“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…What the shit?!”
Mirroring
Mirroring is when you repeat something that has happened before in the same way again.
It can be used for:
- Actual story events
- Dialogue
- Character moments
- Etc.
Often a small event at the beginning gets mirrored in a much larger version at the height of the conflict. Or one character’s words get mirrored back to them again. Mirroring is similar to Call-Backs in that you reference something from earlier again. The difference is, Mirroring is much more subtle while Call-Backs are unmistakable references. Often a Call-Back is even used to remind the reader of earlier information by having it repeated through the Call-Back. If a character repeats exact words back to the protagonist, that is usually a Call-Back to a moment earlier where the protagonist (maybe still not recognizing their weakness) revealed who they were. But if you have a character who uses different words but speaks out of the same illusion that could be more Mirroring. Because here it is an event that has already happened repeating itself again, although in a different form, at its core the same thing once again.
The difference between the two isn’t always clear when put to practice and doesn’t really matter, as long as using either Mirroring or a Call-Back has the desired effect.
Difficulties:
One problem that comes with using Mirroring and Call-Backs is that it can be too predictable and too cheap/cheesy. As trained audiences we are very used to spotting elements early on, especially in movies, that will become significant later on again. There is an important distinction between Mirroring and Foreshadowing. We use Foreshadows to give the reader clues or to set them up for something that is about to happen. The point of a Foreshadow is that the reader needs certain information, either to follow the story properly or for them to accept events that are to come. Mirroring is not Foreshadowing. You only spot a Mirror when whatever is mirrored happens again. If at first glance your reader knows based on one event what other events down the line will happen, that is Foreshadowing. In Rise of Skywalker Rey heals a snake with newfound power. Her healing Kylo Ren again after their battle and him saving her at the climax of the movie, was pretty predictable. Why include the snake healing scene after all, if she is not going to use that exact power again in the battles to come? Mirroring is not about giving the reader information but about creating resonance through the structure. A well-used mirror element can make the story feel inevitable. In part one of your story, you have a small local conflict between two groups of people and since humans are involved things escalate, in part two you are focusing on a larger scale and now we have two nations, whose conflict plays out very similarly. Although the events of part one and part two are only loosely related, they mirror each other. It’s the same thing all over again. And in this case, Mirroring ties the two parts of your story together into a thematic unit.
Reversing
In Mirroring you take story elements and you repeat them in other ways. In reversing you takes those elements and puts them on their head. For instance, a small story event at the beginning of the story mirrors what the final battle will be, but in a reversal here it is played for comedy vs. the final battle which is tragic. Using a reversal gives the repetition an additional emotional note. It can be a triumph, when the reversal is positive, or add to the sadness if there is an ironic bitterness in it.
Game of Thrones starts the first season with Ned personally beheading a deserter. And the season famously ends with him having his own head coped off by a King too cowardly to do it himself.
In How to Train your Dragon early on having an amputated limb is played as a joke with several characters shown to have missing limbs and one way too quick to suggest that as the sole remedy. But in the end, Hiccup is actually missing his foot as a result of the battle.
How to Mirror or Reverse
- Callbacks: Where you call back to earlier lines and they mean something different/or the same thing.
- Story Events: Small conflict mirroring a big one to come.