I’m
13 again.
I was just having a conversation
with my 10-year old cousin, Little Chris.
We have a special bond. We
have entire conversations based on Marvel Comics. He’s a big Captain America fan, I like Loki. We both think Stan Lee is awesome. Little Chris tends to forget that Marvel Agents of Shield is on television, so each week I text him to remind him just as the show is about to start. When I see him next, we talk about all the mysteries in the Marvel movies and television shows. I try to have these conversations with
adults, but they just think I’m nuts. (I probably am . . .)
Our
newest conversation is discussing the possibilities of the upcoming
Avengers: Age Of Ultron film. I recently read that Loki and Heimdall
are making an appearance in Age of Ultron. Little Chris was as excited about this as I was. We discussed what this scene would
entail. Does Heimdall discover
that Loki has taken Odin’s place on the throne of Asgar? If so, is Heimdall now in trouble with
Loki? Do they fight again? Does Loki make Heimdall disappear in
the same way his father has vanished?
Hmmm .. . . questions, questions, questions. . .
And
yet, knowing Marvel comics, we probably couldn’t predict what this scene would
be about.
This
brings me to today’s topic:
Teasers. There are all
kinds of teasers in writing. In
television, a teaser is the first 30 seconds or so of a television show before
they cut to the opening credits and commercial. The teaser’s job is to hook people in so they don’t change
the channel. You leave them with
burning questions so that they will stay tuned in.
Another
version of the teaser is foreshadowing.
Foreshadowing are hints of what’s to come in a novel. In my opinion, there are two kinds of
foreshadowing: Subtle and In Your Face. Subtle foreshadowing is
in extremely well-written stories where something is mentioned, seemingly in
passing, and it isn’t until the big reveal that you realized how important that
detail was. J.K. Rowling is a
master at Subtle foreshadowing. She would mention people or things in
Book 1 of the Harry Potter series that didn’t become important until the
seventh and final book. For
example, when Harry’s Aunt Petunia states that Lily was always hanging out with
“that boy,” you automatically think “that boy” was James, Harry’s father. It isn’t until the seventh book that
you realize “that boy” was Severus Snape, unveiling a crucial piece of
information that finally unravels the entire mystery regarding Snape’s
relationship with Harry and Harry’s family.
In
Your Face foreshadowing is when you know
that something is important, but you may not be sure how it is important. For example, a dead woman is missing a
shoe. You know that dang shoe will
show itself before the end of the story.
Where is it? Who has
it? And why? This is a device commonly used in
murder and detective stories.
Marvel
Comics films have end-teasers and short films which are In Your Face. We know these characters and situations
are important to the entire Marvel Universe, but we’re not exactly sure
why. And the Marvel fans can’t get
enough of surmising the connections.
Every little detail is a clue that is argued in chat rooms across the
Internet. It’s brilliant
marketing.
The
idea that you should take away from all this is to drop hints in your
writing. Foreshadow the story to
come, give your readers Subtle and In
Your Face clues. And, absolutely, if you are writing a series of stories,
plant teasers for what’s to come.
Think of the book series and film series you loved. What was it that kept you coming back
for more? Guaranteed part of it
was that new questions opened at the end of the novel demanded to be
answered in the next. As they say
in show business, “Always leave your audience asking for more…”
Please check out my new novel Luke Aloysius: Bloodline on Amazon:
Please check out my new novel Luke Aloysius: Bloodline on Amazon:
No comments:
Post a Comment