well.

Foreshadowing can also be done in less obvious ways, ways that will probably not be noticed until the second reading when the ending is already in mind.  They can be as slight as a word that a minor character uses, a change in the weather, an insult, the writing of a letter or the killing of a moth.  It can be anything, really.  There is nothing so slight that the mind cannot latch onto it, connect it with an event and rethink it months or even years later.  The association needn't even be direct; it may be a connection may be only in the character's mind.  Personally, these are my favorites because of the detail and nuance they reflect - and because they're even more natural than a premonition.

As splendid as foreshadowing is, however, it is but one side of the coin of continuity.  Foreshadowing is what the writer does at the beginning of the novel; it is the darkness cast by the real event to which the author was looking.  But later on, especially in a long novel, it is necessary to harken back to earlier scenes and bring them clearly before the reader's mind again.  I call this echoing; like as not it has different names in different places. 

At any rate, for me these are usually pointed (often unintentional) repetitions of something that happened many chapters before.  Again, they're usually small things - the flipside of foreshadowing.  A phrase might be reused that harkens back to another scene; a character's expression might remind the narrator of someone else; a color might be tied to something critical.  Whether indirect or direct, it is an association that carries the mind back across the pages even more plainly than foreshadowing carries the mind forward.

However they are used, foreshadowing and echoing are wonderfully tantalizing ways of bringing together the pattern of a story.  And on a rambling side note, they represent to me one of the spectacular aspects of the Bible: no other book in the world so reflects the perfect continuity in the mind of its author.  Perhaps, after all, that is what we all pattern our own writing after.

The Next Big Thing

pinterest: tempus regina

A few weeks ago Anne Elisabeth Stengl (who, for the information of newer Scribbles readers, submitted to the grueling process of an interview here way back in September 2011) asked me if I would be interested in participating in an author blog hop.  The idea is to answer a series of questions regarding our "next big thing" - in this case, my work-in-progress.  It seemed a splendid opportunity to introduce Tempus Regina, though I doubt it will be much less nebulous at the end.

Anne Elisabeth posted her own answers last week, featuring her Summer 2013 release Dragonwitch - which I, for one, am eagerly expecting.  This novel will be the fifth in her dramatic fairy-tale series Tales of Goldstone Wood.  There aren't any spoilers, so if you haven't seen the post already, be sure to take a peek and do some ooh-ing and aah-ing.  If you've come from her blog already, then welcome!  And may I introduce...

the next big thing

1. What is the working title of your book? 

Tempus Regina.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? 

 I think this was one of those stories whose title came to mind first, which is pretty rare for me. I had scraps of other ideas floating around in my mind—lost kingdoms and civilizations and curses and doom and all that jazz—and a few of them appended themselves to the title. Developing it into an actual story was, and is, somewhat slow going.

3. What genre does your book fall under? 

 Primarily fantasy, but to be technical, I would call it historical fantasy.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 

I’m not sure I’ve been rubbing shoulders with the characters long enough to pinpoint actors for them! On demand, however, I’ll do my best. Regina is a relatively easy choice: Katie McGrath would be little short of perfect. As far as looks go, Chris Hemsworth is not very far off how I envision the Assassin, but personality-wise I don’t see it working at all. David Tennant, on the other hand, has most of the personality and few of the necessary looks. I foresee this being a tricky issue.

I confess, I want Jeremy Brett for the Fisherman—which is sad, because Brett passed away some time ago. As a necessary second choice, I would cast Joaquin Phoenix—if he were younger. I’m always about ten years behind the times.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Centuries out of time, Regina Winters sets out to return to her own era and the brother who is her charge—no matter the cost to herself or to the world around her.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

Represented by an agency is the goal.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

It’s a work in progress! I only properly began in November 2012, but I am currently a raw 80,000 words in.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

As far as books I’ve read go, I would say C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, particularly That Hideous Strength; Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising; and perhaps some Stephen Lawhead. Judging only by hearsay and back-cover blurbs, I would take an educated guess and say Mary Stewart’s Arthurian Saga and maybe Marion Zimmer Bradley, though I don’t intend to read the latter to find out. However, I tend not to read books that might be similar until after I write my first draft, so as to avoid copy-catting as much as possible. I’ll get back with you at a later date.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? 

One of the most important elements of inspiration was a story my sister dabbled in years ago; she never finished, which caused me much chagrin, but the general idea stuck with me and eventually resurfaced. I think I was also inspired by a documentary—I forget what it was called—that I watched years ago on the discovery of underwater antiquities; that is something of enduring interest. A more recent, and more massive, blast of inspiration came from the realization that Tempus Regina was already linked to a novel Jenny is now working on (you can read about it by following the link to her blog below); though the connection was quite unconscious on both our parts, it has been extremely helpful to discover that these two novels are, in a way, “book ends” of one another.

To a lesser degree, I’ve been inspired by pocket-watches, Sherlock Holmes, ancient and medieval science, legends, Howl’s Moving Castle, a heap of music, and a great dose of white phosphorus.

jennifer freitag & faith king are participating in today's blog hop

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I also tagged mirriam neal.  Keep an eye out!