Zen of Writing: “Prediction”

Prediction explores the effort to learn the course of one’s destiny.

Destiny is the path to a particular fate, or through a series of fates. Fates are experiences or conditions one must encounter along the way as one’s destiny directs one’s course.

The nature of destiny is such that no matter how much a character is aware of the nature and location of an undesirable fate, nothing it can do is enough to pull it off the path. However, if one could know the future course, one could prepare for each eventuality in order to minimize or maximize its effect.

DEFINITION: Prediction: a predetermination of a future state of affairs.

SYNONYMS: foresight, foreseeing, anticipation, envisioning one’s future, prophecy, forecast, foretell, prognosticate.

DYNAMIC PAIR: Interdiction, an effort to change a predetermined course.

Excerpted from
The Zen of Story Structure