A flashback is “an interruption of
the chronological sequence (as of a film or a literary work) of an
event of earlier occurrence.”
There are so many blog posts and
articles out there on flashbacks. People have different views on
them. Here,
on a blog with posts written by agents, is an interesting post on the
effective use of a flashback. Some of the advice is write it as a
complete scene, don't put it in the beginning of the book, insert a
flashback after a powerful scene in the novel, give the time and
place in the first sentence so as to not force your reader to try and
guess it.
Then there's a different take on
flashbacks. Not that they're necessarily wrong, but there is a
different way to structure them and use them. Kristen Lamb – an
author who if you're not already following her blog I'd start
following it as soon as possible – has her own viewpoint on
flashbacks. You can find her posts here, here, and here.
There are several questions you need to
ask yourself before inserting a flashback. You can find a good list
of them here,
but let me share just a couple with you: do you need to explain the
character this much; will your story work without the flashback; is
there any other way you can fill your audience in on the info.
I've run into a little of a quandary
with Marked. Other than it's
getting a total rewrite because it turned into goo in the middle and
ended up making a mess of itself, I start the book with a flashback.
It's in the form of a nightmare, a dream that has come to herald
something bad happening to Aisling and those around her. Now, do I
cut that and do it another way? I have her explain it later in the
story when she's asked. Do I leave it in? What do I do with it? Right
now...I don't know. I'm going to have to sort that out when I get
back to it.
What are your views on flashbacks? Do
you get jarred out of books or films when they're used? Have you used
them yourself?
There's nothing wrong with a flashback as long as it works, but you might not want to start the book with it unless it's really necessary to know what's going on. Although you do say that it's used with the nightmare to signal something bad is coming, so it might be better to keep it. (Sorry for the wishy-washy advice; sometimes it's hard to tell what to do without knowing the whole thing)
ReplyDeleteI'm contemplating changing the beginning anyway, go back in time a little bit to answer a few questions that came up when I was reading through the last draft.
DeleteI think flashbacks can really add to a story when done correctly. When overdone, they can be annoying, and if not handled gracefully, they can turn a book into a mess!
ReplyDeleteI read a book recently that was written in a series of flashes. It was okay but I wanted to skip the current blips and read the flashback story.
DeleteThanks for a thought-provoking post and for all the links. I haven't explored them all yet but I will. I love getting a variety of perspectives! I'm a fan of flashbacks, actually. You might want to consider whether the flashback is a story in itself. Depending on how detailed it is, you might start with the "flashback" in your opening chapter(s) and then "flash forward" in the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteThat would definitely be interesting.
DeleteI have used flashbacks, but I felt it really helped with the story. The most challenging part for me was making the transitions into and out of the flashbacks feel right, y'know?
ReplyDeleteOh - I'm a big Kristen Lamb fan, too. She's smart, and she's a hoot!
~Tui Snider, @TuiSnider on Twitter
...dropping by from the #StoryDam chat weekly blog linky!
Hope to see you at chat tonight (Thurs 8pmEDT)