What are red herrings in fiction writing?

Jump to Last Post 1-3 of 3 discussions (6 posts)
  1. suzzycue profile image88
    suzzycueposted 12 years ago

    What are red herrings in  fiction writing?

    replyreport
  2. MickS profile image61
    MickSposted 12 years ago

    I'm not sure of the truth of this, but it is said that hunt sabboteurs dragged herrings about the hunt, to cover the scent of the prey.  In writing, a red herring is an event/character planted to lead the reader to a false conclusion, in mysteries, there are many.  There seem to be many in US tv crime series, especially the Mentalist, all the clues point to a suspect, said suspect is dragged off by Lisbon and crew and interrogated until Patrick reveals the real culprit.

    replyreport
    1. suzzycue profile image88
      suzzycueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome answer really clears this up for me. I have read that without red herrings every book written would be just a short story.Now this makes sense to me. Now I just need to learn to write red herrings, LOL

      replyreport
    2. parwatisingari profile image60
      parwatisingariposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      suzzy hope you noted what Mick said, the red herring is such a obvious build up that you wait for patrick to turn up with real culprit. so the minute the team picks someone up we know he is not the culprit.

      replyreport
  3. Ericdierker profile image47
    Ericdierkerposted 12 years ago

    The herrings were used not so much to cover up the scent but rather to misdirect the hounds. And so it is with literature, a misdirection. I like the Mentalist example. In real world criminal matters a good red herring may well be discovered but then can be parlayed into reasonable doubt. If it is 5% possible that A did it instead of the defendant you may say nay to conviction. So it is like you say, without the misdirection the trial would be short and swift.

    replyreport
    1. suzzycue profile image88
      suzzycueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the great answers everyone. Now I want to learn to put some red herrings in my writing.

      replyreport
jump to first post
 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

 Necessary
 Features
 Marketing
 Statistics

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)