"The 8 Laws of Foreshadowing"

1. Make sure an incident needs foreshadowing: Foreshadowing should be reserved for significant events in your novel to avoid unintentionally comical effects
2. Understand the device's purpose: Foreshadowing is used to build suspense or prepare the reader for an event that would otherwise seem to be included in the story without reason
3. Don't foreshadow without paying off: Anton Chekhov once said that if a gun is introduced in a story, it must be fired at some point. Readers may feel cheated if you don't develop the coming incidents you've teased.
4. Plan your structure: During the outlining phase of writing your novel, identify significant events you have planned for your novel so that you can go back and outline their foreshadowing too.
5. Introduce foreshadowing with the right amount of emphasis: The reader should be able to go back and realize that there were plot clues without his or her knowing it.
6. Make sure the payoff suits the foreshadowing: To avoid readers being frustrated, meet expectations you've already clearly put in place
7. Incorporate Revisions: If you've revised a large swathe of your book, and have added in later events, make sure you revise foreshadowing so that the narrative is not accidentally disjointed by developments.
8. Get feedback: Because you're familiar with your own text, you might not see where foreshadowing isn't working. Ask a trusted novel-reader friend or relation to help you determine whether it all hangs together well.