Thread: Flashbacks

Is it good to include flashbacks of a character's life in a story, or is flashbacks a technique used so often, that it is generally better not to use it in a story.

Are there books out there which teach you how to make proper use of flashbacks?

Flashbacks are definitely a gamble. They can play a vital role in an extended plot and save the writer from twisting the reader's arm with a lot of exposition, but they can also make people groan out loud.

If you don't absolutely have to use them, don't. They're not a cute device to shove in the corner of a novel to spruce the place up. They're industrial strength bleach. Use with caution.

If you mean writing a story that isn't linear -- it's done all the time and done well.

I was just thumbing through Revolutionary Road, something I read a while back -- and it has lots of them. The novel begins at a point of conflict -- and it makes a great opening. After you're introduced to the main characters -- a couple -- and sufficiently drawn into the story, you're taken back to see how they met and how their relationship evolved. It's a lot more compelling than doing it chronologically. In fact, I can't remember reading a novel that doesn't use them in some way.

So I certainly don't see flashbacks as any sort of gamble. As long as you make the transitions clear, it shouldn't be a problem. And of course, it needs to enhance the story in some way. It's just like anything else -- it depends on how well it's written.

If the flashback is long and covers several pages I would think seriously before doing it. If you decide you must the key is to make it not look like a flashback, write it in the same tense as the main story. Or consider the flashback as the first chapter and go on from there.

Flashbacks can work well in crime thrillers where they are almost expected.

I don't get the point of the vague warnings. How long is long? How did you arrive at "several pages?"

You can have multiple flashbacks in a novel. They can be anywhere in the novel and they can be any length. The only broad rules of thumb that might apply is a flashback should convey information that is somehow relevant to the story and it shouldn't confuse the reader -- but all that should be obvious.

I don't have a problem with flashbacks if they're done well. The problem is that they're so easy to indulge in. I don't think length is necessarily a factor. In fact, I think the only factor is necessity. A lot of the time, writers (myself included) are too eager to give details. The story and its characters are very important to the author and the author wants the reader to know everything he (or she) knows. I frequently ask myself the question "Do I really need to spell this out or can I hint at it along the way to make it more interesting?" Flashbacks are easily written, but not so easily mastered. Subtlety, however, is not easily written and, therefore, often overlooked.

If you think you need a flashback to convey the information at hand, write one. Just make sure it serves a purpose beyond mere info-dumping.

It depends on the story. If you're writing something where a flashback to a character's childhood might hold important plot information (like, why she acts the way she does in relationships), then I suppose it would be worth it to put it on in there (the more literary your approach to it, the better, in cases such as this; non-linear, non-dated, non-italicized is the way to go). If, on the other hand, the flashback exists just because you want to explore the character's childhood (nothing important, but you just want to play with the character), then reconsider. Anything you could explainv via flashback you could just as easily show on page in the present, without the awkwardness.

Importance to the plot is the biggest factor in whether or not to apply- I shall leave it at that.

Originally Posted by JosephB

I don't get the point of the vague warnings. How long is long? How did you arrive at "several pages?"

You can have multiple flashbacks in a novel. They can be anywhere in the novel and they can be any length. The only broad rules of thumb that might apply is a flashback should convey information that is somehow relevant to the story and it shouldn't confuse the reader -- but all that should be obvious.

I was just giving my opinion on flashbacks. I have done them but was not happy about writing a flashback that spanned more than one page. But the story I am writing is fast paced and I didn't want to slow it down.

I used 'memories', which I guess is the same thing. The entire part of the story only ended up being about three pages worth of backtracking but it was important. I used the idea of 'memories' to introduce a plot device that the one character still held onto. It was something from childhood. The entire piece flows nicely but I wonder if I could of done better. Oh well, I'm not about to change the entire story now so I'll see how it works out.

Originally Posted by chongjasmine

Are there books out there which teach you how to make proper use of flashbacks?

Sure. Try Solutions for Writers by Sol Stein, also goes under the title Stein on Writing, depending on where in the world you buy it. As how-to books go, it's a pretty good one covering a lot of areas, and Chapter 14 is Flashbacks: How to Bring Background into the Foreground.

In an ongoing novel that I'm writing, I've used one flash back so far, and one planed for later in the story. How it do it is through dreams the main character has, and it relates his mysterious past life (mysterious cause at this point in time, the reader doesn't know where he came from), to what's happening to him now. Kinda natural to me. In real life, you have dreams based on what you've experienced that day, and that dream could be a past experience relating it to your current one. Though for my main characters background, I'm mainly writing background novels instead of heavy flashbacks or spending too much time in this series talking about it.

I use flashbacks. I don't think that using them will definitely make your writing worse/better. It's more about how you use them, and when, and why. If you can do it just as well without a flashback, then don't use one - the flashback should enhance backstory by throwing the reader into it, rather than talking about it in your writing. If you have some history that's long and important, use a flashback, or you'll bore the reader to tears with an extended narrative that breaks the pace of your story.

Just my thoughts, there.