No, I'm not actually asking you to tell me how to predict the future!
Several pieces of fiction I've read/watched recently have prophecies. One of my favourites is
On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a Question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered. - Doctor Who
In the story the viewers know massive amounts of this, we know the question, the planet but the final story was a real surprise.
What are the best techniques to create an interesting prophecy which keeps the reader guessing until it is revealed?
Answer
As usually with all riddles, start from the end - what the prophecy describes.
Write or at least plan thoroughly the story, leaving a placeholder where the prophecy has to go.
Then sum up the events that are to be prophesized, actors involved, their role, the effects. Try to get that into about the size you want your prophecy to take.
And then get to convoluting it. Start replacing names with metaphors, involving deeds or characteristics of the subjects involved. You may consider writing it as a rhymed riddle. Make sure to obfuscate, give it double meanings; good if the second meanings are deceiving - match both the actual subject and some completely different subject that still has a prominent place in the story.
Depending if you want the prophecy, or a part of it to be understandable from moment one, involve factors that are already known at the time the prophecy is encountered. The parts that are to remain unclear should reference factors either not known to the reader at the time, or not yet fully understood. Nevertheless, spice it up with a few grains of clarity, something the reader can understand readily and grasp as obviously relevant - say, alternate name of a place, or an obvious, unique trait of a significant character. If the whole prophecy is a mystical mumbo-jumbo without a single good hint, it will not be attractive.
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