Article: Avoid Deus ex Machina with foreshadowing

[indianroads]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post - hopefully the mods will forgive and move it to its appropriate locations if otherwise.

A good article that was posted by my local writer group.
Avoid Deus ex Machina with foreshadowing

[ironpony]

The Indiana Jones one is a good example, but sometimes I feel that foreshadowing is overused, and there should be more maximum surprise in fiction as well.

[indianroads]

The Indiana Jones one is a good example, but sometimes I feel that foreshadowing is overused, and there should be more maximum surprise in fiction as well.

The trick is to keep the foreshadowing subtle.

[ironpony]

Yeah true. Since I write screenplays, I usually go by movies as examples, but one movie where I saw the big reveal coming a mile away was Get Out (2017). If they just wouldn't have foreshadowed it at all, or at least been much more subtle about it, that would have helped for example.

[Foxee]

Good article, I linked another writer-friend before I was even halfway through it, LOL. I hadn't really thought of sorting through details, clues, and skills like that. Very helpful!