I converted the Philosopher’s Stone from TS3 Supernatural. Unfortunately, this version is only a decorative object and doesn’t have any magic abilities. Well, it’s still a nice decorative object.
(Full document here, part one here, part two here, part three here)
Foreshadowing is one of the most powerful techniques a writer has. It’s how we make readers feel that our stories make sense. In the Harry Potter series, we come across two types of foreshadowing: foreshadowing of book-specific events and foreshadowing of events that will occur other books.
I try to write my stories in such a way that a reader won’t know what’s going to happen the first time they read that story, but the second time they read the story they’ll see the ending coming a mile away. This is apparently a technique Mrs. Rowling likes to use as well because it’s all through the Harry Potter books.
In book one we see Harry talking to a snake and think nothing of it. In book two, we learn this is actually a big deal as only parselmouths can talk to snakes. Then later still we learn that Harry has this ability due to the fact that he’s got a bit of Voldemort stuck inside of him.
Events build together to make a cohesive story. If you don’t build up events in this way, making it so that, when a reader knows the ending, everything makes sense, then you’re going to find that there aren’t a lot of people who want to read your stories because building events together does more than make for a good story, it makes for a good world. A world where everything ties together and you feel a connection to the whole.
When rereading book one of Harry Potter, a reader isn’t just experiencing book one. They’re experiencing almost every book to come. When Hagrid arrives on that flying motorcycle and mentions it came from “young Serius Black,” the reader is suddenly drawn away to book three. To Harry meeting his godfather for the first time and discovering there’s someone out there who loves him and wants to take him in. When Mr. Ollivander talks about the phoenix feather in Harry’s wand, the reader is thinking about everything that wand will do and about Harry meeting that special phoenix who will eventually save his life.
That’s the power of foreshadowing so, when you’re writing your stories, don’t focus on surprising your readers. Focus on making a world. Focus on making a place that will capture someone’s heart. Focus on the magic that comes from writing something so powerful that you’ll be able to draw someone away from the darkness in their lives and into the protective light of a good story.
The events that follow are the events that I call the key events. They’re the things that must happen for the story to make logical sense. If even one of these events failed to occur, then the story would make absolutely no sense to a reader. So, go ahead, read through the list, then we’ll talk about why so many things are missing.
Event 1: Harry sent to live with the Dursley
Event 2: Harry accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Event 3: Hagrid collects Harry from the Dursleys
Event 4: Hagrid and Harry go to Gringotts
Event 5: Hagrid takes the stone out of vault 713
Event 6: Harry goes to platform 9 and ¾
Event 7: Harry meets Ron
Event 8: Harry meets Neville and Hermione
Event 9: Harry arrives at Hogwarts
Event 10: “The third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death”
Event 11: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville discover why the third floor corridor is out of bounds
Event 12: Harry, Ron, and Hermione become friends
Event 13: Harry discovers the mirror of Erised
Event 14: Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn about the Sorcerer’s Stone
Event 15: Harry learns Voldemort is alive and at Hogwarts
Event 16: Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover “Snape” is going after the stone
Event 17: Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to get the sorcerer’s stone
Event 18: Ron hurt
Event 19: Harry forced to go on without Hermione
Event 20: Harry gets the stone
Event 21: Harry faces down Quirrell and Voldemort
Like I said before, there’s a lot of stuff that’s not on this list. No quidditch, no crazy letters, no “troll in the dungeons,” I don’t even mention that frightening night in the forbidden forest. That’s because these scenes, while important to tell the story well, are by no means vital to the plot. You could cut out any one of them and you’d still be telling the reader all of the things that they need to know in order to understand what’s going on with the main plot.
You see, this event breakdown technique is something that I use with every story that I write and the point of it is not to figure out everything that I’m going to write. The point is to figure out the big things. The events I need to have happen in order for my story to work. Once I’ve got that, then I start to figure out how to get from one event to the next or how to actually make a given event happen.
For example, event 12 is where Harry, Ron, and Hermione become friends. I know this needs to happen because, without Hermione, Harry and Ron won’t be able to reach the sorcerer’s stone. The real question is how do I make them friends? J.K. Rowling chose to do it by having the three of them fight a mountain troll together, which worked out quite well, but the fighting of the mountain troll wasn’t the important thing about that scene. They could’ve just as easily become friends some other way, which is why I don’t include the mountain troll fight as a key event.
When you’re trying to figure out how to write your story, you can always do a full list like this, but that’s not necessary to make the technique work. You can also use an abbreviated version of the technique by simply asking yourself, okay, what’d the next big thing that has to happen and how do I get there?
Another important thing to keep in mind while doing something like this is figuring out how to set up the plot elements that aren’t really events. J.K. Rowling wants both the gang and the readers to think that Snape is the bad guy, not Quirrell, so while setting up her plot and figuring out how to move from event to event, she was constantly looking for ways to set Snape up as the villain while still leaving hints that it was really Quirrell so that the reader wouldn’t think that the twist was dumb and out of nowhere.
Of course, at that point we’re starting to drive away from the plot elements and moving towards the character/world building elements. These things are just as vital as the plot elements. In fact, I’d say they were, in some ways, more vital because a good plot will only get you so far. People will read a book once to see what happens, but they’ll only read it again and again if they love the characters.
I’ve started packing for France today. At the same time, I need to clear out the living room and kitchen because they will be renovated while we’re gone. The logistics are a complete nightmare. You can see my day of packing and the progress on Instagram in the Reels section: https://www.instagram.com/fregolicotard/reels/
