Flash Backs

Mike Martyn · Aug 2, 2005

I'm currently editing a first novel while writing a second. I use flashbacks in both.

In book #1, about five pages in, as she whatches her son run off with his friends, she has this flash back about her husband dying in a car crash six months ago. I'm thinking of skipping the flash back and just starting the novel just before he goes out the door for his fatal encounter ie; six months ago. Then the story would be just a straight linear tale.

In book #2, the m/c, who is in his forties, finds some momentos from high school. He has a flashback and there we are in the principal's office with his 15 year old self.

Any thoughts on the above?

Any thoughts as to the do's and don't's of flashbacks?

These questions occured to me as I read a recent thread on dream sequences being a "cheap literary device".

ANNIE · Aug 2, 2005

I have both dreams and flashbacks in my novel. I consider both to be extremly important in charcater development as my protag comes from the future and the only way to know what he went through and what his life was like is through his memories. he was tramatized and has supressed memories, the only way the reader knows what's going on iside him is by his brief glimpses of memory vi flashbacks and nightmares. I don't think they are cheap devices and enjoy reading them as well- But hey what do i know? I'm not published.

Carlene · Aug 2, 2005

I was always taught in writing class that flast backs stop the story cold. You want to keep it moving, with conflict on every page. Is there another way to get the info in without telling?

Carlene
www.crdater.com

Saanen · Aug 2, 2005

If the flashbacks are short, they can work. As a reader I don't like flashbacks much though I use them occasionally as a writer if there's no other way to convey the information and it's important. Generally, the longer the flashback the more it stalls the story. I'd say one paragraph or less if you can manage it, but that's just my own interpretation.

astonwest · Aug 2, 2005

Mike Martyn said:
In book #1, about five pages in, as she whatches her son run off with his friends, she has this flash back about her husband dying in a car crash six months ago. I'm thinking of skipping the flash back and just starting the novel just before he goes out the door for his fatal encounter ie; six months ago. Then the story would be just a straight linear tale.

I would think a prologue would work well here...as I think you may already be leaning toward. Perhaps end the prologue with a line that indicates he's going to die in between leaving out the door and the next chapter. Have the mother/wife react emotionally somehow to the son running off with his friends, and the reader should be able to figure out why (if it's written well).

In book #2, the m/c, who is in his forties, finds some momentos from high school. He has a flashback and there we are in the principal's office with his 15 year old self.

Instead of a flashback sequence, why not simply have him remember the situation from the past within the context of the scene? Quick little bits like how he felt while in the office, and what he thought of the principal...but keep everything flowing in the present.

But then, that's just my opinion.

hpoppink · Aug 2, 2005

For conveying a story where the protag is from an alien place (e.g. the future), I would encourage the use of an extreme perspective, different words and interpretations that convey the strange culture.

I'm thinking specifically of Michael Valentine Smith in Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land". From the very beginning, you see him adjust to his current reality using the context of his own Martian culture, which is perhaps more insightful -- and definitely more intriguing -- than if Heinlein had written flashback scenes.

Mistook · Aug 2, 2005

I think they're a bad idea in the early chapters. Especially if it's in the first chapter... if only because flashbacks have that stigma as being cheep devices, you definitely don't want to have an editor or a publisher seeing one right off the bat.

Later in the book, when the characters and the plot are developed, I think a flashback or a dream sequence can work. I dont' believe they "necessarily" stop the story cold. Any substanative story is going to have it's quiet moments, and who says the flashback won't be as riveting as the main story.

But ultimately the same rules apply as with info-dumps - bite sized peices are best, and not until you've created a desire to know in the reader.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 2, 2005

Flashbacks

The flashback is like any other tool, wonderful in the hands of a a person who knows how to use it, dangerous and ineffective in the hands of someone who doesn't.

Used well, the flashback is one of the most valuable tools writers have, and quite often, entire novels, very good novels, are told in the form of a flashback. So are many movies.

Done really well, many readers may not even realize they've just encountered a flashback.

Good flashbacks never stop the story cold. Talking about the past, however, usually does, and when writers try to substitute talking about the past for showing the past, which is what a good flashback does, the story can be stopped dead.

I seldom read a published novel that doesn't contain flashbacks of one form or another, and many are very long indeed.

Flashbacks can be written so that, rather than interrupting the chronological flow of the story, they become the chronological flow of the story.

It's often the transition in and out of flashbacks that make all the difference. But the flashback is a very valuable tool, and shouldn't be avolided simply because some writers use it poorly.

Tish Davidson · Aug 2, 2005

I hate it when authors use dreams for character development, foreshadowing, or to give background information. It is often enough to make me stop reading a marginally interesting book. The reason is because the dreams in novels are almost always presented as long, lucid, [font=&quot]coherent[/font] and heavy with symbolism. Dreams in real life are often confusing, fragmented, and don't convey any obvious deep meanings - or at least mine are. My dreams are often bits and pieces with no real beginning, middle, end, and they often seem to be a jumble of random bits of reality. It stretches my suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point when a character relates a clear, lucid, and obviously significant dream in a novel. I don't mind fragments or nightmares, but I think it is a cheat to use them for character development or as flashbacks.

Garpy · Aug 3, 2005

I think as a 'prologue' of sorts...something that happens before Chapter 1, where the story commences, a flashback is fine if it's being used to set the story up. However once you're off the starting block and the tale is on its way, I'd not want to do any more flashbacks, as that might stall the pace.

With regard to comments about flashbacks being a cheap device....I wouldn't worry excessively on that front. That's just us writers being picky and dare I say...a tad 'arty'. If it reads fine to your beta readers, and doesn't come across as cheap, then you've written it well and have nothing at all to worry about.

Garpy · Aug 3, 2005

On the subject of dreams, however...I'm in total agreement with Tish. Dreams that somehow 'predict' or foreshadow the future in a tale, are an appalling cliche that I personally despise with a vengeance.

Never do that, not ever....in my honest opinion.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 3, 2005

Dreams

Tish Davidson said:
I hate it when authors use dreams for character development, foreshadowing, or to give background information. It is often enough to make me stop reading a marginally interesting book. The reason is because the dreams in novels are almost always presented as long, lucid, [font=&quot]coherent[/font] and heavy with symbolism. Dreams in real life are often confusing, fragmented, and don't convey any obvious deep meanings - or at least mine are. My dreams are often bits and pieces with no real beginning, middle, end, and they often seem to be a jumble of random bits of reality. It stretches my suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point when a character relates a clear, lucid, and obviously significant dream in a novel. I don't mind fragments or nightmares, but I think it is a cheat to use them for character development or as flashbacks.

Maybe one of the problems with dreams is that we all experience them differently? My dreams are almost always coherent and linear. They're usually full color movies where I'm the hero.

Tish Davidson · Aug 3, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
Maybe one of the problems with dreams is that we all experience them differently? My dreams are almost always coherent and linear. They're usually full color movies where I'm the hero.

Must be nice. Mine are almost always short snippets that mix up real people and events - Like the checker in the supermarket (whom I barely know) walking my dog by a lake I once visited in Montana or my neighbor piloting an airplane going to China. I always thought they were just an overworked brain giving off random noise.

Promoman · Aug 3, 2005

Tish Davidson said:
Must be nice. Mine are almost always short snippets that mix up real people and events - Like the checker in the supermarket (whom I barely know) walking my dog by a lake I once visited in Montana or my neighbor piloting an airplane going to China. I always thought they were just an overworked brain giving off random noise.

There is a rather important dream in my novel, but it ends up being partially a red herring.

I have experienced both kinds of dreams: those in which there are seemingly random things happening in places I've never been and those in which there is a structured sequence of events that have at least some amount of logic in the way they unfold.

Perhaps that's why the dream device isn't automatically a bad thing: there are some people who do dream in "mini-movies."

Akuma · Aug 3, 2005

Stephen King is able to do hella long flashbacks. What's up with that?

Akuma · Aug 3, 2005

Now that I think about it, Stephen King's book Wizard and Glass, was one big flashback. o_o

JAlpha · Aug 3, 2005

As a reader, if a flashback follows a vivid scene that conveys a strong sense of the story's present time line, main character development and plot, I don't get the feeling that a story has stalled out.

In my writing, I only use flashbacks as a means of expanding on theme, characterization, and story conflict. Then I make sure I guide the reader in and out of the flashback with smooth transitions.

And, I try to avoid having the flashback take up more time, space and energy than my main story.

maestrowork · Aug 3, 2005

I just realized... 45K into my WIP, I haven't used one flashback. That must be a good sign...

Jamesaritchie · Aug 4, 2005

Flashback

maestrowork said:
I just realized... 45K into my WIP, I haven't used one flashback. That must be a good sign...

It could be a great sign, or it could mean you started the story too soon. In media res is one of the primary reasons flashbacks are often used.

maestrowork · Aug 4, 2005

It could be. But no, in my case, I started the story at just the right place.

Flash Backs

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