FLASHBACK EXAMPLES PICTURES FULL

One of the biggest mistakes writers make with these transitions is to give no context to them. Transitioning in and out of a flashback is an extremely difficult art and must be handled with great care. This will keep the reader intrigued, wondering when these scattered details will be explained. Perhaps your character smells a certain kind of alcohol in the present and then hears the voice of one of their friends in their head (a friend from the memory). For example, let’s say the memory has something to do with a bar. A pro-tip for creating this is to pepper in little parts or flashes of the memory throughout the story leading up to the flashback. Though flashbacks don’t have any immediate sense of urgency, by building up to them, you create that sense of urgency that they inherently lack. In fact, creating a sense of suspense and mystery around your character’s past will make your pivotal flashback scenes even more effective. Although you should quickly establish who your character is now, your reader doesn’t immediately need to know who they were. Writers often make the mistake of thinking the reader needs to immediately understand everything about their protagonist- their past, who they are, why they are the way they are, etc. You must spend time establishing your character thoroughly first, making your reader wonder why the character is a certain way, in order for the flashback to have any sort of payoff. A flashback is meant to provide an explanation for specific character traits or flaws. Not only will that confuse the reader as to what ‘the now’ of the story is, but they also have no context for the flashback. Therefore, possibly the worst thing you could do is to start your story with a flashback scene. So, when you’re considering whether a flashback is needed, ask yourself – Do the events in this memory have a huge life-long impact on my protagonist? Do they largely or wholly inform their decisions in the present tense? If your answer is ‘no,’ don’t use a flashback.Īs stated previously, the main focus of your novel or short story should be on the action in the present tense.

FLASHBACK EXAMPLES PICTURES FULL

Not only would that be jarring to read, but it wouldn’t do justice to the full emotional impact of the event and how it informs your protagonist and their decisions in the present tense. You can’t very well summarize an event or scene like this. Let’s say your protagonist once saw their sister drown in a lake at a young age. On the other hand, when a memory is emotional or depicts a crucial moment that largely or wholly informs the person that your protagonist is in the present…this is the only case where a flashback should be used. In this case, we recommend summarizing the events of that memory rather than jumping into a flashback. The day you’re choosing isn’t an emotional/dramatic or life-changing scene for your protagonist, it’s merely to illustrate the nature of their relationship. Let’s say you want to detail that your protagonist had a loving relationship with his deceased mother through the memory of them having a conversation while watching a film together. Therefore, a flashback is only to be used in cases where the reader is gaining something from living out a memory that they wouldn’t be able to gain through exposition. There is no immediate sense of urgency or suspense inherent to something that happened years prior to the present events in which the reader is invested. A strong story focuses on the present circumstances of a character and the conflict that lies in their circumstances. This is because of one of the main pitfalls of using flashbacks: the events have already happened. Novels and short stories that rely heavily on flashbacks are widely considered weak and ineffective. For those struggling to find that happy balance between past and present, here are some tips to help:Īlthough you, as the writer, will have very clear pictures of the various events and memories leading up to your protagonist’s present circumstances, that doesn’t always mean they should be included in your story. But, in actuality, a flashback scene is only meant to be used in extremely specific circumstances. Flashbacks often become an unwelcome crutch for novice writers, serving as the sole medium through which we find out about our protagonist’s past. Writing flashbacks can be an incredibly difficult art. You haven’t felt this terrified since- and suddenly you’re transported back in time to when you were ten years old, hiding in the bathroom, listening to the sound of your father’s drunken footsteps thudding as he screams out your name. You hear the thud of a heavy pair of boots slowly making its way down the deserted hall. You’re running along a dark corridor, panting and out of breath.

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